Eid is around the corner. People have started making preparations and looking forward to celebrating this holi festival with friends and family.

Eid festival is famous for its biryanis, kebabs and of course sweets.

Sevai or thin noodles is synonymous with Eid. Without any sweet sevai preparation, the festivities are incomplete. 

Sweets are more often laden with loads of ghee and sugar which makes it difficult for many people to take more than one serving. What if some of these dishes can be made healthy enough for everyone to enjoy them!

Below are the three healthy versions of popular sevai dishes

• Kimami Sewai

This is an awadhi sweet more popular in Lucknow side and prepared during Eid festival.

Traditionally it is made with sevai, sugar, khoa, makhana and nuts mixture. 

We can make this recipe with mango pulp creating a healthier dish which can be enjoyed by all.

Variation: The recipe involves, roasting sevai, making a sugar syrup, cooking sevai in the syrup, adding a powder of roasted makhana & nuts along with mava. 

We can make the same recipe by roasting sevai, cooking it in milk with saffron till thick, then cool. To this mixture, add mango puree, roasted nuts and sprinkle grated sweetened khoa on the top for garnish. This cuts down the calories by more than half. Instead of sugar/jaggery, mango puree is used as a sweetener. For those who like it more sweet, honey can also be used.

• Sevai kheer

Another most common sweet dish is making kheer from sevai. Normally sevai is cooked in milk, with added sugar and nuts. Sevai is normally made out of wheat and many people who are allergic to gluten may not be able to consume them.

Variation: Selecting a millet based sevai can help in getting the same dish with not much difference in flavor and taste but at the same time many people allergic to gluten can consume them. Alternatively rice sevai can also be used but millet based sevai gives more volume to the whole dish.

But make sure that you select sevai which has more than 60% millet (ragi/foxtail/little millet) and less than 30% wheat to get the desired texture for the dish. Millet based vermicelli has more proteins as compared to rice or wheat vermicelli, better nutrition profile giving you an opportunity for guilt free eating.

• Khare semiya

Bored with sweets or the doctor has advised not to eat sweets? Khare semiya to the rescue!

Khare semiya is a very simple recipe. 

Variations: Give seasoning of mustard, green chillies, garlic and ginger, add minced meat, salt and roast for sometime. Add water and boil till meat is cooked, add salt and roasted semiya, cook till done. Garnish with coriander and roasted peanuts.

This is a meal in itself. For the vegetarian version, meat can be replaced with cubes of tofu or paneer.

There are many more variations and improvisations of the original recipes. Enjoy this Eid with these healthy versions of sevai and make your festival guilt free and filled with happiness.