Delicious Delicacies for Dussehra
The festival of Dussehra is celebrated in order to celebrate the victory of good over evil. On this day, a variety of food items are prepared across India. Here is a list of special food items, which are prepared across the nation during Vijayadashami.
Fafda
Fafda is one of the popular dussehra snacks that is paired with jalebi. Serve fafda with fried green chili, papaya sambharo and fafda chutney.
- Take besan in a bowl. Add salt, crushed peppercorns, ajwain, baking soda and hing in that. Mix well. Add little water at a time; knead into medium soft dough. Drizzle oil on the dough and start kneading the dough to make it smooth. Now cover and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Divide the dough into equal portions and make smooth oval-shaped balls. Stretch the dough in forward direction to make medium thick strips.
- Heat the oil in a pan and deep fry it on medium heat. Keep an eye on them, as it should not get even a little golden brown in colour.
Kadakani
Kadakani is a type of sweet and savoury dish, which is prepared and served with green chilli chutney.
- In a bowl mix all-purpose flour, semolina, cardamom powder.
- Add hot oil, powdered sugar and mix well.
- By adding water knead to make soft dough. Apply oil and keep it aside for 15 minutes.
- Divide dough in equal portion and roll poori as thin as possible and use a fork to make holes on the rolled puri, as it should not puff up like poori.
- Heat oil on medium heat and fry the poori until it gets light golden colour from both sides.
Ragi (Nachni) Barfi
Nachni barfi or ragi barfi is a delicious Indian sweet made with nachni or ragi flour. It has a soft and fudge-like texture. Prepare this healthy barfi this festive season to enjoy a guilt-free sweet.
- Heat Ghee in a kadai; add chopped nuts and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add ragi flour and roast it for 8-10 minutes.
- Now add grated jaggery and stir well until the jaggery is completely melted.
- Add khoya, peanut butter and keep stirring for a while.
- Remove the mixture on a plate, evenly spread it and refrigerate it.
- Garnish it with chopped almonds, chocolate vermicelli. And cut it into desired shape and serve.
Rice Phirni
Rice kheer is prepared for festive occasions and is one of the most basic desserts made with milk, rice & sugar.
- Rinse the rice and soak for about half an hour. Once the rice has been soaked, begin making kheer by boiling milk in a deep vessel.
- As soon as the milk boils, reduce the heat and add the drained rice. Stir once and let the rice simmer in the hot milk.
- Keep cooking the rice on a low flame for about 40 minutes and stirring occasionally. Once the rice is cooked, add sugar and keep stirring to avoid lumps.
- When the rice is almost cooked, add sliced almonds, cashews, cardamom powder, and saffron.
- Once the kheer is ready and thick, turn off the heat and add the raisins.
Sweet Poli
Enjoy the Maharashtrian delicacy as no festive menu is complete without Puran Poli.
For the dough:
- Take maida in a big bowl, add a pinch of salt, turmeric and mix well.
- Add oil or ghee to the flour and rub well. Then add water slowly to make dough. Knead well. Add some more oil on the top and let it rest for about 2-3 hrs, by covering it with wet muslin cloth.
For the Dal filling:
- Wash and soak Bengal Gram for a minimum of 15 mins. Then pressure cook it with enough water to get soft dal.
- Add jaggery to the cooked dal and pressure again. This will make both the dal and jaggery well mixed.
- Once it is cooled, grind to a smooth consistency but though not like a paste. Most times, the water content will be more, this can be handled by sautéing this dal paste in a pan.
- Divide the dal paste into equal balls, to be stuffed into the dough. Roll out the poli. Add oil, and using fingers, slowly spread them out.
- Sprinkle oil and let it cook. Spread ghee on each poli, after removing it from the tawa. Allow it to cool on a plate, before storing it in a box.
Beetroot and Raw Banana Chop (Spiced Cutlet)
There is a list of dishes being prepared at the dawn of Vijayadashami and beetroot, raw banana cutlet is one among them.
- Boil the beetroot and the raw banana in a pressure cooker. Once the vegetables are cooled, grate it using a grater and keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the coconut, roast it for some time, then add ginger, green chili, and the whole spice powder. Add the grated vegetable into the masala and sauté till it binds.
- Add roasted peanuts in the mixture to give a crunchy element to the crispy patties.
- Cool the mixture for some time and divide them into small balls and shape them flat.
- Coat it with cornflour mixed with water and roll it in the breadcrumbs for an even coating and shallow fry them in a pan.
