As a nutritionist, I am not a big fan of the word – Diet or dieting. According to me, one should eat healthy, balanced, and on-time instead of following a particular diet. The mantra is to eat a balanced meal but not skip any meal or any particular food group. As every food group and ingredient has its own nutritional value which is important for our body. So, today I am sharing a few tasty Indian snacking dishes and different dishes of healthy dhokla too.

What are diet foods or diet recipes?

Diet foods are foods that are low in calories and mostly used to lose weight. It’s important to understand the difference between healthy food and diet food. Many times people follow a particular diet and omit everything else. This can be dangerous for the body in the long run as you are not getting the nutrients your body needs by focussing on one food group. So, the trick is to start eating right. Include all the food groups but in moderation and practice portion control.

Tasty Indian snacking dishes while dieting–

A normal Indian meal is high in carbs and sugar and Indians love eating snacks like sev and bhujias. Also, there are carbohydrates like roti and rice in every meal. But the trick is not to stop eating our Indian food but to make changes in it. Let me share a few examples –

  1. You can go with the baked version of snack items instead of fried. For example – Baked samosa, baked Tikki, grilled paneer tikka, grilled chicken, and baked vegetables instead of fried.
  2. Make sure you include salads in every meal. You can mix different colourful vegetables with some sprouts so that you not only get fiber but a high dose of vitamins too. Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrients.
  3. You can include different flours to make your rotis like ragi flour, bajra flour, jowar instead of only using wheat flour. These are nutritious that come with many health benefits.
  4. Use healthy oils like mustard oil, coconut oil, olive oil instead of refining oils.
  5. Few diet dishes which you can make – Dhokla, idlis, oats roti, vegetable raita, beetroot dosa, makhana veg, veg soups with a lot of vegetables.

Different types of Healthy dhokla dishes–

Dhokla is a Gujarati dish which is very popular worldwide. My husband is a big fan of dhokla and that’s why I keep on experimenting with the recipes. 

Khaman dhokla –  This is the most commonly available and cooked dhokla which is made by using besan or gram flour with a pinch of something to ferment it.

Channa dal dhokla – In this recipe, you use soaked and grounded chana dal instead of besan or gram flour.

Suji dhokla – It is made with semolina or suji instead of besan. Otherwise, the procedure is the same.

Rice dhokla – I love this one and it’s also called khatta dhokla. In this, you use rice flour instead of gram flour and ferment it overnight to get the sour taste. You can see the recipe here

Semak rice (fast rice) dhokla – This is something that I tried recently during Navratri. It was yummy and we all enjoyed it. Just use this rice instead of normal rice or besan. Rest all is the same.

The best part about dhokla is that it’s steamed and that is why it’s healthy and light. Also, you don’t have to worry about calories. It’s perfect diet food. Do let me know which one is your favourite out of all these in the comments below.

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