A sweet alternative

If you aren't going to be particular about it, forget about following a keto diet. You can't be flippant about the exact science involved. The mathematics might seem simple - your daily intake of food must roughly comprise 75 per cent of fat, 20 per cent of protein and five per cent of carbohydrates. But implementing this strict rule starts with checking the label of every edible item you buy to find out what its nutrient contents are. And it ends with ensuring that your meals stick to the afore-mentioned fat-proteins-and-carbs ratio.

There are no two ways about this process, but it's sometimes easy to give into temptation, especially in the festive season. People with a sweet tooth are even more prone to slipping up, because ingredients like maida - which forms the basis of many Indian desserts - are a no-no. So what do you do in that case? Simply choose from a range of keto-compliant sweet dishes that are now available in the market.

These desserts are tweaked versions of the original recipe, where almond flour is used in place of maida, for instance. Let's take the case of the modak, the most ubiquitous dessert during Ganpati season. "A regular one is made with rice, coconut and milk. But those aren't keto-approved items. So I use fresh cream in place of milk, and make other adjustments for the modak to be keto-compliant. There are actually 10 ingredients that go into the version I make, but I can't reveal them all," says Deepti Thomas, who runs The Keto Me, a commercial enterprise that sells keto desserts.

She adds that sweet dishes are also tricky because you can't eat up your entire quota of carbohydrates for the day when you indulge in some. "Let's say your daily intake of carbs can be a maximum of 20 gm. You then have to ensure that the modak you eat has, say, three gm only, so that you can then have something else with carbs in it," Thomas says, adding, "You have to be intelligent about the choices you make. And remember to always check what's on the label."

Recipe for keto coconut barfi

• Finely powder Erythritol in a mixer.
• Mix 2 tbsp powdered Erythritol, 100 gm desiccated coconut and pre-soak it in 90 ml of coconut milk for an hour.
• Mix 4 strands of saffron, 1/8th tsp pumpkin pie spice powder and 2 more tbsp Erythritol in 20 ml ghee and 10 ml of coconut milk. Heat it on the pan along with the pre-soaked mixture
• Keep stirring on a low flame till the mixture turns harder and dry.
• Take a tray/plate with a rim and line it flat on the surface uniformly.
• Sprinkle it with saffron and thinly sliced almonds.
• Refrigerate for 3 hours.
• Slice it into 12 pieces (or more). It is now ready to eat.

Macros per piece: 88 Kcal energy, 8.62gm fats, 1.31gm carbs, 1.07gm proteins

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