Sattu water – what is that? If you are from the southern part of India, you may have this instant question. No, it is not any exotic fancy food rather it’s generally considered as “poor man’s food”. Surprised?

Have you ever noticed the strength and stamina of people push heavy carts at the station or roadside? Without having any access to “protein powder” or “superfood”, these people keep up better health and fitness level than many of us. If you check their daily diet you might find one thing in common. That is sattu.

Sattu is nothing but roasted Bengal gram flour which is inexpensive, affordable by almost everyone. If you travel in India during summer, especially in Bihar and West Bengal, you will get to see people with small carts roadside selling sattu water. Sattu is loaded with nutrition and has every potential to be tagged as a “superfood”.

Why Sattu water?

Sattu is a “superfood” and sattu water is the instant “power drink” for summer. Having sattu water daily is one of the easiest ways to ensure great nutrition without any hassle.

There are three factors that make sattu special for almost everyone.

1. It is rich in protein – Just 2 scoops of sattu in a drink provides about 7-10 gm of protein. So if you are looking for a health drink, instead of spending on huge invest 1/4th the amount on sattu. It is the best health drink for you, for your kids and for your parents.

2. It’s soluble and insoluble dietary fiber makes it absorbs in the blood stream slowly and give a steady glucose response and slowly released energy. Having a low glycemic index, this drink become perfect for diabetic patients.

The insoluble fiber adds the bulk in diet and thus helps to clear stool. Thus sattu act as a natural detox to clean your system and cure your constipation.

The presence of fiber give good satiety value and helps to keep us full for longer time. So if you are trying for weight loss, sattu is the drink you need.

3. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals such as  manganese, calcium, zinc, potassium, copper, dietary fibre, folic acid etc which are essential for good metabolism and controlling blood pressure and better heart health.

The nutritive value of sattu (per 100 gm)

Nutrient	Amount
Energy	369 kcal
Protein	22.5 g
Carbodyrate	58.1 g
Fat	5.2 g
Calcium	58 mg
Phosphorus	340 mg
Iron	9.5 mg
Folic acid	139 ug
Magnesium	130 mg
Potassium	720 mg
Manganese	1.05 mg
Zinc	1.7 mg
Copper	1.34 mg

Ref- Nutritive Value of Indian Foods,2016

Is sattu and besan are same?

No, besan is the unroasted, ground form of Bengal gram flour.

But to make sattu, Bengal grams are roasted first and then ground well to get the powder.

How to make sattu water?

You can make sattu water in two ways – sweet or salty.

How to make a glass of sattu water – the salty one

Ingredients

• Sattu
• Water (cold or at room temperature)
• Lemon
• Rock salt
• Cumin Powder
• Chopped coriander/ mint leaves (Optional)
• Chopped onion(Optional)

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Procedure

• Take 2 tablespoon of sattu (approx 30 gm) in a bowl
• Add little water to it
• Make a mixture with a beater
• Make a smooth paste
• Pour the mixture in a glass and fill it with water
• Add rock salt (as per taste)
• Put some lemon juice (as per taste)
• Add 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
• Put some chopped coriander and mint leaves on the top (Optional)
• Add some chopped onion at the top (Optional)

How to make a glass of sweet sattu water

Ingredients

• Sattu
• Water (cold or at room temperature)
• Lemon
• Rock salt
• Sugar/ Jaggery

Procedure

• Take 2 tablespoon of sattu (approx 30 gm) in a bowl
• Add little water to it
• Make a mixture with a beater
• Make a smooth paste
• Pour the mixture in a glass and fill it with water
• Add rock salt (as per taste)
• Put some lemon juice (as per taste)
• Add sugar/ jaggery (as per taste)

When to drink Sattu water?

Sattu water is a wonderfully healthy option as an instant breakfast, a mid-morning drink, and as an evening snack. It will keep you full for a longer time.

Sattu water as the instant breakfast option

We have no time. Especially there are days when even cooking breakfast seems to be impossible. No matter how healthy advertisements claim, corn flakes, muesli, instant noodles or pasta, or oats are loaded with sugar and chemicals. Sattu water is always a way better instant breakfast option for almost everyone.

