Recipes

The Unsugared Kitchen

Indian sweets, unsugared.

From your morning chai to festival mithai — every recipe below is made exactly the way your family makes it, with Unsugared swapped 1:1 for sugar. Tap any recipe to open it.

Before you begin: allulose browns a little faster than sugar, so cook mithai on medium-low heat and take things off the flame when the color is one shade lighter than you're used to. Everything else — quantities, technique, timing — stays the same.
Masala Chai2 cups · 10 min

The daily ritual, finally guilt-free. Same kadak chai, same spoon of sweetness, zero sugar.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup full-fat milk
  • 2 tsp strong black tea (Assam CTC)
  • 1-inch ginger, crushed
  • 2–3 green cardamom pods, crushed
  • 2 tsp Unsugared (exactly what you'd use of sugar — adjust to taste)

Method

  1. Boil the water with ginger and cardamom for 2 minutes so the spices open up.
  2. Add the tea leaves and simmer 2 minutes until deeply colored.
  3. Pour in the milk and bring to a rolling boil; let it rise once or twice for that kadak strength.
  4. Stir in Unsugared, boil 30 seconds more, and strain into cups.

Tip: Unsugared dissolves instantly in boiling chai with no aftertaste — most families can't tell the difference in a blind sip.

Rice KheerServes 4 · 40 min

The one that started Unsugared. Creamy, cardamom-scented, and indistinguishable from the original.

Ingredients

  • 1 litre full-fat milk
  • ¼ cup basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 20 minutes
  • ⅓ cup Unsugared
  • 4–5 green cardamom pods, crushed
  • 10–12 almonds and pistachios, slivered
  • A few strands of saffron (optional)

Method

  1. Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan, then lower the heat.
  2. Add the drained rice and simmer 25–30 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is soft and the milk has thickened.
  3. Stir in Unsugared, cardamom, and saffron; simmer 5 more minutes.
  4. Finish with the nuts. Serve warm, or chill for a thicker, colder kheer.

Tip: Unsugared dissolves completely in hot milk — the kheer thickens on cooling just like the sugar version.

Gajar ka HalwaServes 6 · 50 min

Winter's favorite — slow-cooked carrots, ghee, khoya, and not a gram of sugar.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg red carrots, grated
  • 750 ml full-fat milk
  • ½ cup Unsugared
  • 3 tbsp ghee
  • ½ cup khoya (or 3 tbsp milk powder)
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder; cashews and raisins to finish

Method

  1. Sauté the grated carrots in 1 tbsp ghee for 5 minutes until fragrant.
  2. Add the milk and simmer on medium, stirring, until absorbed (25–30 minutes).
  3. Stir in Unsugared — the halwa loosens as it melts, just like sugar — and cook until it dries again.
  4. Add the remaining ghee, khoya, and cardamom; roast 5–7 minutes on medium-low until glossy. Finish with ghee-fried cashews and raisins.

Tip: Allulose caramelizes beautifully, so you still get those toasty edges — just keep the flame moderate in the final roast.

Besan LadooMakes 12 · 30 min

Nutty, ghee-rich, melt-in-the-mouth — and diabetic-friendly at last.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups besan (gram flour), sifted
  • ¾ cup ghee
  • ¾ cup Unsugared, ground fine in a mixer for 10 seconds
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped pistachios

Method

  1. Roast the besan in ghee on low heat, stirring constantly, 15–18 minutes until deeply golden and aromatic.
  2. Take it off the heat and cool until just warm — adding sweetener to hot besan makes it melt and loosen.
  3. Mix in the powdered Unsugared, cardamom, and pistachios.
  4. Shape into 12 ladoos while the mixture is still warm; they firm up as they cool.

Tip: Grinding Unsugared to a powder (like boora) gives ladoos the classic smooth bite.

Kesar ShrikhandServes 4 · 15 min + hanging

The no-cook classic — saffron, cardamom, and thick hung curd.

Ingredients

  • 500 g full-fat curd, hung in muslin 4–6 hours (or 300 g Greek yogurt)
  • ½ cup Unsugared, powdered
  • A generous pinch of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk
  • ¼ tsp cardamom powder; slivered pistachios to garnish

Method

  1. Whisk the hung curd until silky.
  2. Fold in powdered Unsugared, the saffron milk, and cardamom.
  3. Chill at least 1 hour and serve garnished with pistachios.

Tip: Unsugared dissolves even in cold curd within a few minutes of whisking — taste after chilling and adjust.

Malai KulfiMakes 6 · 45 min + freezing

Dense, creamy, slow-reduced kulfi — with a secret advantage.

Ingredients

  • 1 litre full-fat milk
  • ½ cup Unsugared
  • ¼ cup chopped pistachios and almonds
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder; a few saffron strands

Method

  1. Simmer the milk on medium-low, stirring and scraping the sides, until reduced by half (30–35 minutes).
  2. Add Unsugared, cardamom, saffron, and most of the nuts; simmer 5 minutes.
  3. Cool, pour into kulfi moulds or small cups, and freeze 6 hours or overnight.

Tip: Allulose naturally lowers the freezing point — your kulfi comes out creamier and less icy than the sugar version. This is one recipe where Unsugared is genuinely an upgrade.

Coconut BarfiMakes 16 pieces · 25 min

Soft, fragrant, two-ingredient-sweetened barfi that sets in the fridge.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups desiccated coconut (plus extra for dusting)
  • 1 cup full-fat milk
  • ¾ cup Unsugared
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • ¼ tsp cardamom powder

Method

  1. Warm the ghee in a pan, add coconut, and toast gently 2 minutes without coloring.
  2. Add the milk and Unsugared; cook on medium, stirring, until the mixture thickens and leaves the sides (10–12 minutes).
  3. Stir in cardamom, press into a greased tray about 2 cm thick, and smooth the top.
  4. Chill 2 hours until firm, then cut into squares and dust with coconut.

Tip: Without sugar syrup the set comes from milk solids and chilling — refrigerate fully before cutting for clean edges.

PhirniServes 4 · 35 min + chilling

Silky ground-rice pudding, traditionally set in earthen bowls.

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup basmati rice, soaked 30 minutes and ground coarse with 2 tbsp water
  • 1 litre full-fat milk
  • ½ cup Unsugared
  • ¼ tsp cardamom powder; saffron strands; chopped pistachios

Method

  1. Bring the milk to a boil, lower the heat, and whisk in the ground rice paste.
  2. Simmer, stirring constantly, 15–20 minutes until thick and the rice is cooked through.
  3. Stir in Unsugared, cardamom, and saffron; simmer 2 minutes.
  4. Pour into small bowls (clay if you have them) and chill 3–4 hours until set.

Tip: Phirni thickens further as it chills — take it off the heat while slightly looser than you want it.

All recipes use a 1:1 swap — if your recipe says 1 cup sugar, use 1 cup Unsugared. These dishes contain no added sugar; milk and other ingredients contribute their own natural carbohydrates, so portion as your dietary plan advises.

Same spoon, Zero sugar.

Shop Unsugared for your kitchen