No festival in this land of foodies is complete without exotic dishes. Do you remember lurking around your Mum waiting for the special sweets that used to be prepared during festivals? I vividly remember those days when the essence of festivities was heightened by the thought of homemade sweets and delicacies. So wishing all of you happiness and prosperity on this festive season with traditional Indian easy to cook and delicious recipes.
Mewa Kachori
Kachori is a popular snack, well enjoyed across the country, especially in North India. By givinga sweet touch to this dish, we have mewakachori for you.
Ingredients
For Kachori Dough
- 2 cup Flour
- ½ cup Ghee (Clarified Butter)
- Salt to taste
- 1/4teaspoon Baking Powder
- Warm water for mixing the dough
For Stuffing
- 1 ½ cup Mawa/Khoya(Reduced Milk Solids)
- 3/4 cup Mixed Nuts (almonds, pistachio and cashews)
- Sugar - 1/2 cup
For Sugar Syrup
- Sugar - 2 cups
- Water - 1 cup
Andoil for deep frying
Method to prepare
Mix everything, except water, for kachori dough in a bowl. Now add warm water slowly to makesoft doughandkeep it aside covered for an hour before using it. In the meantime, take a non-stick pan and heat 2 tablespoons of ghee and fry mawa till it turns golden brown. Add in the sugar and nuts to it, mix well and your stuffing is ready.
In a separate pan, prepare the sugar syrup by adding sugar and water and boil it to form a one-string consistency.
Now it’s time to make the kachoris by taking a plum sized ball from the dough and roll it into a flat circle. Put the stuffing in the middle of the circle and roll it from all sides into a ball and pinch the excess dough off. Give it decorative shapes and then fry these to golden brown. Dip the kachoris in the prepared sugar syrup and garnish with saffron and nuts.
Narial Ka Laddu
On the eve of Vijayadashami, we have usually seen our Moms getting busy with the culinary preparations of different varieties of sweets and being a Bengali, I love my narialkaladdu or as we call it NarkolNaru. The delectable smell of a concoction of coconut, milk, and sugar or jaggery tells us that Goddes Durga has arrived from her heavenly abode.These coconut balls are soft, chewy, amazingly delicious, and are to die for.
Ingredients
- 1 grated coconut
- 1/2 cup of milk
- A pinch of cardamom powder
- 1 cup of date jaggery (Gur)
Method to prepare
Take a thick bottom panand pour the milk in it. Add good quality jaggery and cook on low heat until the jaggery melts and mixes well with the milk. It’s now time for the grated coconut to go in. Cook on low flame while stirring continuously. Add a pinch of fresh cardamom powder and when the mixture is thick and sticky, remove the pan from heat.Take small quantities of the mixture to form small round balls and your nariyalkeladdus are ready to be served.
Annam Payasam
Annam Payasam or Paramannam, which means food of the Gods is a sweet dish prepared as an offering to God in almost every festival. Hindu tradition and customs believe in offering Naivedyam to God in the form of sweets including payasam and fruits as part of a worship ritual to acknowledge the blessing from God. This naivedyam now becomes prasadam. Paramannam can be served both hot and cold.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Basmati rice, washed and drained
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 litrefull cream milk
- pinch of salt
- 2 cardamoms, split
- Few fried Cashewnuts
- Few fried raisins
- Few strands of saffron
Wash and soak rice in water for about 30 minutes. Now take a vessel and bring milk to a boil. Lower the flame heat and reduce the milk to approximately one litre and then add the rice to the milk. Cook until the rice is soft and the consistency of mixture looks comparatively thick and creamy. Mix in the sugar well and remove from heat. Garnish with cardamom, saffron, fried cashews and raisins.
Since time immemorial festivities have been synonymous with food. Avid foodies,craft a food festival at the comfort of your home this weekend with these simple and delicious dishes to boost the festive mood.
