By: Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji
Culinary Expert, Chef Consultant, Mentor, and Food Blogger.
I believe one can enjoy & celebrate festivals with great zeal and zest by preparing Desserts, Snacks, or any recipes with local, seasonal, and simple ingredients easily available in your Pantry. You don’t have to use exotic or fancy ingredients to celebrate festivals. The most delectable and Healthy dishes are prepared with the simplest of Ingredients.
Chef Mrs Reetu Uday Kugaji, a proud Chef and Mentor shares 5 delicious but nutritious recipes for your Brother & Loved ones
5 Rakhi Recipes by Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji
Samak Kesar Phirni
Soaking Time for Rice– 30 minutes
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins
Chilling time in Refrigerator: 1-1 ½ hours
Serves: 4
Ingredients and Quantity:
- Full cream milk -1 ¼ th litres
- Sama (Samak ,Samvat) (Barnyard Millet), washed soaked & drained -60 gm
- Saffron, broiled -1/2 gm
- Pistachio nuts -12
- Organic Jaggery Powder -1/4 th cup or as required
- Green cardamom powder – ½ teaspoon
- Rose water- ½ tbsp
- Screwpine water-1/4 tbsp
For the garnish:
- Pistachio slivered-15 gm
- Saffron strands-a pinch
- Rose Petals dried-2 tsp
Method:
- Drain & grind the samak rice coarsely.
- Blend it with 1/2 cup milk.
- Add Saffron strands & set aside.
- Now boil the milk in a heavy-bottomed pan.
- Add the coarsely ground rice paste to the milk & cook stirring continuously, so that no lumps & it does not burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add rose water.
- Add green cardamom powder.
- When it starts thickening take it off the flame.
- Add Jaggery powder & mix well. Let it cool completely.
- Pour into soaked & sun-dried Kasoras / earthenware pots & keep
- them covered in the refrigerator to chill for 1 to 1 ½ hrs.
- It is served chilled and garnished with slivered pistachio nuts saffron & dried edible rose petals.
Kashmiri Shufta
Kindly Note: The traditional recipe of Kashmiri Shufta has saffron-flavored sugar syrup, cinnamon powder, candied sugar, dry ginger powder, and a pinch of regular salt added to the mixed dry fruit sweet, I have replaced regular salt with rock salt & omitted adding candied sugar. I have drizzled Organic Honey over the ingredients instead of Saffron flavoured sugar syrup.
Preparation Time– 25 mins
Cooking Time– 5 mins
Serves-6 to 8
Ingredients & Quantity:
- Cottage Cheese, cubed- 3/4 th cup
- Clarified butter- as required for shallow frying Cottage Cheese + 1 tbsp. extra for frying nuts.
- Almonds- 1/4 th cup
- Pistachio nuts-1/4th cup
- Raisins (Stems removed & discarded)- 1/4th cup
- Black currants (Stems removed & discarded)-1/4th cup (Opt)
- Dates (deseeded & chopped)-1/4th cup
- Walnuts, broken= 1/4th cup
- Dried Apricots (deseeded & cut into chunks)-1/4th cup
- Dry coconut, sliced- 2 tbsp.
- Dates, deseeded – 16
- Green cardamom, crushed- 1/4 th tsp.
- Black pepper powder- 1/4 th tsp.
- Cinnamon powder- 1/4 th tsp.
- Dry ginger powder- 1/4 th tsp.
- Rock salt- to taste
- Saffron- a pinch
For the garnish:
- Edible Dried & Organic Rose petals: 2 tsp.
- Organic Honey- 1/4 th cup or more, if desired.
- Warm Water- 4 cups
Method:
- Heat the clarified butter (for frying) and fry cubed paneer lightly
- Remove & put aside. Cut the almonds into halves.
- Soak all the prepared dry fruits in 4 cups of warm water for 15 mins except sliced dry coconut & dates.
- Drain the water from the dry fruits
- Heat 1 tbsp. of clarified butter in a heavy-bottomed pan.
- Lightly sauté the almonds, raisins, coconut, walnuts & apricots for 1
- minute.
- Transfer to a glass mixing bowl
- Add fried paneer cubes
- Add crushed green cardamoms, Black pepper powder, cinnamon
- powder & dry ginger powder, rock salt & Saffron
- Pour the honey over the dry fruits.
- Add lemon juice (Optional). Mix well.
