A visit to a Bihari household is incomplete without having a sattu meal, whether it’s a sattu sharbat, puri, paratha, litti chokha or tikki. Once considered a staple for commoners and the working-class migrants from eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, the humble flour has now gained much fanfare among medical experts, health-conscious individuals and upscale eateries.
As a healthy drink option, restaurants are now adding a contemporary spin to sattu recipes. At a recently hosted cultural festival ‘The Unsung Magadh’, SAGA, a fine-dining restaurant in Gurugram, curated a cocktail called spicy sattu with dark rum, green chillies, mint, salt, onion and roasted cumin. “Sattu was part of our family diet from time immemorial and is now a global superfood,” says Atul Kochhar, a twice Michelin-starred chef from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. “Once considered a poor man’s diet, it is now the diet of super-fit people. The origin of sattu could be the Magadh region in Bihar, but over the years, this staple has become more popular among the well-heeled people and completes the cuisine’s flavour,” says Kochhar, who is also a chef partner at SAGA.
Sattu works as a great binding agent for chef Manish Mehrotra, who was born and brought up in Patna, Bihar, and has helmed Indian Accent, a popular fine-dining restaurant in New Delhi, with his inventive Indian dining. His fond memories, as a child of drinking and eating this superfood in various forms like drinks, roti and paratha, is now an exotic restaurant fare. “Today in my kitchen, I use it in the snack called Bankipore Club Mutton Goli Kebab which comes from Bankipore Club of Patna, as it gives a distinct flavour and nuttiness to the kebab. We have used sattu at our Gurugram restaurant, Comorin, for the Bihari tash meat, with taco as sattu paratha, and this is quite a popular dish of the restaurant,” he says.
Being a rich source of protein, fibre and essential minerals like iron, magnesium, and potassium, and low in fat and cholesterol, sattu makes for a power-packed ingredient and a healthy food choice. Sattu is easy to digest and provides instant energy. It is prepared by dry roasting grains or grams, most often barley or Bengal gram. In Odisha, sattu is made by dry roasting cashew, almond, millet, barley and chickpeas and grinding them to fine flour.
In his blog on his website, holistic nutritionist, integrative health and lifestyle medicine expert Luke Coutinho says this superfood has existed in our country for decades as a cooling agent that naturally brings down body temperature, and is now gaining popularity, thanks to its impressive nutrient profile. “Sattu as opposed to a protein shake or a whey protein is a good source of protein. If you have a protein deficiency, nothing can work efficiently. The best part about this form of protein is it can be used in multiple ways—as a drink, sattu can be mixed in water, roasted with cumin (jeera), mint leaves, chili powder or pepper, and salt. The low glycemic index is apt for people with type-2 diabetics; its iron-rich properties combat anaemia,” he writes.
For those looking for a post-workout meal, it is essential to have a combination of complex carbohydrates and healthy protein. In her book The Don’t Diet Plan, Kavita Devgan suggests: “Sattu drink made with coconut water and apple, peanut butter and cheese (ricotta, preferably) crackers. Sattu and cheese will deliver protein, apples will provide antioxidants and fibre and coconut water will give electrolytes.”
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As a homemade traditional drink to relish in the simmering heat and add nutritious value to daily diet, this is served best as a drink just like lassi, jal jeera, nimboo pani, coconut water and bael pather sharbat. According to Shuchita Shrivastava, senior officer in clinical and support services, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Indore, sattu is a good drink to have during the hot summer months.
“It has cooling properties that keep the body hydrated. It contains important minerals like potassium and magnesium, which can improve your appetite. Sattu is especially helpful if you have problems with digestion, such as constipation or acidity, because it can reduce inflammation and can benefit the gut,” she adds.
