Bengaluru’s sweet shops offer low-sugar, diabetic-friendly treats as festive season rolls in
As health and wellness become more of a priority, we look at innovative diabetic friendly and sugar-free options that Bengaluru’s sweet shops have created
Published - September 12, 2026 06:01 am IST - Bengaluru
Dry fruit laddus use dates, figs and nuts for sweetness | Photo Credit: Istock/Getty images
Festive dining often leaves the health-conscious and diabetics navigating a field of sweet temptations. To keep everyone at the table, the city’s sweet shops are putting a modern spin on classic mithai by swapping refined sugar for alternatives like jaggery, dates, and natural substitutes.
Diabetic-friendly kaju barfi from Asha Sweet Center.
What are the sugar alternatives used?
The “sugar-free” range of sweets use either alternative sugar substitutes made from natural ingredients or jaggery and dates. Asha Sweet Center, a landmark in Malleshwaram 8th Cross for 75 years now, offers two types of “sugar-free” sweets.
“We have sweets that have no form of sugar at all. In that category, we have our dry fruit barfi, where the sweetness comes from dates, figs, cranberries, and seeds. Similarly, we have dry fruit laddus and dry fruit bars,” said Darshini Mayur Garg, the managing partner of the brand.
“Then we also have sweets that are made with jaggery or sugar alternatives. The latter is diabetic-friendly, as these alternatives have no sugar and are low in calories,” Ms. Garg said. In that category, they offer besan laddus, Mysore pak, son papdi, and kaju barfi. “Our diabetic-friendly range is our way of making traditional Indian sweets more accessible to them without moving too far away from the flavours and textures they know and love,” she added.
India Sweet House has rolled out its modak for Ganesh Chaturthi. Shwetha Rajashekar, co-founder at the Bengaluru-based brand, said they had one variety made only of jaggery. “The outer layer of this modak is made of a jaggery kaju katli, and the filling has coconut and jaggery, similar to a holige,” she said.
This year, for International Women’s Day, the brand launched a new sweet called Sanjeevani Barfi, which has no sugar in it. The sweet is made of dry fruits, dates, figs and almonds, along with pumpkin and cucumber seeds. “The sweetness is derived from the dates and the figs that we have used,” she said, adding that the sweet is available all year round.
Another popular chain, Kanti Sweets, also has a sugar-free range. Here, they use jaggery and dates as sweeteners. Their zero-sugar dry fruit laddus are prepared exclusively with dates as sweeteners. Along with this, they also sell kaju katli and peda, sweetened only with jaggery, with no added sugars.
The Sanjeevani Burfi at the India Sweet House. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Is there demand for these sweets?
Asha Sweet Center said they have definitely seen growing interest in this category, adding that customers today are more conscious about what they consume, but that doesn’t mean they want to give up the traditions associated with festivals.
Ms. Garg explained, “There is a mixed crowd that also feels that when you are having a sweet, you might as well have it in its best form. It is a personal choice. People who have health or dietary restrictions choose to buy these sweets.” She also believes that Indian sweets are inherently healthy with the use of premium ingredients such as dry fruits, whole grains, and ghee. “Once in a while, you can indulge,” she said.
Ms. Rajashekar agrees: “Mithai is always associated with indulgence. You may control how much you eat. If you indulge in it every day, then you are conscious about your intake. But during festivals, we generally see an uptake in overall mithai sales, not specifically these. Festivals are to celebrate!”
(With inputs from C. Madan Mohan)
Published - September 12, 2026 06:01 am IST
food / food and dining (general) / Bengaluru / health
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