Valley of (no) flours

Unless you settle for fruit, an out-and-out healthy dessert is an illusion. The same can be said about baked goodies such as croissants, danishes and puffs loaded with calories. However, a few tweaks to those very unhealthy recipes and you can be tucking into sweet and savoury delicacies that will satisfy the palate and also do some good to your system.

While refined flour and processed sugars are common criminals in most sweet dishes, leading to unhealthy cholesterol, bakers are increasingly innovating with recipes that use healthier alternatives like almond flour and ragi. So, here is how – and where - you can get rid of the guilt while enjoying that last course of your meal or during your midday snack.

Tattva Kitchen, Delhi
Gluten-free, healthy savouries are what you should expect from this Delhi-based kitchen. Long hours at work with little time to cook healthy options led former corporate management employee Anuradha Madhusudhanan to take matters in her own hand. "I would put in 15 to 18 hours of work on tough days, and eat out twice in day. In a while, I started falling sick," says the Dehi-based baker. That led to Anuradha's first foray into healthy cooking - the Tattva lunch delivery. With a three-course menu that has proteins, complex carbohydrates and essential vitamins in healthy doses, and more than 5,000 recipes, the lunch delivery is one of the most popular Tattva ventures.
The bakes come out of their deli and gourmet cafe section, where Madhusudhanan caters to those looking for a healthy snack, savouries or sweets to munch on. All her recipes have ditched refined flour and have whole wheat, ragi and amaranth flour, high on calcium and iron. The bakes are gluten-free and vegetarian, where either unprocessed sugar or coconut palm sugar has been used in minimal quantities. To keep the bakes healthy, Anuradha uses white butter made in her own kitchen from organic milk (the A2 variety).
What to eat: The sundried tomatoes-rosemary-caramelised onion foccacia is a distinct cafe item, along with the shortbreads. They also offer brownies, which despite the health quotient, are not much different from normal ones. The mushroom and cheese pockets and healthy pizzas, like the margherita and roasted rocket leaves pizza are other favourites. The desserts menu has cakes (chocolate, lemon pound slice, carrot-cinnamon, raisin almond) and shortbread pies (fig-almond, date-cinnamon). The unbaked options include date and walnut relish, mixed melon compote, sorbets of seasonal fruits, and fruit yoghurt with honey and nuts.
Reach out at: Anuradha can be reached on www.tattvakitchen.com or at +91-8860244640. You can also email her at tattvakitchen@gmail.com

Taantraa Organic Handbaking, Bangalore
About two years ago, Bangalore resident Chaitali Raizada decided to give up a well-paying but time-consuming IT job to take care of the needs of her daughter Aanyaa. The lack of healthy eating options led her to make some of her own. Today, Chaitali's home-baking initiative, Taantraa Organic Handbaking, provides unprocessed, gluten-free bakes to mothers, yoga teachers, fitness experts, children and those who "treat their bodies like a temple".
"Bakes can also be healthy. One of my clients is a diet and nutrition consultant who directs her clients to me to take care of their sugar cravings," says Chaitali, who does not use any sugar, flour, preservatives, colours, she substitutes them with multi-grains, jaggery, almond flour, nuts, seeds, millets, etc. She does not use microwaves or non-stick appliances, instead makes use of biodegradable moulds.
What to eat: Chaitali's moong dal cake has been a winner of sorts with her clients. Her 'God's Own Seed Bread', a bread made entirely of seeds, is another clear winner. The 'almond butter', a rare find, is very popular And the 'aromatic orange almond' cake is so popular that one of her clients thanked Chaitali for the "orange-infused coma".
Reach out at: Chaitali is based in Indiranagar, Banglore and can be reached at +91-9731244600. She can also be reached at www.taantraa.com

The Protein Bake Shop, Mumbai and other metros
The seven-month-old virtual bakery specialises in desserts and power-bakes that don't use even an ounce of unhealthy flour. Their kitchen relies on coconut and almond meal to put together bakes that range from pizza bases, cookies, biscottis, granola, cakes and tea-time slices. While in Mumbai, their kitchen operates out of Bandra, they also supply across various metros in the country and Dubai. Conceptualised by nutritionist Rashi Chowdhary, each bake is calorie-counted and fit for diabetics. Chowdhary's designer bakes contain no refined sugar and instead rely on small quantities of honey, date or fig extracts to sweeten the dessert. She also uses fat only in the form of butter, which she considers healthy, and coconut oil to moisten the cakes. The bakery also makes nutty almond butter that is ideal for your toasted bread and pizza bases that will add a healthy touch to your appetizer tray without any maida.
What to eat: Chia seed and flax seed slices are ideal when midday hunger pangs come calling. The dessert goes well with a cup of black tea and has bits of the seeds popping in your mouth for texture. If you are a chocolate addict, call for their chocolate stacks that are small squares loaded with dark cocoa.
Reach out at: The Protein Bake Shop delivers to your doorstep at no extra charge. You can place you order by filling up your details on their website www.theproteinbakeshop.com

Fitness Bakery, Mumbai
Started by fitness expert Mustafa Ahmed and his wife, Fitness Bakery is a new dot on the ever expanding Bandra foodscape. The year-old-bakery specialises in bakes that come laced with whey protein. The idea germinated when Mustafa's wife realised that most of us don't intake as much protein as required. While vegetarians need it for their daily wear and tear, protein is an essential component for weight watchers and body builders. Her dessert company therefore doles out desserts that not only contain ample protein but also use alternative flours such as almond and coconut to give you a fitting treat. Their specialty are grain-free cupcakes that are dressed without the indulgent butter cream and sugar and are instead topped with a nutritious concoction of coconut cream and dark cocoa powder. No wonder they are such a hit with the Bollywood brigade (Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi to name a few).
What to eat: A must-have is their sweet potato brownie that tastes more appetizing than it sounds. The dessert uses the tubers pulp and contains less sugar than other products owing to its natural sweetness. Their cupcakes are tough texture-wise but pack in flavour. Apart from bakes, they also make protein-loaded ice cream that contain no artificial sugar.
Reach out at: The bakery needs a 24 hour notice and delivers throughout the city. Call them on +9177 18918188 or visit www.fitnessbakery.in

sonal.ved@dnaindia.net, amrita.madhukalya@dnaindia.net, @visually_kei