Holi hai! Celebrate the festival of colors, with the goodness of Almonds

Great food, family get-togethers, exchanging gifts, and a riot of colours—what’s not to like about Holi? While sharing gifts with loved ones does not require any occasion, the festival of colours is certainly an inspiration to pick gifts that are warm, cheerful, and thoughtful. Given the year that has gone by, we should be more mindful of how we choose to celebrate the festival and what we gift our loved ones.

This year, replace the stereotypical way of celebrating Holi and instead of applying water-based colours and throwing water balloons, we can be more mindful by opting for organic colours, being less wasteful, and even gifting our loved ones healthy and nutritious food items. While the family gatherings will be limited and smaller in number, when visiting them, instead of taking along the regular sweet delicacies and gujiyas, take an assortment of flavoured nuts like almonds. Almonds are also known to be the gift of good health, making them a great gift to share with friends, family and loved ones.

Leading Bollywood actress, Soha Ali Khan said, “Holi is one of my favourite festivals, and this year I look forward to celebrating a quiet, safe and socially distant one, with my friends and family. For me personally, Holi is also a great time to share meaningful gifts with people who I care about, and this year my go to choice is almonds. I love having almonds around the house, as they make for a convenient, tasty and satiating snack. Besides that, regular almond consumption is known to provide benefits across heart health[1], weight[2] and diabetes management[3] as well as skin health[4], which makes them a thoughtful gift which will surely add to the receivers overall wellness.”

According to Well-known Fitness and Celebrity instructor, Yasmin Karachiwala, “For all the dancing and fun that Holi celebration entails, it’s important to keep the energy levels up to power through the festival. Before you head out to immerse yourself in colour, eat a filling breakfast and supplement this with a handful of almonds. They are known to provide energy and will fuel you to enjoy the festivities.”

 Ritika Samaddar, the Regional Head-Dietetics, Max Healthcare – Delhi, “As we continue to stay safe during this pandemic, taking care of our family and relatives’ health has become of utmost importance. This current situation has highlighted more than ever the need to invest in our health and strive for a better lifestyle. Almonds are a good gifting choice as they are known to have immunity supporting nutrients like copper, zinc, folate, iron and vitamin E[5], which makes them the perfect gift which add to the receivers’ wellbeing. This Holi, be sure to share almonds with your near and dear ones, to make a small yet impactful investment in their overall health.”

 Sheela Krishnaswamy, Nutrition and Wellness Consultant, said, “Sharing of gifts during Indian festivals is a long standing custom, which has sustained over ages. But as we all embrace more modern lifestyles, it’s important for that thinking to also reflect onto our gifting choices. Instead of choosing mainstream gifts, look for gifts that will supplement the receiver’s health. Almonds are a good gifting choice for promoting heart health. According to recent research from King’s College London in adults with above-average risk of CVD, snacking on almonds every day improved endothelial function of the arteries and also lowered “bad” LDL-cholesterol – both key indicators of heart health.[6] So be sure to share this gift of good health with your loved ones, this Holi.”  

 Madhuri Ruia, Pilates Expert, and Diet & Nutrition Consultant said, “For many, Indian festivals feel incomplete without fried food and mithaai or sweets. But festivals are also a time when a lot of us experience unwanted weight gain due to the excess consumption of oily food and dessert. To avoid this, make sure that almonds are a part of your food and gifting plans. Almonds are known to have a good shelf life and can be stored for long durations, which make them a great gift. Besides this, almonds are a source of several nutrients including vitamin E, magnesium, protein, riboflavin, zinc etc. that makes them a nutritious and tasty food which in the long run, will also add to the health of your loved ones.”

So this year, gift almonds to your loved ones, and contribute to their journey to better health!

Also, here’s a recipe of that you can prepare this year to add to the festivities:

ALMOND AND WHITE CHOCOLATE GUJIYA

Serves: 10

Ingredients                                                Quantity

For Dough

All- purpose flour                                     2 Cups

Clarified butter (ghee)                             ¼ Cup

Water                                                          ½ cup

For Filling

White chocolate                                           1 cup

Desiccated coconut                                     ¼ cup

Green cardamom powder                       a pinch

Almond                                                        ½ cup

Jaggery                                                             1 tbsp

Method:

• Rub the flour and ghee together and bind them together with water to form a soft dough. Rest it for ½ hour.
• In a bowl, mix the chocolate flakes, coconut, almonds together and add jaggery.
• Make small balls of the dough and roll it out into ½ cm thick rotis.
• Place filling in the center, do not overstuff it as it will result in bursting of gujiya while frying.
• Apply water on the edges and seal the ends, the shape will resemble half-moon. Use cutter to make a design around the edges or pinch and twist the edges.
• Heat oil/ ghee in a deep pan; fry the gujiyas till golden brown.

Nutritional Analysis

[1] Kalita S, Khandelwal S, Madan J, Pandya H, Sesikeran B, Krishnaswamy K. 2018. Almonds and cardiovascular health: A Review. Nutrients. Apr;10(4

[3] Gulati S, Misra A, Pandey RM. 2017. Effect of almond supplementation on glycemia and cardiovascular risk factors in Asian Indians in North India with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a 24-week study. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders.15(2):98-105

[4] Foolad N, et al. 2019. Prospective randomized controlled pilot study on the effects of almond consumption on skin lipids and wrinkles. Phytotherapy Research. Dec;33(12):3212-3217

[5]  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3997530/

[6] VitaDikariyanto, Leanne Smith, Lucy Francis, May Robertson, Eslem Kusaslan, Molly O’Callaghan-Latham, Camille Palanche, Maria D’Annibale, Dimitra Christodoulou, Nicolas Basty, Brandon Whitcher, Haris Shuaib, Geoffrey Charles-Edwards, Philip J Chowienczyk, Peter R Ellis, Sarah E E Berry, Wendy L Hall, Snacking on whole almonds for 6 weeks improves endothelial function and lowers LDL cholesterol but does not affect liver fat and other cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy adults: the ATTIS study, a randomized controlled trial, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, nqaa100, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa100.