Roasted Pumpkin Raita (Kaddu ka raita)

A simple raita served during the Navratri days, this one may sound a bit weird but tastes just awesome. While one can also boil or steam the pumpkin before mashing it into the yogurt with spices, I wanted to give it as twist by roasting it to get the caramelized effect and release its natural sweetness.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 10-15 mins (depending on the size of pumpkin pieces)

Ingredients -

5-6 slices of pumpkin/kaddu ( 5mm to 7 mm thick )
1 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp roasted cumin-chili powder
salt to taste
2 pinch sugar
cilantro for garnishing

Preparation - Beat the yogurt lightly. Add a little water and season with salt and roasted cumin chili powder.

Cooking - Roast the pumpkin slices with some sugar sprinkled over them. Use an oven or do it on a non-stick pan which has been greased lightly. Once brown /black spots start to appear on the pumpkin slices, remove from heat and keep aside till cool.

Mash the pumpkin and add to the seasoned yogurt. Mix well.

Serve chilled.

Spicy Sweet Potatoes (Chatpati Shakarkandi)

An easy and spicy curry made with sweet potatoes, this one goes well with Kuttu (buckwheat) parathas/puris or Rajgira ( Amaranthus ) parathas/puris. Spiced generously with chili and peppers, and dry mango powder providing the necessary tang, this one is a sure winner.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 sweet potatoes (or 2 cups boiled, peeled & cubed )
• 1-2 green chili
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 pinch asafoetida
• 1/3 tsp chili powder
• 2 pinch pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp amchur/dry mango powder
• black salt/rock salt/sendha namak
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp ghee/clarified butter

Preparation - Cut the sweet potato into 3 inch long pieces. Put in a pressure cooker with 1 cup water and cook for 2-3 whistles. Keep aside till steam escapes.

Peel them and cut into smaller discs.

Cooking - Heat the oil and ghee in a wok.

Add the green chili and cumin seeds. Once the spluttering stops, add the sweet potato and fry for 1-2 mins.

Add all the spice powders and salt. Sprinkle a bit of water. Fry them till the spices form a layer around the potato pieces.

Serve hot with Kuttu/Rajgire paratha/puris.

Sabudana Vada

Sabudana being loaded with carbohydrates (starch) is an ideal choice for fasting days. Most of the recipes are easy, quick and tasty. One such example is the Sabudana Vada, crispy and lightly spiced fritters of sago, potato and peanuts.

Quite happy with my first attempt. The vadas turned out crisp on the outside and soft inside without absorbing too much oil. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup sabudana
• 1 cup mashed potato
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 3-4 tbsp roasted and lightly crushed peanuts
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped green chilis
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp finely chopped coriander leaves
• 1/2-1 tsp lemon juice
• salt to taste
• oil for deep frying

Preparation - Soak the sabudana overnight (or lesser time for smaller pearls). Strain to remove all excess water (this is important)

Take the sabudana in a mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients except for the oil. Mix into a dough.

Grease your palms with a little oil. Pinch small portions of the dough, roll into balls and flatten them. Make sure they are not very thick as the center will not be cooked properly.

Cooking - Heat sufficient oil in a wok. Add the flattened dics 2-3 at a time. Fry on both sides till light brown. Make sure that the flame is kept medium high so that the vadas do not absorb excess oil.

Remove from the wok and place on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat for the remaining dough.

Serve hot with a chutney.

Note - It is important to test the soaking time of the sabudana before making the vadas. The tiny varieties need only half an hour to become soft and mushy. 

Sweet Potato Chips

Another easy Navratri recipe with sweet potatoes (Shakarkandi) !! Comes handy when entertaining guests/friends over those nine days of fasting.

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 Sweet potato 
• freshly crushed pepper or pepper powder
• rock salt as per taste
• oil for deep frying (rice bran/sunflower/olive)

Preparation - Peel the sweet potato and make thin slices (thinner the better). 

Cooking - Heat oil in wok. Add the sweet potato slices a few at a time. Fry on both sides till crisp.

Remove from wok and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil Sprinkle the rock salt and pepper on the hot chips and toss to coat them. Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container once cooled.

Note - One can also use table salt instead of rock salt.

Kacche kele ki subzi (Navratri special)

This is one of my the favorite Navratri recipes. Got it from Tarla Dalal's cookbook and have loved it ever since. Frugal and tasty without much effort. And green banana being one of its kind is a low calorie source of carbohydrates and is rich in dietary fiber. They make one feel full as well as help the body burn fats.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 10-15 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 green bananas
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 green chili
• a sprig curry leaves
• 2 pinch asafoetida
• 4 tbsp curd
• 2 pinch turmeric
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• salt to taste

Preparation - Peel and cube the bananas. Put them into salted cold water immediately.

Beat the curd with a little water to break any lumps.

Cooking - Boil water in a saucepan and add a little salt and turmeric to it. Add the banana pieces and cook till done but not mushy. Strain the water and keep aside.

Heat the oil and ghee in a wok. Add the broken green chili and cumin seeds followed by the asafoetida and curry leaves.

Add the banana pieces and fry for 2 mins.

Add the beaten curd along with salt and mix everything. Cook till the curd dries and forms a layer around the banana pieces. Remove from flame.

Serve with white rice or rotis.

