Click here to view. Veg Puff recipe. From small towns to cities, almost every bakery in India has the ever-popular Veg Puff, ready to warm and serve when a hungry customer arrives. Sometimes called the “common man’s pizza”, the Veg Puff has a unique flaky cover, enclosing a succulent mixed vegetable filling, which makes it both flavourful and satiating.

Some bakeries have variants like Paneer Puff and Chole Puff, in which the filling alone changes. What everybody thinks to be a secret recipe of bakeries can indeed be prepared at home too, right from scratch. Little things like brushing with milk and using ample margarine ensure that the flavour and texture are perfect. So, follow this recipe to the T and rest assured of a superb Veg Puff that will reap lots of compliments.

Is Veg Puff  healthy?

No, this is not healthy. Let's see why.

Let's understand the Ingredients.

What's good.

1. Green Peas : Green peas are good for weight loss, good source of vegetarian protein, has insoluble fibre to relieve constipation. Legumes like green peas, cow peas, mung, chick peas and kidney beans have a cholesterol lowering effect. Green Peas are rich in Vitamin K which aids in bone metabolism. Green peas have a Glycemic Index (GI) rank of 22 which is low and good for diabetics.  Is green peas good for diabetics and see full benefits of green peas. 

2. Carrots (gajjar) : Carrots have the nutrient Beta Carotene which is a form of Vitamin A, helps prevent deterioration of the eye as one gets older and prevents night blindness. Carrot is great for the eyes.They relieve constipation, lower blood pressure, have fibre and lower cholesterol. Read the 11 super benefiits of carrots and why to include in your daily diet.

3. French Beans ( Fansi ) : French Beans is rich in folic acid.  A deficiency of folic acid can also lead to anaemia, as like iron they are equally necessary to make red blood cells. Without enough folic acid, you can get easily tired. Pregnant women can also benefit from its folic acid count. It’s effective to achieve weight loss, overcome constipation, control blood sugar levels,  treat high cholesterol as well as prevent cancer. See here for detailed 15 benefits of french beans. 

4. Onions (pyaz, kanda) :  Raw onions are a very valuable source of vitamin C – the immune building vitamin. Along with other phytonutrients from onions, it helps to build WBC (white blood cells) which serves as a line of defence against illness. Yes, it’s a source of many antioxidants, the most important one amongst them being Quercetin. The quercetin in Onions promotes production of HDL (good cholesterol) and lowers total cholesterol in the body. The sulphur in onions act as a blood thinner and prevents blood clotting too. This in turn would lower blood pressure and good for heart,  diabetics. Read the benefits of onions. 

5. Coriander (kothmir, dhania) : Coriander is a fresh herb often used as a flavour enhancer in Indian cooking. It is mainly used as a garnish. This is the best way to use it - no cooking. This preserves its vitamin C content which helps to build our immunity and bring that sparkle to the skin. The antioxidants vitamin A, vitamin C and the quercetin present in coriander works towards strengthening our immune system. Coriander is a fairly good source of iron and folate – the 2 nutrient which help in the production and maintenance of red blood cells in our blood. Good for reducing cholesterol and good for diabetics. Read 9 benefits of coriander to understand details. 

6. Lemon, Lemon Juice : Lemon is a very good source of Vitamin C and thus helps in the production of  white blood cells and antibodies in the blood which attacks invading microorganisms, prevents infection and builds immunity. Therefore, Lemon juice is given to prevent common cold. The ascorbic acid in lemon juice helps in absorption of iron from the food. So if you’re iron deficient or have anaemia squeeze a lemon on iron rich recipes. See detailed benefits of lemon, lemon juice.

What's the problem?

1. Plain flour (maida) : This recipe uses plain flour or maida which is refined carb not suitable for healthy lifestyle. Maida consumption in any food should be totally avoided or just a little bit of usage as any consumption of this will cause a larger spike in blood levels which is not good for diabetics, heart patients. The development of prediabetes comes from uncontrolled eating sugar and refined food products for many years and the classic symptom is if you have excess belly fat. This leads to diabetes and further onwards to heart attack, high blood pressure, strokes, impotence and kidney damage.  Read is maida good for you to understand fully.

2. Potatoes (Aloo) : Potatoes being high in simple carbohydrates will lead to weight gain and are not good for people with diabetes, heart problem and obesity. Potatoes are recommended for malnourished children and people with low weight. See full details on why potatoes are bad for you.  

