Lets make a list of life treasures. The list starts with a happy family, a healthy body, enough wealth, and includes a peaceful life. But there is something crucial missing in the list delicious food. Well, yummy food is nothing short of a blessing. But what if, this blessing is taken from you and your taste buds have to compromise to keep you healthy?
If the picture looks too far-fetched to you, think again. This is exactly the case when you have diabetes. You have to give up on numerous food items in order to keep your sugar levels in check. Hence, to make your life easier on this World Diabetes Day, we have collaborated with Hema Shakthi, a Bengaluru based food blogger, who shares a few tips and recipes to help you eat well while also taking care of your blood sugar level.
Foods to Avoid According to Hema, you should avoid all sugary items as well as food that is rich in carbohydrates as these are broken down into blood sugar faster, thus increasing the sugar level. The food items that you need to avoid are:
- Processed grains like flour and items like white bread, pasta, cakes.
- Fruit juices, whether artificial or natural, as they are mostly sugar.
- Sweetened Beverages are, again, overloaded with sugar.
- A few fruits like mangoes, pineapples, jackfruit and some vegetables like potato, corn, and beetroot.
Foods You Should Eat Proteins and fats break down slowly, and so you can add these in moderation to your food. Here some examples of what can be good for you:
- Fresh and green items like - French beans, sprouts, asparagus.
- Vegetables like cucumber, carrots, radish, cauliflower, lettuce, etc.
- Non-processed grains like ragi, red or brown rice, millets like foxtail and barnyard.
- Fruits like apple, guava, all berries (like blueberry, strawberries, etc.)
Here are a few of the recipes, directly from Hemas Kitchen:-
1. Barnyard Millet Pongal
Ingredients:
| Barnyard Millet | - 3/4 cup |
| Moong dhal (Pasi paruppu) | - 1/3 cup |
| Water | - 3 cups |
| Salt | - as needed |
| Ginger | - 1-inch piece (cut finely) |
| Oil or ghee | - 4 tsps |
| Cumin seeds | - 1 tsp. |
| Whole pepper | - 1 tsp. |
| Cashew Nuts | - 2 tsps. (Optional) |
Method:In a cooker, dry roast the dhal till you get a nice aroma.
- Now wash the dhal along with barnyard millet and add water.
- Soak for half an hour.
- Cut and add ginger and salt to this.
- In a pan, heat ghee and fry cashew nuts until golden and keep aside.
- In the same oil, add cumin and pepper and fry for half a minute and add to the cooker.
- Close the lid of the cooker and cook for 3 whistles.
- When cool, open the lid and add the fried cashew nuts.
- Barnyard millet Pongal can be served along with coconut chutney and sambar.
2. Yellow Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
| Yellow Pumpkin Pieces | 1 cup |
| Onion | - ½ (cut into small pieces) |
| Garlic | - 4 cloves (cut into fine pieces) |
| Corn Flour | - 2 tsps. |
| Milk | - ½ cup |
| Salt | - as needed |
| Pepper | - as needed |
| Butter | - 2 tsps. |
| Water | - as needed |
Method:
- In a pan, heat some butter and add chopped onions and garlic and fry till the raw smell goes.
- Now add the pumpkin pieces and add a cup of water and cook till the pumpkin becomes tender.
- Switch off the stove and let it cool down.
- Now, take the cooked pumpkin in a mixer and grind it into a fine paste.
- Mix milk with corn flour and boil in a pan.
- When it boils and thickens, add the ground pumpkin and some more water if the soup is thick.
- Add salt and pepper and boil the soup in medium flame till the soup thickens.
- Serve hot with soup sticks or toasted bread.
3. Cucumber and Beans Salad
Ingredients:
| French Beans | - ½ Kg |
| Cucumber | - 2 |
| Capsicum | - 2 |
| Vinegar | - 1 tbsp |
| Olive Oil | - 2 tsps |
| Salt | - as needed |
| Pepper Powder | - as needed |
Method:
- Wash and clean the beans and cut them into long pieces.
- Peel and cut the cucumber into big pieces.
- Cut the capsicum into big pieces and remove the seeds. You can use yellow or red capsicums.
- In a pan heat a cup of water and add a little salt.
- When it boils, add the chopped beans and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, drain the water and keep aside.
- You can use the water for making rasam or soup.
- In a bigger bowl, take some vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix well.
- Now add the half-cooked beans, cucumber, and capsicum and mix well so that it is coated well with the vinegar mixture.
All these dishes hence prove that while diabetes does place some restrictions on your diet, there are still plenty of ways to eat food that not only tastes good but is also healthy for you. Try them out and let us know your reviews! For more recipes like the ones mentioned above, do check out Hema's page at Hema's kitchen- Team Seniority
