Spread the love

Have you ever thought about which part of the day you tend to deviate from your healthy diet? Mostly during snack time. Right? Many of you may believe Indian healthy snacks ideas are a myth. Let’s face it. We are junk food addicts simply because they are easy to eat and of course super tasty. Therefore, the objective of this blog is to identify a few tasty as well as easy healthy snacks which can be taken by anybody anywhere. Yes, you read it right. These are Indian healthy snack ideas for kids as well as for adults, for the workspace, and for the hostel.

Indian healthy snacks ideas are not a myth

Yes, all you need is a little bit of planning over the weekend. Planning a menu every week is crucial to bring variety in the diet as well as to execute all your healthy snacks ideas into reality. So next time don’t forget to carry the grocery list before going to the market.

What are the easy healthy snacks?

Snacking has the ability either to uplift your health or completely ruin your diet goal. Don’t judge healthy snacks only in terms of “high protein” or “low fat”. let’s get this straight. Foods are much more than just carbohydrates, protein, or fat. The healthy snacks ideas discussed below –

  • provide excellent nutrition
  • rich in complex carbohydrate, protein, fiber, good fat, various vitamins and minerals
  • great source of phytonutrients
  • anti-inflammatory in nature
  • loaded with antioxidants
  • ensure multiple other health benefits
Indian healthy snack ideas -  Popcorn

Indian healthy snacks ideas 1: Popcorn

Excited? Hang on. I am not talking about the ready-to-cook popcorn or microwave popcorn bag or the one we get outside the movie hall. These popcorn are loaded with pseudo butter, trans fat, and hydrogenated fat which kills all the goodness of popcorn and rather creates damage to our body. On the other hand, caramel popcorn contains loads of sugar which is enough to ruin your health regimen. Popcorn is great when made at home. It’s simple and easy. Just sprinkle some salt and pepper on top and enjoy.

Indian healthy snacks ideas 2: Fox nuts (Makhana)

Fox nuts or makhana are other healthy choices as an evening snack. All you need to do is roast fox nuts in a little bit of clarified butter(ghee) and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Yes, that’s it.

That means eating a bucket of homemade popcorn or foxnut is fine. Right?

Wrong. Please don’t murder healthy snacks ideas like that. Buckets are great for washing clothes or storing water. We are supposed to eat from plates or bowls. Fill a medium bowl with popcorn/fox nuts and enjoy.

Indian healthy snack ideas - dry fruits and nuts

Indian healthy snacks ideas 3: Mixed dry fruits and nuts

Keeping a jar of dry fruits such as dates, figs, apricots, raisins, etc and nuts like almonds, cashew, walnut, pistachio, etc handy is always beneficial to ensure healthy snacking. Avoid buying the salted version of dry nuts as companies add way too much salt than the actual requirement.

Indian healthy snacks ideas 4: Roasted peanut and Bengal gram

This pocket-friendly snack is the powerhouse of nutrition. Yes, trust me. Just mix the two in a 1:1 ratio and roast. Similar to popcorn or fox nuts sprinkle a pinch of rock salt and pepper and you are good to go. Make it and store it for the week.

Aren’t dry fruits and nuts, peanuts making me fat?

Healthy snacks ideas remain healthy as long as you are eating mindfully. Endless munching on anything will make you fat. One handful is enough for a day to get the benefits without getting fat. So stop blaming foods as you know whom to blame now.

Indian healthy snack ideas - sprouts

Indian healthy snacks ideas 5: Sprouts

Buy Bengal gram (chana), whole green gram (gota moong), moth bean (matki), or any other legumes of your choice available in the local market. All you need to do is soak them overnight and much a fistful of this next morning. You can also make it a tangy evening snack by adding some chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, green chili, lemon, and little rock salt to it.

Indian healthy snacks ideas 6: Popped rice (khoi)/ Rice flakes (chirwa)/ Puffed rice (moori or murmura) mixture

Another pocket-friendly option is roasted rice flakes or popped rice or puffed rice or the combination mixed with roasted peanuts and Bengal gram. Store this in a dry jar. Snack two handfuls of this mixture. You can be creative by adding little sprouts, cucumber, onion, tomato, etc to this. Adjust the taste with lemon juice, green chili, and rock salt. You can also have homemade instant breakfast cereal as a snack.

Indian healthy snacks ideas 7: Vegetable juice

Invest your money in a glass of freshly made vegetable juice rather than packaged fruit juice. You can also add fruit to your vegetable juice to make it sweet. Try combinations like carrot orange or beetroot pomegranate. Try to avoid adding any extra sugar to your juice.

