Green Pumpkin Halwa

Ingredients

1 cup peeled and grated pumpkin
4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp clarified butter or design ghee
Dryfruits of your choice

Recipe

Pour the pumpkin in a pan, put sugar in it, cover the pan it with a lid and allow it to cook on slow fire
When it cooks, put clarified butter in it and cook it further
Now put melon seeds and dry fruit it and serve hot
If you want to make it richer you could add mawa to it

P.S.: Although the way of preparing yellow and green pumpkin halwa is same but the end product differs in taste

Sabudana Balls

Ingredients

1 cup sabudana or tapioca pearls
½ cup roasted peanuts
½ cup phoolmakhana or popped lotus seeds
½ cup boiled and mashed potatoes
Salt to taste
1 tsp clarified butter or desi ghee
½ tsp red chilly powder
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp chopped green chilly
Oil for frying

Recipe

Soak sabudana in water for an hour
Now strain water from it
Saute phoolmakhana in ghee and grind to make a paste
Also grind peanuts and make a paste of it
Take boiled potatoes and add peanuts and phoolmakhana paste to it
Now add spices to it and green chilly and make balls of it
Coat these balls with sabudana and deep fry them
Serve them hot with mint chutney

Nariyal ke Ladoo or Coconut Laddu

Ingredients

½ cup fresh grated coconut
½ cup mawa or khoya
½ cup nariyal ka burada
½ tsp elaichi or cardamom powder
1 cup grained sugar

Recipe

In a pan pour grained sugar in it and melt it
To it add the freshly grated coconut
Then add mawa and stir it well
Now add nariyal ka burada to it
Now turn off the gas, allow the mixture to cool and create equal round balls of it
Your Nariyal ka Laddu is ready

Sabudana Kheer

Ingredients

1 cup milk
½ cup soaked sabudana or tapioca pearls
3-4 tsp sugar
Dryfruits of your choice

Recipe

Soak sabudana for 1-2 hours
Take milk in pan and add sabudana to it and boil it so that it cooks well
Now add sugar to it
Add dry fruit of your choice and serve hot

Falahari Namkeen

Ingredients

½ cup phool makhana or popped lotus seeds
½ cup fried peanuts or moongphali
1 potato
2 tbsp banana wafers
2 tbsp desi ghee or clarified butter
2 tbsp almonds, cashew nut and raisins each
Sendha Namak as per taste
Black Pepper as per taste
Oil for frying

Recipe

Peel potato and shred it and add sendha namak and black pepper to it
Now press it with both hands and deep fry it
Take desi ghee in pan
Now add cashew nut and almond in it and sauté it
After that sauté phulmakhana in it
Take a plate and place fried potato shreds to it
Now on it place fried peanuts, phool makhana, banana wafers, dry fruits to it
Sprinkle it with spices stated above and serve it as a Navratri snack

Yellow Pumpkin Halwa

Ingredients

1 cup peeled and grated pumpkin
1 tbsp design ghee or clarified butter
4 tsp sugar
Dryfruits for garnishing including cashewnut, melon seeds, pistachio etc

Recipe

Pour the pumpkin in a pan, put sugar in it, cover the pan it with a lid and allow it to cook on slow fire
When it cooks, put clarified butter in it and cook it further
Now put melon seeds and dry fruit it and serve hot
If you want to make it richer you could add mawa or khoya to it

The Navratri Special Food Recipes

Navratri or Navaratri is an important Hindu festival where Nava means Nine and Ratri implies nights. Nine forms of Shakti or Devi is worshipped during these nine nights and ten days. Fast is observed during these days and special Navratri food is prepared as per the rituals of the fast. This week I will be bringing to you some of the Navratri delicacies which are prepared during these days of purity.