Low calorie food this Diwali please, say Punjabis

The calorie conscious ones are saying good-bye to traditional sweets during this Diwali season and fast turning towards low calorie cookies and cakes.

Food tastes of Punjab are undergoing a slow change with low calorie varieties substituting the traditional sweets.

Large moist muffins sprinkled with blueberries, swirls of chocolate 'eddying' around in crusty tartlets and cheesecakes ith splashes of bright toppings are fast becoming the choice of consumers.

"Generally, a total health wave is sweeping the country. As of now, you find gyms opening up at every corner of the street. Rather than gifting the traditional sweets that we pick up from the sweet shop, I look for other options in bakery products which are fat free and good for health conscious. Which I am sure my clients would prefer," said, Lally Virk, an advertising professional, on the look out to buy Diwali gifts for his customers.

When it comes to price, bakery products are at par with other Indian sweets. Bakers say low calorie food adds variety to their traditional Diwali goods.

"The calories in ladoos or any Indian sweet is high in comparison to any western cookies or cakes.

So that is the main reason people are switching over to the English and European trend. In addition, people are getting bored giving the same sweet every year. So, I think they want a bit of change.

And I think for that they have some European English cakes, cookies and chocolates," Nikhil, owner of Nik Bakers, said.

Punjabis do have a sweet tooth. But the taste buds are gradually changing.

"People now search for an alternative to sweets. People get exhausted eating sweets especially during festivals. They now prefer buying dry fruits, cookies and cakes," a customer said.

Dry fruits are a healthy choice. Decorated in beautiful trays and jars, dry fruits too make the best choice for health conscious. (ANI)

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