Speaking to the young ones & No-fat Wholewheat Raw Sugar Banana Muffins

I received the opportunity to speak to the 10th Grade students at Poorna Learning Centre, which is an alternative school in Bengaluru earlier this month(March). I spoke about a range of things but mainly focused on healthy baking and social entrepreneurship. From the moment I walked into the school it radiated positive vibes and warmth. I loved the sounds of laughter, like it should be when children laugh without a care, many of them playing away like they truly should – in sun and mud, the boundary-less classrooms, the art room, the math lab, the community cooking area… So much to learn from them about how kids are being truly prepared for life and the world.

Thanks to the teachers who made it a beautiful experience and Rachita for having me over.

I am not associated in any capacity or commercially with the school. This is what I truly felt and wanted to share. Rachita, one of the teachers and me are batchmates from our B-school days and hence she has been following my work which she felt might help the students.

That positive vibe also reminded me of something else – A few days ago on another group I shared a recipe post about baking with fewer ingredients and what we have available with us in the current circumstances.

Even in times like these you can be trolled by someone on a foodie group, who mentioned one of the ingredients and commented sarcastically that he had forgotten to add it to his “zombie apocalypse ration list” . That was his reference to this pandemic. Of course it bothered me that he was belittling the need to be frugal with food.

But more than anything else, it made me realize that so many are not taking this part of the issue seriously – that when we hoard we deprive many of necessities. That when we waste, we continue to allow many to go hungry.

We cannot take this lightly in a world where even in 2020, starvation could be the top reason for deaths.

But we need to see the positive in every situation – if you don’t have an ingredient don’t use it. Find an alternative. What else is healthy baking if not that?

Like these no-fat Wholewheat Raw Sugar Banana Muffins. I didn’t have butter or the oil that I use for baking, in stock. So I relied on the fruit fat to do the job – which was bananas. And it worked beautifully.

Recipe –

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 cup unrefined raw sugar

2 free-range eggs ( replacement for eggs would be applesauce – 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup milk

Cup Size – 240 ml

Method –

1. Mash the bananas well.
2. Add the raw sugar and whisk together.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk well.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder.
5. Add the sifted flour and milk alternately
6. Put the batter into muffin liners.
7. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees C for 10 minutes.
8. Put the muffins into the oven to bake for 20 minutes at the same temperature, or until done.
9. Cool off and eat!