A healthy twist to the traditional halwa

A dessert after a filling lunch on a Sunday afternoon is non-negotiable. But the mainstream high calorie and sugar packed options puts one in the spot. What if we tell you that we have got a recipe that fits into your calorie budget?

A sweet potato halwa filled with flavour and goodness of health is the solution to your dilemma.

Sweet potatoes are rich in several nutrients such as potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin A, and low in carbohydrate, which renders them healthy for all age groups. While generally root vegetables are starchy and cause blood sugar spikes, brown skin sweet potatoes have a moderately low glycaemic index (a list which indexes foods as per how quickly they are digested).

Ankita Debbarma, assistant dietician from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, says that when boiled, steamed or pressure cooked, the starch content of sweet potatoes is converted to resistant starch (carbs that resist digestion), which are slowly digested and do not raise blood sugar levels, much like fibre.“It is rich in fibre that helps with brain function and makes it favourable, especially for children,” she says.

The potassium rich sweet potatoes are good for cardiac health as well as for our kidneys. Potassium is well known for balancing out the excess sodium. Moreover, it plays a key role in maintaining the fluid, temperature, and blood pressure balance in our body. High beta carotene (Vitamin A) of brown skin sweet potatoes also makes them good for eye health including age related vision decline.

“However, people with diabetes and other metabolic disorders should try to avoid sweet potatoes due to its high starch content,” cautions Debbarma.

If you are struggling to incorporate this root into your diet, check out the recipe below for a delicious dessert.

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Servings: 5

Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients and measurements

Brown skin Sweet Potato – 325g

Milk (Cow/Coconut) – 115ml

Jaggery – 50g

Almonds – 10g

Cashews – 10g

Ghee – 50g

Directions

• Wash and pressure cook two to three sweet potatoes for two whistles
• Peel them and mash them. Set it aside to cool
• Add a tablespoon of ghee to your pan and stir one cinnamon stick and two cardamoms for a minute
• Add some chopped nuts into the mix
• Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the pan and stir fry for a minute
• Add in the boiled milk and mix well
• Add the jaggery powder and mix again
• Add the rest of the ghee slowly while stirring the ingredients
• Once the halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan, it is ready to be served

Nutritional values per serving