Dussehra is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Rama. It is a happy occasion to celebrate even your smallest of wins with your friends and family! On this day, there are no specific recipes prepared, however, there are certain defined and common recipes prepared across India. We have assorted a set of few recipes which might interest you. To prepare an amazing and delicacies filled day, keep on reading.
- Poori bhaji
Ingredients:
- 4 medium-sized potatoes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- One green chilli, chopped
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1.5 teaspoon black gram
- ¾ cup of water
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida
- ½ to ¾ cup chopped coriander leaves or cilantro leaves
- 1-inch ginger, finely chopped
- 12-15 curry leaves
- 2 or 3 tablespoon peanut oil or sunflower oil
- salt as required
Instructions:
- Boil the potatoes till they are cooked completely.
- Once they are warm, peel them and chop.
Making the Bhaji
- In a pan, heat oil. Add cumin, mustard and urad dal
- Fry till the mustard crackles and starts making sound and the urad dal begins to turn brown
- Add the chopped onion. Fry till they become soft & transparent
- Now add the ginger and green chillies and fry for a minute
- Add the curry leaves. Stir and fry for some seconds
- Add the turmeric and asafoetida. Stir and fry for some seconds and make sure not to burn the turmeric
- Next, add the chopped potatoes, half of the coriander leaves
- Stir. Now add 3/4 cup of water and salt. Stir and cover the pan
- Let the bhaji simmer for 5-6 minutes on a low flame
- There should be some moisture in the bhaji and it should not be very dry
- Add the remaining coriander leaves
- Stir and serve the bhaji hot with pooris!
2.Custard-apple rabdi
Ingredients:
- 2 litres of milk
- 250 gms of sugar
- 2 custard apple pulp
- 1 tsp of cardamom powder
- Pinch of salt
Instructions:
- On a medium flame, heat 2 litres of milk and allow it to boil
- While it is boiling, place a spoon inside the pan and keep on stirring
- We will need a thick consistency and the milk should be reduced to half
- Once the milk is reduced to half, add in the sugar
- Now, mix it well and make sure the sugar is dissolved completely
- Now, set the reduced milk mixture in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours
- Make sure the mixture is nice, thick and creamy
- Now, add in the custard apple pulp to the milk mixture along with the cardamom and salt to taste and mix it well
- Once it is well incorporated, set it in the refrigerator for another hour
- Serve chilled post-dinner as an amazing dessert!
3. Malpua and rabdi
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or 125 grams
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3 to 4 green cardamoms – crushed or ⅓ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 3 pinches baking soda or ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup water or 125 ml water or add as required
- 3 tablespoon milk powder
- 3 tablespoon yoghurt
- 3 tbsp of ghee for frying
Instructions:
- In a mixing bowl take 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 3 to 4 cardamoms, crushed or 1/3 tsp cardamom powder. Mix the dry ingredients well
- Add 3 tbsp milk powder and 3 tbsp curd/yoghurt
- Add 1/2 cup water and begin to stir to a thick flowing batter without lumps
- Allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes
- Meanwhile when the batter is resting blanch the almonds and pistachios in hot water. Keep them soaked in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Then peel and slice them. Keep aside
- Also, heat 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water. On a low flame simmer this mixture. Also, stir well so that the sugar melts
- You need to have a 1/2 inch string or 1 string consistency in the sugar syrup. If you cannot achieve these string consistencies thn just make a sticky syrup. The sugar needs to be kept warm. For this keep the sugar syrup on a hot water bath so that it stays warm throughout and does not crystallize
- Meanwhile, keep the sugar syrup pan on a bowl or another pan filled with hot water. The hot water should touch the base of the pan containing the sugar syrup
- Heat ghee in a pan or griddle
- When the ghee is heating up add 3 pinches soda or 1/8 tsp baking soda to the malpua batter.
- Lower the flame. Take 2 tbsp to 3 tbsp of the batter and gently pour it on the hot ghee. Spread the batter lightly with the back of the spoon. Make 2 to 4 malpua depending on the size of the pan
- Fry on a low to medium till crisp and golden flipping the malpua a couple of times
- Drain them on paper towels to remove excess oil
- In a broad thick bottomed pan or saucepan or a kadhai take 1.25 litres of full-fat whole milk and bring it first to boil
- Lower the flame and continue to simmer the milk. Stir at intervals
- Bring the clotted cream/malai which forms on top of the milk to the sides of the pan. Also, keep on scraping the dried milk from the sides and add them back to the milk
- Do stir and scrape often so that the milk does not get browned or burnt from the bottom as well as the sides
- Keep on simmering, stirring, removing the clotted cream and scraping
- Switch off when the milk has reduced and become thickened
- Now, add in the sugar. Stir well so that the sugar dissolves
- Next, add crushed saffron or saffron powder along with kewra water and add the sliced almonds and pistachios
- It will take about 1 hour for the milk to thicken on a low flame
- Remove the rabri in a bowl and serve it later with the malpua. Refrigerate if not using it immediately. The combo of malpua rabdi taste good and is liked by many people. It’s best recommended having malpua rabdi hot.
We at Nature’s Basket have many such festive recipes for you. You can check them out here.
