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The name may look a little rustic and country kind of, but this can be said as an inexpensive, natural, feasible, and tasty food ingredient. Yes, we are talking about none other than; Sattu. Sattu is also called ‘Poor man’s protein’, being economical and loaded with proteins.
We, people, spend a lot of money to get fancy and colored energy drinks, sports drinks, etc. They are made attractive using glossy colors, flavors, and so on. They may give us instant energy with the taste, but are they really worth it? Talking about the nutritional profile, those beautiful-looking drinks are full of sugars, food colors, and whatnot.
Sugar: Key ingredient to all fancy energy drinks (avoid it):
Can people use jaggery, honey, dates, fruit puree, etc as a sweetener for their energy drinks? It will not fit actually or be rejected by consumers themselves. White sugar rapidly gets soluble without changing the texture of the liquid. Due to westernization, for a decade sugar has become very popular in India.
Even a normal person, who doesn’t know even the ABCs of health, knows that sugars and such adulterations are bad for our bodies, in every aspect. White sugar is actually a latent poison! It may look good and easy to use the thing, but for future reference gives rise to heavy problems like Diabetes, blood pressure, hormonal imbalances, premature aging, and many more.
What is Sattu?
Sattu is a coarsely grounded powder of Bengal gram, roasted in the sand to give it an aromatic and nutty flavor. Sometimes chickpeas and other pulses powder too is added to the preparation, to give it a nice and tempting flavor. Sattu is rich in iron, calcium, proteins, magnesium, sodium, fibers, and many more. It is a coarse, yellowish powder which is very good for health. The taste of sattu is similar to roasted bengal gram, as it is the same but in powdered form.
How Sattu can be consumed?
Sattu powder can be used in different ways. Sattu sharbat is a famous drink, especially in the areas of Jharkhand, Bihar, U.P, Nepal, and other regions. It is a very exotic and healthy, food ingredient that is multipurpose and can be used in parathas, littis, sattu sharbat, and many more. Sattu sharbat which is famous for all is made in both sweet as well as in tangy forms. It is a brilliant summer coolant and keeps your body cool in a natural and healthy way.
Like other energy drinks, they may seem cooling and flavorful from the outside but has many other side effects too, like excessive cooling may give you a cold and cough kind of problems, a sugary tincture is of course not good, and many more.
How to prepare Sattu Sharbat (Sattu Drink)
Above we came to know all the details about this miracle drink, Sattu. But how to prepare it? It hardly takes, 4-5 minutes for the whole procedure to be executed.
Let’s check out the recipe given below
Ingredients required
- Sattu powder- 5-7 tablespoons
- Water- 500 ml
- Black salt- 3 teaspoons
- Black pepper powder- 1 teaspoon
- Cumin powder- 2 teaspoon
- A handful of chopped coriander
- Jaljeera powder- 2 teaspoon
- Lemon juice- 1 tablespoon
- Finely chopped green chili- 1/2
- Finely chopped onions- 1/2
Serves- 2Â
Steps to make sattu sharbat
- Take a mixing jar or a gym bottle.
- Put all the ingredients into it and just shake it.
- Take out 2 glasses and pour the prepared sharbat equally.
- Toss with some ice cubes and put a twig or mint or lemon slice on the edge. It will give an elegant look.
Note: You can adjust the number of chilies, onions, or any other spice which you may like to avoid; jaljeera, etc. If it’s melting hot outside, then you may toss your drink with ice cubes as well.Â
Sattu drink over fancy energy drinks:
If you go to the energy drink section in supermarkets, you will see rows and columns of energy drinks. Available in different brands, colors, flavors, etc. They are quite expensive.
Talking about the Sattu drink; it has got all the qualities in it. It is economical, tasty, easy to prepare, healthy, unadulterated, natural, and available almost in every classic grocery shop. Earlier, the thing which was limited to fewer states is now easily available in supermarkets and everywhere.
Here we got the description of Sattu. In brief, we came to know what is it, its uses, etc. Now we will be talking about the health benefits of Sattu or Sattu sharbat! Of all the other preparations of sattu, its drink form, or sattu sharbat is the most popular and healthiest of all.
Although, whether taken as liquid or any form, sattu is always good. But the sharbat form is more liked, tasty, and famous all over India.
Benefits of having sattu sharbat :
1. As a summer coolant
Summers, especially in northern parts of India are soo sizzling hot! Temperature touches around 45 degrees which gets so much unbearable. No doubt, water is the best thing to provide hydration but what about body salts, electrolytes, and nutrition? This thing is completed by having a glass of chilled Sattu Sharbat!
It is a natural coolant and also refills those salts and electrolytes. It keeps us energized all day long.
2. Best food for Diabetics
Being low in glycemic index, and high in proteins and fibers; sattu is just a perfect food ingredient for people with diabetes. It also cuts cholesterol deposits, which is another good advantage of having sattu. Doctors too suggest having sattu roti (without oil) instead of normal wheat roti for diabetics.
It helps to rectify, insulin production and keeps your liver and pancreas normal with no heaviness of gluten or anything which is not required by our body.
3. A potent and complete meal
To prepare a glass of sattu sharbat, we will need around 4-5 tablespoons of sattu powder. It is a nice amount actually! We discussed that sattu is made up of Bengal gram, which itself is a very dense food! So if you take a glass of sattu sharbat, either as breakfast or post breakfast, it will keep you full for a long time; that too in a healthy way. It fills your stomach, at the same time keeping it cool and energetic as well. Sattu sharbat is also called the ‘cheapest protein drink’. Those laborers, workers, etc who don’t earn much, easily rely upon this; least expensive and provides energy as well.
4. Regulates Bowel movements
Those who take sattu sharbat in a desirable way, never get any stomach or intestine-related issues. Their bowel movements are always smooth and eased. Any kind of ulcer, cramps, abdominal pain, etc are easily cured by this tasty and refreshing drink.
5. Flushes out toxins from the body
Sattu is the powdered form of roasted Bengal gram. And we all know, Bengal gram and other grams come into the category of legumes and pulses. So this off-yellowish powder can be said as the powerhouse of energy. Being loaded with fibers, vitamins, and minerals, sattu flushes out toxins from the body. The sharbat especially, when tossed with lemon, black pepper powder, and cumin powder becomes a very good detoxifier.
Side effects of Sattu:
Every good thing has got a negative side too! The same is with sattu. Although sattu is extremely beneficial for health, if taken in excess it may cause problems like indigestion, flatulence, nausea, heaviness, and many more.
Being made with Bengal gram and pulses, indeed it is very dense in nature. So it should be taken in the right amount and right time as well. It is always best to take a sattu drink or anything made up of that in the daytime. At this time, we abide by movements so the thing is easily digested.
Taken as post-breakfast or mid-lunch, it will get easily digested and will only give benefits, not any flatulence or anything!
How to choose the right type of sattu?
If you go to any grocery shop, especially those who are native to Rajasthan and other North Indian states, they will present not just one, but varieties of sattu. They may be of different compositions, coarseness, etc. The right and best form of sattu is the one that is ‘organic’. It means the one which is gluten-free and free from artificial additives as well.
So in this way, we saw what is Sattu, and other descriptions related to it. Hope we were able to cover all the topics, and you must be fully satisfied with the topic. If you have any kind of question or query, do comment us in the comment section. Take care and live well!
You can buy Sattu from Amazon!
