Written By: Upneet Pansare | Updated : June 12, 2018 2:54 PM IST
Ever since granola made its entry in the Indian market, it has become one of my most favourite breakfast and snack items. A combination of oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruits and sweeteners like honey or sugar, granola scores high on taste and nutrition. If you check out Instagram posts of popular diet and fitness enthusiasts, you are likely to come across their homemade granola bar recipes. Owing to their energy-boosting properties, granola and granola bars are great before and after workout snacks too.
Thankfully, making your own granola doesn t require a lot of effort. But as much as I would like to make my own granola in my kitchen, I find it difficult to get down to actually putting it together. This is why I end up buying packaged granola from stores. But like most packaged food items, most packaged granola is full of artificial flavouring, excess sugar, colours and preservatives. Even those brands that claim to be healthy, often falter when it comes to these factors. As a consumer, how do you check if the low-cal, low-sugar claims made by a company are actually true? The extra sweetness and other additives completely mar the nutritive value of oats, dried fruits and other healthy ingredients in the granola.
I recently tried three flavours of Sustenance Food Handcrafted Granola -- cranberry & pistachio, fig & walnut and chocolate & hazelnut granola. On the packet, it says it is gluten free, vegan, contains nuts and seeds, is 100 per cent natural and sweetened with locally sourced organic honey. According to the packet, each batch is hand mixed and baked in small batches at low temperatures. That is what gave it a nice crunch and a light, toasty flavour. Sustenance Food granola is refined sugar-free which makes it healthier than most granola brands in India.
For breakfast, I had the granola with plain Greek yoghurt and also with milk. It also works well as an afternoon snack to beat your 4 pm hunger pangs. I have kept a packet in my office and sometimes have it straight out of the bottle without any accompaniments. But to be honest, it tasted best when I had it with vanilla ice cream after dinner. A perfect dessert option I am going to keep indulging in! Here are some healthy dessert recipes - healthy ingredient swaps.
If I were to rate all the three varieties, I would give the chocolate & hazelnut granola a 10/10. With dark chocolate chips and whole hazelnuts in every bite, this granola is quite literally a healthy dessert. The fig & walnut is a great combination of flavours and comes a close second. In the cranberries & pistachio flavour, I would have liked a lot more cranberries. Also, I thought the cranberries were a little too sweet.
The packaging is attractive -- the granolas come in glass bottles. I found the price a little steep Rs 400 (fig & walnut, cranberries & pistachio); Rs 450 (chocolate & hazelnut) for 230 gms.
With the festive season around the corner, I think Sustenance Food Granola can be a good gifting option instead of chocolates or mithais, for your loved ones.
Disclaimer: TheHealthSite does not endorse any brands and is not responsible for its efficacy. The review is based on the author s experience with the product.