Sattu water as summer drink

Summer is synonymous with thrust, sweat, and lack of energy. This is the time when all the soft drinks, artificial energy drinks,s, and synthetic fruit juice companies are gearing up to capture your mind with a list of fake promises in the name of health. Be aware, they are nothing but sugar, sugar a sugar. Instead of wasting loads of your money on these products, be mindful.

• Coca Cola 600ml bottle contains 64 gm (13 teaspoons) of sugar
• Sprite 600ml bottle contains 61 gm (12 teaspoons) of sugar
• Fanta 375ml bottle contains 42 gm (8-9 teaspoons) of sugar
• Red Bull 250 ml can contains 27 gm (5-6 teaspoons) of sugar
• Lipton ice tea 500ml bottle contains 34 gm (7 teaspoons) of sugar

Sattu has all-natural sugar in complex carbohydrate form which is slowly released into the bloodstream and slowly raises the blood glucose level. Even if you are drinking a tall glass of sweet sattu drink, 375 ml of glass will not generally contain more than 2 spoons of sugar.

Any of such soft drinks will cost you at least rs 10/- and more depending on the size of the bottle ensuring only sugar. Whereas a tall glass of sattu will cost you much providing well-balanced nutrition.

You are smart. Now the choice is yours.

Sattu water as snack

Midmorning especially the evening is the time when you tend to deviate from your planned diet. We go low on energy during the evening and start getting cravings for all junk foods. Sattu water is a great snack option if you have this struggle. A tall glass of cold sattu water will refresh you, keep you hydrated and full for a longer time.

Sattu water as pre-workout drink

Protein, protein, and more protein. Everybody is going crazy for their protein intake. Do you know excess protein, if not used properly can harm your body? If you are taking any protein supplements, you must work hard and take adequate rest to utilize them. Otherwise, no matter how much protein powder you are pouring into your system you will never get any benefits rather will cause more harm to your system.

For those who are working hard in the gym to build muscle, sattu water is a wise choice. Please note, even before all these protein supplements capture our the market, a few decades back people used to trust chana and sattu for their protein intake. Drink sattu water as a pre-workout drink which will give you more stamina and energy during your workout. Yes, being rich in fiber, the protein will not release into the bloodstream quickly, but in the long run, this inexpensive drink is one of the wise choices without any side effects.

Can I have sattu water at night?

If you have weak digestion, then avoid having sattu after sunset. Sattu is roasted first and then ground, therefore Bengal gram is not at its raw form which makes sattu easy to digest for most of us. If you are blessed with super digestion power, you can drink this even at night.

Who can drink sattu water ?

• You at any time
• Your kids as instant breakfast or afternoon snack
• Your parents (elderly people) as instant breakfast or afternoon snack
• Gym goers as pre-workout drink
• Diabetic patients
• Hypertensive patients
• Those who are struggling with constipation

But, those who have high potassium levels or suffering from kidney disorders should avoid this drink.

Does sattu creates acidity/ bloating ?

If you have tried drinking sattu water before and felt acidic and bloated then you must be having a very poor digestion capacity. So instead of saying no to sattu, start working on improving the health of your digestive system.

Stop all processed and packaged food (commercially packaged biscuits, cookies, soft drinks, corn flakes, muesli, granola, cake, donut, pastry, sauce, salad dressing instant noodles/pasta/soup/popcorn/snack/oats, etc.)

Focus on homemade good food, add a lot of homemade fermented foods (dosa, idli, curd, buttermilk, panta bhat, kanji, etc) to improve the health of your gut.

Instead of working on improving our system, we always find it easy to blame the food.

How can I have sattu other than sattu water?

• Instead of sattu water, you can make sattu milk, the same preparation using milk replacing water.
• You can add sattu to your normal flour to make roti / paratha.
• Just add banana, jaggery and milk with sattu and make a porridge.
• Sattu work as a wonderful binding agents, so your deep-fried items can be coated in sattu.
• You can try making sattu balls with other herbs -“Litti chokha” is a famous from Bihar and Jharkhand, India.

Also, read

Recipe of ragi drink

Recipe of carrot orange juice

Recipe of beetroot pomegranate juice

Bottom Line

Sattu water is the most hassle-free, instant, healthy, and tasty option for your breakfast, summer drink, or even as a snack. The best part of sattu drink is almost everyone can drink this without any fear. Don’t be hesitant. Start drinking sattu water.