Mithai as health tonic Ayurveda says eating energy-rich festive foods is good for you

From scrumptious karanjis to ghee-laden anarsas and spiral chaklis, making sweets and savouries during Diwali has been a long-standing tradition. What's probably going to be music to the sweet-toothed's ear is Dr Balaji Tambe's research, which shows that traditional festival foods have been designed to improve health. 

    "Ayurveda has identified important nutrients in almost every food, and the art of Indian cooking is based on this knowledge," says the founder of the ayurveda centre Atmasantulana Village. "Cane sugar, for instance, which has been favoured in Indian tradition, is a cooling agent. It gives you strength, increases shukra dhatu (virya, seminal fluids), and pacifies pitta and vata." 
    Likewise, ghee (ayurvedic or homemade), which ayurveda describes as a life-giving nectar, is considered the best lubricant and digestive regulator. It strengthens sense organs, improves memory, intelligence, and vitality. It detoxifies and rejuvenates the system, he shares. Wheat or rawa, another key ingredient in mithai, has the capacity to strengthen all dhatu (seven levels of tissue), improve complexion, and pacify vata and pitta. 
    The fact that the festive season follows the rains closely has something to do with the reason to eat rich foods now. The monsoon denies us exposure to sunlight. "Once the rains have faded, the digestive fire increases with the sun, and the body must, therefore, be provided with appropriate energy-filled foods. If we deny ourselves rich nutritional foods at this time of the year, the digestive fire could eat into the tissues or even disturb hormonal balance. Feeding the body rich foods now benefits you all year round," explains Dr Tambe. 
1 ANARSA OR SHAALIPOOP 
INGREDIENTS : 200 gm rice dough; 20 gm khus khus; 300 gm ghee; jaggery (as per taste) and water. 
METHOD: Wash the rice dough well with water, and pound it (with mortar and pestle) into flour. Add ghee, jaggery and water to prepare it and knead again. Store the ready dough for two-three days. Make it into flattened round patties (three inches in diameter and half a centimetre in thickness). Sprinkle poppy seeds over one side of the patty, and deep fry in ayurvedic ghee. Keep the poppy side up in the pan. Do not turn. Fry until it reddens. 
BENEFIT: Lubricates the body, increases vitality without producing heat. Helps nourish all the seven tissue levels of the body, and can stop diarrhoea too. 
2 CHAKLI/VESHTANI 
INGREDIENTS: 100 gm fresh urad pith (black gram flour); 6 gm salt; 2 gm asafoetida; 20 gm ginger juice; ayurvedic ghee; cold water. 
METHOD: Mix urad flour, salt, asafoetida and ginger juice into a hard dough with cold water. Apply a little ayurvedic ghee or sesame/groundnut oil on your hands and knead it well. Make three balls. Roll them into sticks (as thick as pencils). Arrange the rolled sticks into spirals of two-three inches in diameter. Deep fry in ayurvedic ghee to make chakli. For veshtani (easier to digest), steam the same preparation for approximately 20 minutes. Serve with coriander chutney. 
BENEFIT: Both chakli and veshtani increase seminal fluids and vitality. The main ingredient, urad, is an important lubricating agent, which increases kapha. It is an aphrodisiac and a strength-giving tonic. This helps clear urination, supports flesh and fat tissue and serves as a medicine for piles, facial palsy as well as vata diseases like paralysis and nervous disorders. 
3 KARANJI 
INGREDIENTS: For the puri: 60 gm fine wheat flour; 6 gm rawa; ghee. For the filling: 150 gm cane sugar; 90 gm fresh coconut; pinch of cardamom, powdered clove, black pepper powder, charoli/chironji (buchanania lanzan) and edible camphor. 
METHOD: To prepare the puris, make hard dough of rawa and fine wheat flour with milk as required to make it soft, and a little ghee (1 tsp). Set dough aside for two hours. Pound in a mortar or mixer, make small balls and roll out like puris. The filling must be prepared separately. Roast rawa in ghee, slowly. Add sugar, cardamom, fresh coconut, powdered clove, black pepper powder, charoli/chironji and a tiny pinch of edible camphor to roasted rawa preparation and mix thoroughly. Now, place two teaspoons of the filling in the puri and fold it over the filling to make a semi circle. Press the edges together and deep-fry in ghee. While hot, immerse in sugar syrup and remove after some time. It is ready to serve. 
BENEFIT: This preparation builds up all seven tissues, particularly vitality and seminal fluids. Although it is heavy to digest, it helps with motions. It is good for bones, strengthens the heart, and reduces pitta and vata doshas. 
AYURVEDA BASICS 
Ayurveda explains that everything in the universe, including humans, exhibit a combination of three tendencies — kapha (matter-inertia-heaviness), vata (flow-movement-activity pressure) and pitta (digestive fire and catalytic agency-warmth-enthusiasm). To understand food and digestion, learning about pitta is essential.