Gudi Padwa Recipes
Gudi Padwa, is the beginning of New Year for the Maharashtrians, a festival that offers a basket full of yummies for the food lovers. From jaggery-stuffed sweets to large gamut of spicy Maharashtrian delicacies to tempt one, here’s bringing you some lip-smacking, tried-and-tested recipes on this occasion of Gudi Padwa.
- Puran Poli
To begin with, wash the chana dal and pressure cook it till 6 to 7 whistles. Once the chana dal gets boiled, drain out the excess water.
To prepare the puran mixture, in a pan add some ghee. Add nutmeg powder, dry ginger powder, cardamom powder, fennel powder, jaggery and chana dal, once the ghee is hot. Stir well, cook the mixture in low flame till the mixture gets completely dry and thickens. Mash it with a potato masher or blend it in a mixer, once the mixture cools down.
For preparing the poli dough, in a bowl add whole wheat flour/atta, flour/maida and salt. Mix it well by adding water and ghee and knead the dough till it gets smooth and soft. Keep the dough aside for 15-20 minutes.
To prepare the Puran Poli take a medium or large sized ball from the dough, roll it out. Place a portion of puran mixture in the center of the rolled dough, bring the edges together towards the center. Join all the edges and pinch them. Sprinkle some flour and roll the dough. Heat a tawa, and spread some ghee. Place the rolled poli on the tawa and cook. And the puran polis are ready to be served.
- Shrikhand Recipe
To make shrikhand, first line a strainer in a deep bowl, then line a muslin/cheesecloth/on the strainer. Pour the fresh curd and bring the four edges of the muslin cloth together and tie. Place a heavy bowl on top of it and keep the whole thing in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. The creamy and smooth hung curd with a texture similar to that of cream cheese is ready.
To make the shrikhand, take ½ tbsp warm milk in a small bowl. Add 2 pinch of saffron strands. Stir and keep aside. Also, powder 4 to 5 green cardamoms. Take the hung curd in a bowl. Add fine sugar. Lightly stir with a spatula or spoon. Then add the saffron dissolved milk and powdered cardamom. Beat the hung yogurt in a blender. Whip till smooth. Chill the shrikhand in the fridge and serve later. While serving shrikhand top with some sliced dry fruits for garnish.
- Kothimbir Vadi
Grind ginger, garlic and green chilli together to get a medium coarse paste.
Wash the coriander leaves and drain excess water. Finely chop them and add to a large bowl. Now add besan (gram flour), sesame seeds, roasted peanuts powder, red chilli powder, cumin-coriander powder, turmeric powder, teaspoon baking soda and salt to the bowl. Mix all these ingredients together well along with the ginger-garlic-chilli paste. Add little water as needed, to make thick batter.
Pour water in a steamer and heat it over medium flame. Grease a tray with oil and place it over the stand in the steamer. Spread the batter in the greased tray. Cover it with a lid and steam it for 15-20 minutes over medium flame. Once it gets cooked allow it to cool and cut it into small pieces.
Then heat 3-4 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan over medium flame. Place 7-8 pieces (or more depending on the size of a pan) in a pan and shallow fry them until the bottom surface turns light golden brown. Flip them carefully and shallow fry. Kothimbir vadis are ready for serving.
- Sabudana Thalipeeth
Soak the sabudana overnight in enough water, after rinsing it. Drain well. Make sure no moisture lingers. Add all the ingredients - the boiled, peeled and mashed potatoes, cumin powder, peanuts roasted and coarsely ground, ginger finely chopped or grated, chopped coriander leaves, lemon juice, sugar, rock salt as required to the soaked sabudana and mix well.
Heat a non stick frying pan. Spread 2 tsp of oil on the pan. Apply some oil on palms. Take some portion from the mixture and flatten it with your palms. Place the flattened round mixture on the frying pan. Fry till both sides are golden brown and crisp. Serve sabudana thalipeeth with a chutney or raita.
- Peda Recipe
Place saffron in a pan and heat it. Stir it in warm milk. Add condensed milk and heat until well-blended and thick.
Place the crushed dry fruits in the pan and toss on medium flame until the dry fruits turn off-white in color, add saffron milk and mix thoroughly. Stir in ghee and remove from heat. Spread the mixture on a plate and form into balls while still warm. Press your finger into each ball to flatten and form a peda. Allow the pendas to cool and serve.
