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BENGALURU: The vacation season is true across the nook and with it comes a bonanza of tasty treats similar to rose cookies, muffins, pies, breads, and so forth. Whereas this can be a pleasant time of the yr with everybody desirous to indulge, we should additionally hold our dietary consumption in thoughts.
Maida consumption is more and more rising in our day by day lives. Maida is consumed within the type of breads, parathas, samosas, pizza, burgers, bakery gadgets, and so forth, and any vacation season entails plenty of delicacies.
A majority of those dishes are made with maida as a base. It’s also referred to as refined flour, and is a finer sort of wheat flour ready from a bit of the wheat grain. Wheat is milled to take away the germ and bran, leaving simply the endosperm, which produces white flour.
It’s then completely floor and bleached, giving maida its attribute white color. Maida may cause digestion troubles, diabetes, cardiac issues, impairs bone density, causes continual inflation, weight problems, and plenty of different issues in your physique. Listed here are some options you should utilize:
Almond flour: That is an ultra-low-carb flour which works nicely. As a result of its wealthy nutty flavour, it’s typically utilized in keto sweets and is the preferred flour. Its dietary profile shortly makes it a favorite amongst keto dieters. As a result of almond flour is excessive in fats, you possibly can scale back the quantity
of butter or different fats sources in your recipe.
Coconut flour: It’s low carb, gluten-free, and this vegan flour is straightforward to make at house, which can also be good in your pockets! This high-protein flour could also be used to make cookies, breads, muffins, and pancakes. As a result of it’s gluten-free, you’ll need to make use of eggs or extra baking powder to offer it construction.
Buckwheat flour: That is excessive in antioxidants and a very good supply of fibre. It’s extensively accessible on-line and in native grocery outlets, and known as gluten-free flour or Kuttu atta. It might be used to create something, from pancakes and muffins to pizza bases and bread.
Tapioca flour: Tapioca is a starch comprised of the cassava root. Tapioca flour is commonly utilized in gluten-free baking along with being a implausible thickening agent. It may be used to provide crisp pizza and gluten-free doughnuts.
Quinoa flour: Quinoa is among the most protein-dense plant meals. Quinoa flour is gluten-free, has a low glycaemic index, and is excessive in antioxidants, making it one of many costlier choices. It may be discovered at high-end grocery outlets or on-line. It has a very good flavour and a pleasant texture, making it a wonderful baking ingredient.
Ragi flour: Ragi or finger millets accommodates iron, protein, calcium, antioxidants, and dietary fibre and can also be gluten-free and simple to digest. It’s now getting used for far more than simply rotis, idlis, and dosas. It may also be used for cookies and biscuits to muffins and sourdough. Whereas it is usually excessive in glycemic index, it may be used attributable to its good fiber content material.
Banana flour: It’s a gluten-free flour that’s turning into more and more fashionable. It has a powdery texture and is extensively used as a thickener. In consequence, it really works nicely in milkshakes and smoothies. This flour offers a faint banana flavour and is superb for baking banana bread, muffins, or cupcakes.
Soy flour: It’s excessive in a number of important nutritional vitamins, protein, calcium, manganese, iron, folate, and zinc. A number of the dishes which will be made with this are dosae, paratha, cake, muthia, dal dhokli, and pancakes.
(The author is chief nutritionist, Aster RV Hospital)
