Bhog Prasad for Navratris

Kassar

Ingredients:

250 Gms whole wheat flour (atta)

� cup ghee

2 tbsps powdered sugar or boora

� cup chopped almonds

Fruits like apple and banana diced into small pieces

15-20 tulsi leaves

Method:

Put ghee in a wok (kadhai) and melt it on medium flame. Now add whole wheat flour to the melted ghee and roast the flour on low heat till the wheat flour (atta) changes into a light brown colour. Keep stirring to avoid flour sticking to the sides of the wok and giving a burnt smell. Once the colour of the flour changes to brown and it gives a nice roasted fragrance, remove the wok from fire. Add boora or powdered sugar and chopped almonds. Once the roasted flour cools, add the chopped fruits of your choice.

MEWA MODAK

Ingredients:

250 gms whole wheat flour

50 gms powdered sugar

� cup chopped almonds

� cup chopped cashew nuts

� cup shredded coconut

� cup raisins

50 gms gond (edible resin)

150 gms ghee

Method:

Coarsely powder the gond (edible resin) in the mixie. Warm the ghee in a wok. Deep fry cashew nuts and almonds on low heat and then remove from the wok and spread it on a tissue till the excess ghee gets soaked. Now fry the coarsely powdered gond and drain it on a tissue. After gond, roast wheat flour (atta) in the wok (kadahi) till the flour changes its colour to light brown. Roast the flour on low flame and keep stirring gently to avoid burning. This will also ensure equal roasting of the flour. Once the atta is roasted, remove wok from fire; add chopped cashew nuts and almonds, shredded coconut and raisins. Also add powdered sugar to it and when the whole mixture cools a bit, make the modaks with palms while still warm.

GULDANA

Ingredients:

250 gms. White urad dal (dhuli urad dal)

750 gms. Sugar

400 gms. Ghee

2-3 drops yellow food colour

5-6 strands of saffron (kesar)

METHOD:

Wash the dal and soak it in drinking water for 4-5 hours. Then drain the water and grind urad dal to a paste form. Now beat this paste well with a beater, spoon or fork. (This requires a bit of muscle power if done with spoon or fork). The dal paste will rise and become smooth and light when beaten well. On the other hand add about one or one and half glass of water to a thick bottom pan, add sugar, yellow colour and saffron. Let this syrup boil till it forms one string syrup.

One the other burner put ghee in a wok (kadhai) and heat it on high flame. Once the ghee becomes hot, reduce the flame to minimum, take a flat spatula with big holes (usually used for frying) and pour the dal paste onto the holed spatula. The dal paste drops from the holes into the kadhai forming small balls. You can fry this at high or medium heat, till it changes to a golden colour. Remove the golden balls from the wok and drain on a tissue paper. Now soak these balls in the sugar syrup for about 1-2 minutes; remove from the syrup and spread these balls on a big steel plate and allow the guldana to cool. (You can also put chaandi ka varak on them but somehow I avoid that.)

KHEER

Ingredients:

1 litre milk

� cup sugar

� cup rice (you can use � cup rice too if you don�t like too much rice in kheer)

� cup chopped almonds (soaked and slithered) and pistachio nuts.

6-7 strands of saffron

METHOD

Wash and soak rice for � hour. Take a heavy bottom pan or kadhai and add milk to it. Boil the milk. Add soaked rice and simmer the flame and let the rice cook in the milk on low heat till the milk becomes little thick. Keep stirring the kheer off and on to avoid burning. Add saffron too and let it cook with the rice in milk. Keep stirring until the rice boils. Mash the rice with spoon so that the kheer gains a thick consistency. Once it�s done remove the kheer kadahi from fire and then add sugar, stir well. Then add chopped almonds and pistachios.

COCUNUT BURFI

Ingredients:

1 litre full cream milk

75-100 Gms sugar (according to taste)

25 Gms. Ghee

100 Gms. Fresh coconut grated

5-6 strands saffron

Chopped Almonds and pistas

Method:

Boil milk in a wok (kadhai). When the milk starts boiling add grated coconut and saffron strands and reduce the flame to low. Let the coconut and saffron cook in boiled milk for sometime on low heat. Stir in between while it cooks. When the milk begins to evaporate and the mixture starts sticking to the sides of the wok then add sugar to the mixture in the wok. When the sugar melts add ghee alongside the pan and cook the mixture well, till it stops sticking on the sides of the wok. Remove the wok from gas burner and keep aside. Turn a thali and grease it with oil. Then spread the coconut mixture on the upside down greased thali, spread chopped almonds and pistas over it and then roll a rolling pin over the mixture so that the burfi sets evenly. Once it sets, say about an hour, then cut into square pieces.

PUDE (GULGULE)

Ingredients:

250 grams atta (whole wheat flour)

250 ml water

250 grams gur (jaggery) or you can also use sugar instead

4-5 pods of green cardamom- opened and seeds separated

1 tsp saunf (fennel)

Oil to deep fry

METHOD:

1. Soak gur in water for 1 hour.

2. Add all the ingredients except oil to the gur water. Mix well. Adjust the water to get pakora (fritters) batter like consistency. Beat well.

3. Heat oil in a karahi (heavy bottomed vessel). When the oil is sufficiently hot, turn the heat to medium. Drop the batter by hand or by tablespoonfuls. When 1 side is cooked, turn over and fry from other side also. Fry till they get reddish brown. Drain on an absorbent paper.

 ps: I have not tried all. I read these recipes and typed it out to share with all you celebrating Navratris. Wish you a Happy and Blessed Navrathri and may Devi Maa fulfill all your wishes. All those not celebratring Navratri, try these recipes for your sweet tooth, Try experimenting and creating your own new recipes. God Bless All!