When you think of childhood memories the most evocative ones are almost always related to food, especially when it comes to homemade sweets or desserts and a child’s spontaneous reaction to them –

when the cake batter was getting made, dipping a finger in it to steal a taste of it before it was popped in the oven,

when the halwa was taken off the stove to cool off burning your tongue by taking a small spoon of it despite being piping hot,

when the broken leftover crumbs of the cookies are collected and eaten from the jar,

when the homemade ice cream that announced the arrival of summer ( and mangoes!) is so yum that you don’t mind ‘drinking’ the melted portion of it,

when laddoos are being made, you want to pick them up and pop one in your mouth right away.

At home I don’t use any white sugar for 10 years now. But we did use some natural unrefined sweeteners for our desserts. When Type 1 D entered our life all of a sudden I knew we had to change that part too. The same kids who had taken all their mother’s other healthy baking experiments in their stride and had enjoyed the results, were now required to adapt to a whole new element – a ride of a lifetime.

I didn’t dread the shift at all. But I did dread the loss of spontaneity that it might result in. Food needs to be tracked especially carbs and measured, insulin given and then that food can be consumed. How then a child can simply follow what their heart says when they see a dessert being made?

That question haunted me for a while and the answer as always lies within us – to create something that my child can eat spontaneously and yet remain safe and healthy.

And while I was making these Low Carb Almond Coconut Laddoos with plant based Stevia yesterday, my daughter came and picked up one and ran off to eat it despite me running behind saying that these are for the weekend 🙂

And that one laddoo was fine for her to eat – as is. Without a care. Because of how it was made and what it contained.

So you see, flavours and shifting palates are not big problems. What I struggle every day to preserve is the spontaneous joyfulness in my child but as I said, the answer lies within me.

Recipe

1 cup whole almonds

1/4 cup coconut flour

2 green elaichi / cardamom

5 microspoons Stevia powder ( I used PluckOne)

1 tbsp ghee

1-2 tbsp coconut milk

Method –

1. Grind the almonds, elaichi and coconut flour in a mixer until it mixes well. Do it in short spurts so that almond does not release oil.
2. Add the ghee into a wok/kadhai. Allow it to melt on low flame.
3. Add the above mix and dry roast for 5 minutes or so while constantly stirring.
4. Switch off the gas. Add the stevia and mix well.
5. Add coconut milk
6. Mix to make a dough and shape into laddoos while still hot.
7. Store in air tight container. Can be eaten hot or cold.