World Diabetes day from the Chirota’s point of view!
Hello friends. Not a very happy Diwali for me if you are asking who’s chirota. Don’t google, there’s no English name for me, I am a native just like you. The reason why I am writing is that just like native plants and fruits no one seems to care that I am about to be extinct. If I was an animal the WWF would put me on that critically endangered list. I am grateful for the long life I have had, I have seen the world go by and may be its just age (though my creator promised me that I was ageless like Bheeshma) but I am beginning to understand that no one quite cares about us native, traditional sweets. Not the government, no right wing group, no leftist, no atheist and of course no chef, dietitian or doctor.
At one point I was made with great fanfare during special occasions and Diwali celebration was incomplete without me. The entire family got together to make me, people from all genders and ages in the household contributed equally. And it wasn’t even fashionable for men to cook then, nor was there any Instagram for foodgasm or FB for live update. But then that was my ability, to bind and to keep it together, not just the sweetness through my flaky exterior, but the family through its apparent differences.
The maida, the white butter, the sugar and the final deep frying in ghee – from sieving the maida, to how the ingredients were mixed to the final colour and degree that I got deep fried too, every step recorded for hundreds of years in an unbroken chain of food culture passed from one generation to another. And done delicately and crisply – just like my true nature. You may not know of my delicate nature or crispiness if you haven’t bitten into me, just like how you wont know the fragrance of a rose if you have never held one in your hand.
After being made, I got shared with extended family, friends and neighbours whose families may not have the tradition of making me. And thus I not just acted as a medium of spreading sweetness but also acted like the glue that kept the society bonded.
Anyways the reason for my critically endangered status is the exact same that makes us a Diabetic nation – misinformation. And misinformation repeated multiple times by doctors, dietitians, etc., till it becomes the truth. And its not just me, I am just one sweet from Maharashtra but there are many like me across every region in India and I am not even counting the ones across the developing world who join me in this plight. But then every truth must be questioned before being accepted.
So I am my own voice and I want you to hear the truth. If you are reading this on laptop, phone, computer, you didn’t need me, free internet should have allowed you to have all this information, but then here goes –
1. Food is not the sum total of carbs, protein and fat, there’s much more there than meets the eye. And nutrition science is taking its own sweet time to get there.2. Sugar is not the problem, nor is it the solution, you are. If you drink sugarless tea with a biscuit in your hand (however tasteless the biscuit) you are just clueless. The American Diabetic association says that roughly about 10 – 15 teaspoons of sugar a day is healthy. Now trust me, even by Chirota standards that’s too much. In that much sugar I can feed 6 of you a super size me each.3. Addition of fat, especially the good old ghee, delays gastric emptying by up-regulating the response of a gut hormone called GLP-1. Basically this means that it lowers the glycemic index and helps regulate the blood sugar response. So adding ghee to food, in this case adding it to maida, lowers the glycemic index of maida which on its own is pretty high on the GI. Whether its hormonal imbalance, obesity or diabetes that you are fighting, adding ghee to your diet is a great idea.4. Even the USFDA in its recently reviewed guidelines confirmed that there is no upper limit on fat intake and that cholesterol is no longer a nutrient of concern for overconsumption. In short, they confirmed that when your dadi said eat ghee and eat as much as you want she was more updated on scientific truths than what USFDA’s current guidelines.5. So really, Diwali deserves to be celebrated with us native sweets that bring families and societies together and that’s not something that chocolates, cupcakes and mindlessly re-cycled gifts can ever do.
Where will you find a chirota?
Not at any fancy store, not when you unwrap fancy packing, its now made by small women’s groups or co-operatives. So till you don’t learn to make a chirota at home, know that every time you buy a chirota, you keep a woman in business, a child in school and a family financially capable of celebrating Diwali!

Published on November 14, 2015 04:10
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