Healthy eating at Eid

Eid is a time when families come together to pray, give each other gifts and celebrate. And food often plays an important part in the celebrations.

What's it all about?

The two main festivals of Eid are called Eid-Al-Fitr and Eid-Al-Adha. This year, the Islamic festival of Eid-Al-Fitr (the festival of fast breaking) is likely to fall on 21 September, it marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan – the annual period of fasting.

Eid-Al-Adha (the festival of sacrifice) marks the completion of the Hajj – the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's most sacred city. It's celebrated by sharing meat-based dishes with family and friends and giving to the poor. This year it takes place in late November and lasts for three days.

Eid marks a time of celebration for millions of Muslims across the world. The festive diet and rituals vary between different countries and communities. For instance, in India, Pakistan and Fiji, a family would dine on Savayya for breakfast, (a dish of fine, toasted vermicelli noodles) whereas, in many other communities, dates are used as the first food to break the fast. In Indonesia, fish wouldn't be used in a celebratory dish as it's eaten on most days and, in some countries, there are very few specific celebratory dishes at all.

Keeping with tradition and keeping healthy

Traditional Eid-time cooking can be healthy, but when you're celebrating it's easy to forget and indulge in too much food that has a lot of salt or saturated fat. But even during celebrations, it's good to check you're still eating healthily. So we’ve come up with some healthier ways to make your Eid favourites:

• Use herbs and spices to add flavour in place of the salt you'd use in cooking your family dish. Chilli, garam masala, coriander, fresh lime and pepper will all make your meal taste just as good. Try to avoid adding salt at the table too.
• Try using a vegetable oil like rapeseed or sunflower, instead of ghee or butter when you're cooking. Start by measuring the amount you would normally add and gradually use a bit less.
• When buying meat, look out for the leaner cuts and remove any visible fats before cooking. If it's mince you’re after, go for the lean option, or ask your butcher to make your mince from leaner cuts of meat.
• Some great low-fat dishes include chicken tikka, baked masala fish and roasted spicy meats. All can be cooked with just a little oil and flavoured with a combination of herbs and spices such as garlic, ginger, chilli, garam masala, coriander, thyme, parsley and cumin.



• Eid-time desserts like kheer (traditional rice pudding) and halwa (a sweet with seeds and nuts) are delicious treats, but by using less sugar and cream, and adding some dried fruit they're just as tasty but much healthier.



• Instead of frying your vegetables try to grill or microwave aubergine (bengan), lightly stir-fry okra (bhindi), or oven-roast courgettes with aubergine and peppers. You can spice it all up with cumin seeds and green chillies.
• To make the most of the vitamins and minerals in your veg try not to overcook them as the less time they're cooked the more vitamins they'll have. If you're boiling your vegetables, only use enough water to just cover them and avoid cutting vegetables into small chunks.
• To get the same indulgent taste without the extra calories, make your paratha by cooking a plain chapatti on your tava (frying pan) with a little vegetable oil or low-fat spread instead of butter.
• You can even cook snacks like samosas and pastries in the oven by spraying or brushing them with a small amount of oil and baking till brown and crisp.
• When making traditional tea use low-fat milk and add less or no sugar. You could try having green tea instead with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Fit in some fruit and veg

We should be aiming to eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day. There are so many ways you can create mouth-watering traditional dishes with loads of fruit and veg. Have a look at some of our ideas:

• Mix it up by tossing lots of different vegetables into a salad. You can include lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radish (mooli), carrots, peppers and sweetcorn. It's a quick and easy way to get in some of your five a day.
• Try stuffing red, green or yellow peppers with a spicy mixture of meat and rice or make the most of your dahl or curry by adding plenty of vegetables like tomatoes, green beans (valor) or spinach (saag). And if you've got any left over ingredients you could make a spicy soup with meat and chunky vegetables.
• Spice up a fruit salad by using chaat masala (a spice mix) with fruits like apples, pears, oranges, mango, papaya, passionfruit and pomegranate seeds. Use fruit juice to add sweetness, rather than sugar or syrup.



• Mix some delicious mango pulp with skimmed milk and serve as a cooling drink or dessert.

Balance it all out

Sometimes, amidst all the celebrations, you can forget to eat certain types of food that you need to maintain a healthy balance. Here are some creative ways to make sure you're getting the right balance.

• Adding extra potatoes or other starchy vegetables like sweet potato or cassava is a good way to bulk out stews, soups and other dishes.



• Swap your plain flour for wholemeal when making breads and try to serve your main dishes with brown rice. This will not only bump up your fibre and nutrients but it will also leave you feeling fuller for longer and less likely to snack.
• For extra texture, add lentils or chickpeas to meat dishes, less meat will help you cut down on the saturated fat in your meal. They're also a good source of protein in vegetarian dishes.
• Eggs are a brilliant source of protein, try topping a lamb biryani with a sliced egg or make a delicious spicy omelette. Eggs are also a good natural source of vitamin D and because sunlight is the main source of vitamin D, and living here in the UK means we can be short on sunlight hours, it can be hard to get enough.
• Get into the habit of using low-fat yogurt, skimmed, 1% or semi-skimmed milk instead of full-fat types. Use a lower fat milk in milky desserts such as kheer (traditional rice pudding) or drinks such as lassi (a yoghurt, water and spice blend).
• Try grilling cubes of paneer (a type of cheese) instead of frying. If you make paneer at home try making it with a lower fat milk in place of full-fat milk.

Help yourself tips

When you're surrounded by food, it's easy to lose track of what you’re eating. Try some of our top tips for a healthier Eid.

• Be aware of the fried and fatty foods you reach for during the day, often without realising it.



• Try cooking with less saturated fat, salt and sugar. Avoid adding cream, butter, salt or sugar at the table.
• Eat regular meals and avoid eating rich foods very late in the evening.
• Try to have smaller portions and take your time when you're eating – chew more, chat more, eat less.
• Try to avoid second helpings, even if it means being strict with a persuasive relative!
• Dried fruits, seeds and unsalted nuts are a healthy snack option and the perfect alternative to savoury rusks, salted Bombay mix (chewda) and roasted salted nuts that tend to be high in fat.
• Do something active every day – even if it's going for a 10-minute brisk walk with the family or running up the stairs to pick up some more presents. Cleaning up after the celebrations can also be good exercise, and if you really want to burn some calories, dancing will keep everyone awake after lunch.

This is just a taste of the kinds of festive food that can be healthy and tasty. Enjoy your Eid celebrations.