Pulihora/Tamarind Rice (Navratri Special)

Pulihora is one of the offerings (Neivaidyams) made to the goddess in South Indian during Navratri. A simple recipe without any fussy ingredients, it is quick to make and quite tasty. While one does get some packaged Pulihora mixes in the supermarkets, it can be easily made at home without one.

Read for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins.

Ingredients - 

1/3 cup raw rice

4-5 cashews

a fistful of peanuts

2-3 tbsp gram/chana dal

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 red chilis

a sprig of curry leaves

1 tbsp tamarind paste (adjust as per taste)

1 tsp jaggery (powdered)

salt to taste

3 tsp oil

Cooking - Cook the rice in a pressure cooker or an open pan till it is soft. Keep aside.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds followed by the chana dal and peanuts. Allow to brown a little. At last, add the cashews and curry leaves. Fry for 15 seconds.

Add the tamarind paste with a little water, jaggery and salt. Cook for 3-4 mins.

Add the rice and mix thouroughly.

Serve hot.

Watch out this space for more Navratri recipes (both from North & South India) ......

Shakarkandi Chaat (Navratri Special)

Shakarkandi Chaat is a famous Delhi street food that it very common during the winters. While I have never seen it in any of the cities that I have lived in, I came to know about it from a neighbor of mine. We happened to be discussing pregnancy cravings and she mentioned that she had lost all her appetite during those nine months. "Lucky you", all the ladies chipped in. A very natural reaction (and laced with some envy too) for all those who had experienced such cravings and were still in the process of losing all those pounds gained as a result of gorging on sweets and other high calorie stuff. Coming back to my neighbour, as she continued to share her stories about how people around her would try and get her to eat, one particular recipe caught my attention. The description of a yummy sweet potato and fruit chaat prepared by her grandmother-in-law almost reduced my mouth into a pool of saliva. This was something I had to try at least once.

I made a small change in her recipe by omitting the fruit. And it turned out to be just yummylicious. Read on for this simple 'phalahari' chaat which is very apt for the Navratri -

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

2 cups boiled/baked, peeled & cubed sweet potato
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp lemon juice
rock salt as desired

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Toss well.

Serve immediately.


Note - One can also add sliced bananas, pomegranate, nylon sev, amchur/chaat masala, coriander leaves, green chilis, etc to spice it up further.

Lauki ka Halwa ( Doodhi ka Halwa )

As a kid I used to wonder aloud about the the perceptible change in the atmosphere during the Puja (Dusshera) season. The slight nip in the air was accompanied with a divine fragrance as if someone had made it a daily ritual of emptying a lot may bottles of perfume all around us during the evenings. Even the nights grew more and more silent. My grandmother who was adept at spinning tales would explain that it was the harbinger of the arrival of Maa and other gods. And she would further support her theory with the argument that the gods and goddesses who were adorned with the heavenly blossoms were the ones responsible for the aura. For years I believed her before reasoning got the better of me and I could attribute the aura to a combination of factors like the cooling of the atmosphere, the steadily dropping humidity levels and the blossoming of a variety of winter blooms. Even the cacophony of the insects which peaked during the monsoons, was slowing fading away as the approaching winter forced most of them into hibernation.

Ever since I moved out of my native, I really miss the Dusshera festivities and also the run-up to the actual event. The shopping for new clothes, watching the idols shaping up, the Pandals being put into place and drawing up the itinerary to cover the maximum number of pandals during those five days would sometimes be even more fun than the actual Pandal hopping. And ofcourse, there was the mandatory 'mela' (fair) and the au rigueur joy-rides which was on every kid's bucket list. At times, growing up is no fun.

Unlike some other parts of India, people in Odisha do not keep as nine day partial fast during Durga Puja. There is the mandatory Ashtami Vrat and some also keep the Navami Vrat but no more. Onion and garlic are prohibited on these two days and people usually prefer to consume Khichdi/ rice and dalma/ puri-alu dum etc apart from fruits. But for people who follow the 'navratri fasting' quite rigorously, it is nine days of subsisting on 'phalahar' or a plant based diet. There are a number of dishes which are religiously prepared during this period. One of them happens to be the 'lauki ka halwa' or bottlegourd halwa. Read on for the recipe -

(For more Navaratri recipes, click HERE)

Preparation Time - 30-35 mins (less if you use a food processor to grate the lauki)

Ingredients -

500 gm lauki/bottle gourd
2 cup milk
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup milk powder
3-4 tsp sugar
2 green cardamoms (powdered)
a few strands of saffron
1 1/2 tsp ghee
7-8 cashews
12-15 raisins

Preparation - Peel the gourd and chop into big pieces. Grate coarsely leaving aside the center portion containing the seeds.

Cooking - Heat the ghee in a wok. Add the raisins and cashews. Fry for 30-40 seconds before removing from wok.

Add the grated bottle gourd to the wok. Fry on medium high till much of the water evaporates and it starts to turn light brown.

Add the milk and bring it to a boil. Cover with a lid. Allow it to cook on low flame for 6-7 minutes. The bottle gourd would be cooked by this time. If not, cover it again for 3-4 mins.

Finally add sugar, milk powder, condensed milk, cardamom powder and saffron strands. Cook till most of the water evaporates. Add the fried cashews and raisins.

Serve at room temperature or even chilled.