Rakhi Sweets - Recipes, Calories and other things you must know
Any celebration in India is incomplete without sweets. They are an auspicious relish to the taste buds. When a sister ties rakhi on brother's arm they also take a bite out of the same piece of sweet or Mithai. Legends say, sharing a bite makes love grow. But we all know how they add to the bottom line, of our pants! Crosses over the lip and goes straight to the hips. So each festival begins with a vow not to overdo the sweets and ends up as broken promises to yourself. Its an Indian Festival afterall, to spread the love means also spreading the sweetness around.There are many kinds of sweets that are considered to be special on Raksha Bandhan like Baadushahi, Gulab Jamun, Motichoor ke Laddu, Kaju Barfi and many more. Each of them more calorific than the other. So, how many calories do Rakhi Sweets contain? Here's a lowdown of the calories each sweet contains and the work required to use them up:
Balushahi - 250 Calories per serving (1 piece)
Tip: Share the joy and the calories, let the brother have the majority of the sweet. Or check out the Healthy Balushahi recipe below.
Kaju Katli - 57 Calories per serving ( 1piece)
 |
 |
 |
 |
Rasagulla - 125 calories per serving ( 1 piece)
Tip: Sugar again contributes a large number of calories to the rasagulla. Squeeze out as much of the sugar syrup as you can while having it to minimize the calories consumed.
Gulab Jamun - 150 calories per serving ( 1piece)
 |
 |
 |
 |
Moti - Choor Laddu - 150 calories per serving ( 1piece)
 |
 |
 |
 |
Khoya Barfi - 125 Calories per serving (1 piece)
Tip: A khoya burfee is a good sweet because the sugar hits your bloodstream slowly. You can easily substitute a sugar free Khoya Barfi, but if you relish the natural taste, walking briskly for 25 minutes will work it off.
Mysore Pak - 357 calories per serving (1 piece)
Tip: If Mysore Pak is your weakness, remember swimming vigorously for an hour will work off the calories in a jiffy. Go half-half with your sibling and indulge! Its Raksha Bandhan after all.
There are so many sweets that can be made at home very easily and are the most suitable for an occasion like Rakhi, like Badaam Pinni, Anjeer Chakkar, Doda Burfi and many more. These sweets can also be ordered online in case you want to save the time to prepare them or want to send them as gifts along with the Rakhi to someone living away from you. Here are the recipe's for Rakhi Sweets which you can make at home:
Healthy Baalushai Recipe:
Ingredients:
3½ Cups Atta
6 Cups Sugar
½ Tsp. Baking Powder
2 Tsp. Ghee
3 Cups Yoghurt
1 Tsp. Salt
5 grams Cardamom
250 ml. Sunflower Oil
Directions:
Mix ghee, curd, baking powder, salt and atta like a chapati dough use curd to make soft dough, no water.
Refrigerate it for 2 hours.
Sugar syrup prepared must be in string consistency. Add cardamom powder to it and keep aside.
Then make round balls about a size of a peach with the mix and press with your thumb on the ball.
Heat oil and fry these balls on medium low heat until balls turn golden brown, then add to sugar syrup. Let them bloat for 20 minutes and take them out.
TIP: In order to keep it low in calories you can use sugar substitutes like sugar free.
Kaaju Katli Recipe:
1. cup Cashews
2. up Sugar or as required half tbsp. Water
1 tbsp. Ghee
1 tsp. chopped Rose Petals
8-9 strands of Saffron
- Directions:
- Get cashew in powder form by grinding in a coffee or any dry grinder.
- The cashews should not release any oil and not be pasty.
- Heat sugar and water in a thick base pan or a non sticky one.
- Alongside get the butter papers ready or grease a plate to keep the dough on it later.
- When all the sugar dissolves in the water, add the cashew powder.
- Stir and keep on stirring the cashew mixture on a low flame.
- The cashew mixture would start thickening.
- Cashew mixture should be cooked till it all starts to come together, that would be for about 7-9 mins.
- Remove the whole lump of the mixture from the pan and place it on work surface, bowl or plate.
- Add the rose petals and ghee or oil to the cashew mixture.
- When the heat in the mixture is hot enough to handle, then knead the cashew mixture.
- Flatten the dough and place it on a butter paper or on a greased plate/thali or tray.
- Place a butter paper on top and then using a rolling pin, roll gently the dough from all sides till you reach a thickness of 3-5 mm in the dough.
- Remove the butter paper and let the rolled cashew dough cool.
- When completely cooled, using a sharp knife cut the cashew dough giving square or diamond shapes.
- Gently remove the kaju katli with a butter knife.
- Serve the kaju katli straight away or keep in an airtight container.