3. Vegetable Oils : To some vegetable oil is only soyabean oil, while some promote it as a mix of oils like soyabean, canola, sunflower, corn and other omega-6 rich oils. These are often cheaper options than many oils, but they are highly processed oils. They are undoubtedly not to be reached out for, whether you are looking for salad dressings, sautéing or cooking.  The 5 best oils used in cooking are olive oil (low temperature short time cooking), avocado oil, canola oil, coconut oil and peanut oil. You must read the super article to find the facts of  which oil is the healthiest avoid vegetable oil. 

Can diabetics, heart patients and over weight individuals haveVeg Puff?

No, this recipe is not good for diabetics, heart and weight loss. This recipe uses plain flour or maida which is refined carb not suitable for healthy lifestyle. Maida consumption in any food should be totally avoided or just a little bit of usage as any consumption of this will cause a larger spike in blood levels which is not good for diabetics, heart patients. 

Here are some Healthy Indian snack options.

You can have Baked Samosa with mixed sprouts, Matarsutir Kachori,  Oats Moong Dal Tikki or buckwheat pancake as one healthy recipe option. 

Matarsutir Kochuri, Healthy Bengali Snack

Can healthy individuals have Veg Puff?

No. Potatoes being high in simple carbohydrates will lead to weight gain and are not good for a healthy life style. 

8 Pointers to get healthy on a Indian diet

1. Eat healthy and say yes to good home cooked food. Prefer whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and healthy flours like bajra flour, jowar flour, quinoa flour, wheat flour etc. rather than refined ones like maida. Have healthy Indian fats like ghee, coconut, coconut oil in your diet. 

2. Opt out of junk food, packaged food, deep fried foods. Prefer steamed snacks and other non-fried snacks. Check out some Healthy Indian Snacks. Remember to eat small frequent meals through the day as that will keep you always full and prevent your blood sugar from dropping. By starving your body through some diet, will not help you one bit. In fact, dieting will make you binge on 2 to 3 meals which is not good. 

Skip having Indian junk foods like pav bhaji, bata vada, pakoras, gulab jamun as they cause your body to have insulance resistance. The resultant is your body will store more carbohydrates as fats, causing storage of fat in the stomach causing a paunch and slowing down of our fat burning process. So its a bad cyle which causes you more more hunger and fatigue every time you eat junk food. 

3. Have 4 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 3 servings of fruit is a must. Follow the logic of a vegetable in each main meal of the day and a fruit in-between meals. Check out a few Healthy Indian Soups and Healthy Indian Salads  recipes using this food group.           

4. Cut down on sugar and salt in your diet and pick honey ( very small amounts) or dates to sweeten your food. Slowly cut the sugar habit as this is not going to happen over night. Sugar  is also called white poison. It is a simple carbohydrate with zero nutritional value. On intake, sugar will cause inflammation of the body which will last for many hours. It will spike your blood sugar level and shut down the fat burning process. This also causes high blood sugar levels in your body. The development of prediabetes comes from uncontrolled eating sugar and refined food products for many years and the classic symptom is if you have excess belly fat. This leads to diabetes and further onwards to heart attack, high blood pressure, strokes, impotence and kidney damage. 

Salt and blood pressure. Apart from stress and obesity, one of the main reasons for high blood pressure is excessive sodium and salt intake. Most people find it difficult to limit the amount of salt in their cooking, thinking it will affect the taste of their favourite dishes. 

This is not true. Bajra and jowar are rich in potassium and critical for those with High Blood Pressure as it lessens the impact of sodium. Eating more Potassium Rich Foods will remove more sodium from your body through urine. So include the basic bajra roti and jowar roti in your daily diet to have with Lower Blood Pressure Subzis Recipes. 

5. Befriend a few healthy seeds and nuts like chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds. Stress. The easiest way to kill your immune system is chronic stress. 

6.  Sprouts are called ‘living food’. They are high is most nutrients and easy to digest as well. Let them feature in your meals at least thrice a week. Also Read : All Benefits about Sprouts. 

7.  Exercise 45 minutes every day. No excuse. You can walk fast, run, do weights, play your favourite sport or go to the gym. No activity reduces muscle tissue which will lead to muscke loss and all kinds of problems with that. Workout builds immunity and keeps virus or bugs away. 

8.  Sleep early and get up early. Get your body into rhythm and it will function best. Sleep helps your body to recover and makes you look much younger. Also getting good sleep prevent muscle loss, builds immunity and keeps virus or bugs away.

How to burn 170 calories that come from Veg Puff?

Walking (6 kmph) = 51 mins

Running (11 kmph) = 17 mins

Cycling (30 kmph) = 23 mins          

Swimming (2 kmph) = 29 mins

Note: These values are approximate and calorie burning differs in each individual.