“It’s all about balance.” Masterchef Contestant Natasha Gandhi.

Namita Nayyar:

How do you go about developing recipes for House of Millets, deciding on healthy ingredients, etc. 5 tips to keep in mind while opting for healthy cooking?

Natasha Gandhi:

Knowledge about baking & understanding the science of ingredients is very important. So first I study a regular recipe and then swap ingredients with healthier options, then try it and make changes till I am satisfied with the end product.

A few tips would be : 

• Ragi flour and chocolate pair very well, so always make a chocolate cake using ragi flour 
• Use lighter flours like almond flour or oats flour to balance with the millet flour and the desserts will be light 
• Use avocado oil instead of butter or refined oils, it helps with adding moistness due to its high Good fat content and also has a neutral taste and so many health benefits. In my everyday cooking too I have replaced regular oil with avocado oil and seen such great results in overall health 
• Start with small steps
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  , try to make roti with 50% millet flour and 50% multigrain, so it’s easier to make and everyone to adapt to the taste. Then start with 100% millet flour Rotis 
• Don’t be scared to experiment with healthy ingredients, swap that sugar with date syrup, swap it with jaggery and you will see results.

Namita Nayyar:

“People have a feeling that alternative flour and sweeteners lead to “compromised” desserts which are disappointing in taste.” How were you able to break that misconception. Please explain

Natasha Gandhi:

It’s all about balance.

Don’t make cakes with 100% millet flour, they will crumble and be very dense. Always use a combination of 2-3 flour-like millet, almond, and brown rice flour.

When it comes to sweetener I use both dates and jaggery so that the taste is slightly more caramel because of dates, otherwise, it might taste like an Indian mithai if u use too much jaggery 

And lastly, experiment with flavour combos, add orange zest to your chocolate cakes, add berries & Jamun to your vanilla cake and these fruit flavours help to bring out a beautiful dessert.