Like many mothers, Rida Sajad (36) struggled to get her children, Miraan (4) and Moeez (7), to inculcate healthy eating habits. The challenge only became harder when she insisted they eat dry fruits.
In April 2020, during Ramadan, she tried feeding her children dry fruits in kheer, a traditional Indian dessert. The children ended up fiddling with their food, and while doing so, mashed together the dates, and pressed almonds over them. “‘Look, mother, a chocolate sweet’, they said,” the Noida-based mother recalls.
The shapes of the dry fruit were similar to those of chocolates, and surprisingly, the kids messing around with their food resulted in something that was aesthetically pleasing as well. This gave Rida the idea to reinvent sweets that would look appealing and acceptable to children. Soon after, she began experimenting with turning dry fruits into sweets without using sugar, caramel, honey, or jaggery.
“The family paediatrician recommended that children below the…