Indian healthy snack ideas -  fruits

Indian healthy snacks ideas 8: Whole fruits/ mixed fruit bowl

Until God is kind enough to keep your teeth intact, use them. Eating whole fruit along with its pulp is always a better idea than drinking fresh fruit juice. Always choose fruits that are seasonal and locally available. You can try a freshly cut mixed fruit bowl. But remember, overeating fruits is also not a wise idea.

Indian healthy snacks ideas 9: Roasted Bengal gram flour drink (Sattu drink)

Sattu drink is another pocket-friendly option to replace your protein supplement. Yes, I am not kidding. Sattu drink is one of the most underrated but brilliant options as a health drink. You can either buy sattu from the grocery store or can make it on your own. Just roast Bengal gram till the nice roasting flavor comes, remove the hard dark brown seed coat and grind in a mixer. That’s it. Store it in a glass jar. Take one or two tablespoons of sattu in water and stir well. Add lemon juice, rock salt as per your taste. Try a glass of this drink on a hot sunny day.

Read – 7 nutrition facts of sattu you can’t ignore

Indian healthy snacks ideas 10: Chikki/ Laddu

Sweets are good if they are made at home because only then you are aware of how much sugar is going to make it. That makes you conscious while eating. Don’t worry, spending 20- 25 minutes is well enough to make sweet at home. You may add jaggery to roasted peanut and/or sesame seed and/or grated coconut and cook for a while. Just keep stirring to avoid sticking the mixture with the pan. The amount of jaggery needs to be adjusted as per your taste. However, too much jaggery will make the mixture very hard or sticky. So be careful. Once the mixture is cooked, spread them on a plate and give any shape you want- small balls (laddu) or square (chikki). Store them in a glass jar and snack on 1-2 small pieces.

Read – 13 healthy and tasty chikki ideas

But, healthy snacks are not tasty as pizza or french fries…

Junk foods are designed to overpower all subtle tastes. Loads of processed sugar, salt, trans fat, hydrogenated fats, chemicals, and preservatives are used to make it addictive. So if you are a junk food addict, it will take a while to reset your taste buds and start actually appreciating every subtle natural taste. Just give some time, you will be fine.

Indian healthy snack ideas - sandwich

What if I feel hungry even after eating these healthy snacks?

Concentrate only on food while eating. Taking 10 minutes of snack break is okay. Relax and eat slow. You can combine two snack items, e.g- vegetable juice and fox nuts or popcorn.

Also, read –  9 healthy and tasty summer drink ideas

13 healthy Indian breakfast ideas with 85 variations

Bottom line

Make these easy healthy snacks at home. All you need is motivation and a little bit of menu planning. Invest 10 minutes for planning and 15 minutes for making such healthy snacks for work. This will definitely save you a lot of money and health. So just reading about Indian healthy snacks ideas is not enough, start doing it. What is the first item you are going to try? Let me know.

Follow us on Facebook https://m.facebook.com/wellnessmunch/?ref=bookmarks

Follow us on Instagram https://instagram.com/soma.b.chakrabarty?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1tnlrvuxcv9be


Spread the love
administrator
Dr. Soma Chakrabarty is based in Hyderabad. She has 15 yrs of working experience in nutrition. She guides people to modify eating behavior and achieve goals for wellness. She believes in a practical diet that helps people to live rather than survive.

Related Articles

5 Comments

Avarage Rating:
  • 0 / 10
  • Moulipriya Sarkar , 26th July 2019 @ 7:11 pm

    I tried fox nuts at home.. it hardly took any time for preparation and has already become one of our favourites. Keep sharing such stuffs!

    • Dr. Soma Chakrabarty , 26th July 2019 @ 8:30 pm

      Thanks for sharing your experience and the encouragement. We will keep coming with useful nutrition information.

  • Moulipriya Sarkar , 26th July 2019 @ 8:24 pm

    I tried foxnuts.. super easy and has become an instant hit.. Thanks again sharing!

  • Laura Leone , 31st May 2021 @ 2:11 am

    Your blog is awesome ad the information provided here is informative. I really appreciate the skills of presenting your views
    Maltwin is a malt based health drink made with an ideal combination of Higher Protein, Higher Vitamins, and Lower Sugar to support the daily nutrition requirements of the human body in today’s fast-paced world. With nearly 50% more protein than a leading malt based food in the segment, Maltwin keeps you active and energetic throughout the day, in ways that your regular diet may fail to with 24 vital vitamins and minerals, Maltwin is a (5 years and above), teenagers and adults.

    https://www.maltwin.com/

Leave a Reply to Dr. Soma Chakrabarty Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Book Your Appointment