Navratri 2021: Recipes to Relish

With October, the festive season has finally kicked off in India. The 7th of October marks the first day of Navratri, a festival that is celebrated across the span of nine days. Each day is dedicated to an incarnation of Goddess Durga. The devotees keep fast throughout the day which they break in the nighttime after offering prayers to the goddess.

During Navratri, the people who are fasting have to take extra care of their diet and food choices. The people, in general as well, have to cut back on numerous foods & ingredients like garlic, onion, and meat.

To help you out during this Navratri Season, here are two recipes you can add to your diet for a healthier you:

Makhana Kheer:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup makhana (fox nuts or Phool makhana)
• 2 cups full-fat milk
• 2 teaspoon green cardamom powder
• 10–12 cashews or 10–12 almonds and pistachios — blanched and sliced
• 1 tablespoon golden raisins
• 3.5 to 4 tablespoon sugar or as required
• 1 pinch saffron
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Ghee (clarified butter)

Instructions:

• Take a pan and heat ghee in it.
• Now add makhana & cashews to it. On a low flame, roast the makhana & cashews until they become golden brown & crunchy. Keep stirring.
• Take them off the heat in two different bowls and keep them aside.
• Now take the milk & warm it in a pan and keep stirring continuously.
• While the milk is boiling, set aside ⅓ cup of the roasted makhana, put the rest into a blender & blend. Add in cardamom powder & a pinch of saffron strands as well.
• Let it blend finely.
• Once the milk boils, add the reserved makhana & the blended makhana powder to it.
• Mix it thoroughly. Let it simmer until the makhana softens & the milk thickens.
• Scrape the evaporated milk solids from the sides of the pan and add to the milk.
• In the end, add the roasted cashews, raisins & pistachios.
• Stir it for a while & serve.

Kuttu Ka Dosa

Ingredients

For Potato Filling:

• 3 potatoes, boiled
• Ghee (for frying)
• to taste salt (use sendha namak if fasting)
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger, chopped

For the Dosa:

• 5 tbsp buckwheat flour
• 2 tbsp arbi (colocasia), boiled
• Salt
• 1/2 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp green chillies, chopped
• ghee (clarified butter)
• 1/2 tsp green chillies, chopped
• Ajwain

Instructions:

Prepare the Potato filling:

• Take a pan and put in some ghee. Now crush the potatoes and mix them in the pan.
• Stir the mixture until it becomes golden brown.
• Then take it out & keep it aside.

Prepare the Dosa:

• Take a bowl, mash the arbi and mix it with flour and salt.
• Now put some water in it and mix thoroughly.
• Drop the ajwain, red chilli powder, ginger and green chillies into the mix and stir again.
• Keep adding water and stirring in one direction till the batter turns into a smooth flowing consistency.
• Take a pan & heat it. Now dab a little ghee on it, pour a ladle of the batter and spread it.
• Keep cooking it for a few minutes and spread more ghee around the edges to make it crisp.
• Then flip it over and cook the other side.
• Put some filling on top and fold the dosa over it.
• Serve hot with mint and coconut chutney.