Share
Sweets in India are closely tied to celebrations and festivities, but this year, the cost of making them at home may need a little more planning than the rest of the time. Recent movements in domestic sugar prices, with concerns around rising household food prices, can make refined sugar a more costly pantry staple as the festive season nears.
For Indian kitchens that usually make ladoos, halwa, barfi and other sweets in bulk, even a subtle increase in the price of sugar can impact the planning. But that does not mean you have to skip making your favourite sweet totally; rather, there are ways you can rethink festive desserts: let naturally sweet ingredients do more of the work this time.
Dates, dried figs and jaggery can add sweetness along with their own taste, colour and texture, letting you reduce or totally skip using refined sugar. Dates add a caramel-like richness, figs or anjeer add tiny seeds that give chewiness in every bite, whereas jaggery gives desserts a deep, earthy sweetness.
What Has Happened To Sugar Prices Lately?
Sugar prices have been rising amid changes in production calculations, supply requirements and government policy. In India, sugar prices are also closely related to the sugarcane cycle and the availability of stocks with mills. Recent market reports have suggested that wholesale sugar prices remain firm, even as the government has been trying to manage domestic availability through export and stock-related efforts.
For consumers, the impact is most evident when sugar is purchased in bulk for the festive season. A box of mithai may use fairly little sugar, but making batches of laddoos, halwa, or barfi at home can quickly turn that into a recognisable grocery expenditure.
That makes the festive season a good chance to experiment with ingredients that can add sweetness without depending totally on refined sugar. Here are some of the sweets that you can try to make this festive season and amaze your guests with their taste:
Date-Coconut Ladoos
Dates work especially well in ladoos as they are sticky enough to bind nuts and coconut without needing to make a separate sugar syrup. Soak soft seedless dates, blend them to make a paste and then cook for a short span with grated coconut and a little ghee.
Mix in chopped almonds, cashews or pistachios before shaping the mixture into small bite-sized laddoos. The dates add a deep, caramel-like sweetness, whereas coconut keeps the texture moist and a bit chewy. These date and coconut ladoos are a good option when you want a festive sweet that tastes rich without that sharp sweetness of refined sugar.
(Image credit: Freepik)
Anjeer Barfi
If you like barfi that has some texture instead of a totally smooth bite, dried figs are the best to make an interesting base. Soak some anjeer until they turn soft, grind them coarsely and cook with ghee and some chopped nuts until the mixture begins to come together.
Figs are naturally sweet; hence, you can skip the use of refined sugar totally, while their small seeds give every piece a soft crunch. Spread the mixture on a greased steel plate, let it cool down and then cut into square pieces. You can also add a few dates if you like a soft, sticky bite. The outcome is a darker, fruitier and pleasantly chewy barfi.
Gud Besan Laddoos
Besan laddoos do not necessarily require a separate sugar syrup to make them taste festive. Jaggery or gud can add sweetness, while adding a deeper, more earthy taste to the roasted gram flour. Roast some besan slowly in ghee until it turns golden and aromatic, then let it cool down a bit before mixing in the powdered jaggery, cardamom and nuts.
The warmth helps everything come together, but the mixture should not be too hot when you add the jaggery. Compared with sugar-based laddoos, these have a much darker colour and a richer, almost caramel-like taste.
Date And Nut Halwa
Dates can do more than just sweeten the halwa; their soft, sticky texture also helps in giving the dessert body. Soak some dates, mix them with a little milk or water and then cook the paste slowly in the ghee until it turns thick.
Add some chopped nuts and cardamom as it gets cooked. As dates are naturally dense and sweet, there is little to no need to add another sweetener from above. The outcome is a halwa that looks darker and tastes more fudgier than a classic sooji-based version, with a mellow caramel taste.
(Image credit: Freepik)
Coconut-Jaggery Modak
Coconut and jaggery are already a typical festive combination, so this is one of the easiest places where you can swap refined sugar. Cook some freshly grated coconut with jaggery until the mixture turns thick and fragrant, then add cardamom and chopped nuts to it.
Stuff the cooled filling into a soft rice-flour dough and then steam the prepared modaks until the outer layer gets cooked perfectly. Jaggery gives the coconut filling a deep colour and earthy sweetness that works extremely well with cardamom.