- Serve warm garnished with edible dried & organic rose petals
Punjabi Kachi Haldi Di Panjiri (Punjabi Style Fresh Raw Turmeric Panjiri)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 12
Ingredients & Quantity:
Fresh Raw Turmeric (Kachi Haldi), peeled & ground/puréed/grated-
200 gm. (Wear food-grade hand gloves to prevent your hands from getting stained)
Whole Wheat Flour- 3 cups
Desi Ghee- ½ cup + 4 tbsp.
Mixed melon seeds sauté in desi ghee- 1 tbsp.
Poppy Seeds sauté in desi ghee- 1 tbsp.
Dry Ginger Powder- 1 tsp.
Jaggery powder, organic / Desi Khand- ½ cup or more, if desired sauté in Desi Ghee Separately, cool it completely & grind it into a coarse powder
Fox nuts – 1/4th cup (Optional)
Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp.
Almonds – 1 tbsp.
Method:
- Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed Kadai add the haldi and cook on a slow flame until it’s completely dry but ensure that it does not brown. Set aside & cool
- Puree & set aside.
- Heat ghee in another clean-bottomed non-stick pan add the whole wheat flour cook / bhuno on a slow flame stirring it occasionally until it turns a little light golden brown or light reddish ensure that the raw aroma disappears & you can smell the nuttiness of the cooked whole wheat flour.
- Set aside & cool a little.
- In a sterilized dry glass bowl or a Parat/ Steel Thali.
- Add & mix Melon seeds and Poppy seeds.
- Coarsely ground Mixture. Add dry ginger powder. Mix. Add ground fresh cooked Turmeric.
- Mix it well.
- Add Jaggery powder& let it cool completely.
- Transfer & store in a sterilized & dry air-tight jar/container.
- Consume as & when required.
Chef Tips:
- Ensure you cook the Kachi Haldi well in desi ghee without over-browning it / discoloring it.
- Kachi Haldi (Raw Turmeric has a warming effect “Garam Taseer”, I know it’s too delicious, but do not consume it in larger quantities.
Consume in smaller quantities, preferably with hot/warm unsweetened milk. - Use a dry spoon while removing the Panjiri from the air-tight jar /container.
Sitaphal Aur Kesar Ki Basundi (Custard Apple And Saffron Basundi)
A twist to the traditional Maharashtrian dessert also very popular in Gujarat & Karnataka. This scrumptious dessert is prepared with thickened full-fat milk, fresh custard apple pulp/puree, which is in Season, loads of nuts, and blanched Buchanania Lanzan seeds, mildly flavored with green cardamom powder and saffron, garnished with pistachio nuts and almonds drizzled with rose water.
Sugar-free it is… Due to the inherent sweetness of Custard Apples.
Preparation Time: 8 to 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 01 hour 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time– 1 hour
Serves: 4
Ingredients and Quantity:
- Milk, Full-Fat- 1.5 Litre
- Fresh Sitaphal (Custard Apple), pulp/puree- 1 cup
- Saffron strands steeped in 2 tbsp. lukewarm milk- ¼ th gm.
Green Cardamom Powder- 1/4 th tsp. - Rose Water- 02 tsp.
- Buchanania Lanzan seeds (Charoli) blanched- 1/4 th tbsp.
- Pistachio nuts, chopped/slivered- 01 tsp
- Almonds, chopped/slivered- 01 tsp
For the Garnish:
- Pistachio nuts, chopped/slivered- 02 tsp
- Almonds, chopped/slivered- 02 tsp
- Saffron strands steeped in 1 tbsp. of lukewarm milk- a pinch
Method:
- In a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan, pour milk and bring it to a boil.
- Simmer for 1 hour and let it reduce it to ½ its quantity
- Add broiled saffron strands, green cardamom powder, and rose water.
- Add the slivered nuts and charoli. Let it cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Switch off the flame and let it cool completely.
- Add the fresh Sitaphal pulp/puree, and mix it till well combined.
- Pour into soaked and sun-dried Kasoras / earthenware pots and refrigerate it covered for 1 hour.
- Serve chilled garnished with slivered nuts and broiled saffron
- drizzled with a little rose water.
Chef Tips:
- You may add different fruit purees like when Alphonso Mangoes, when in season.
- Other variations are Figs (Anjeer), Oranges, Rose, Gulkand and the list goes on.
Smoked Black Chickpea Chaat (Dhungar Wali Kale Chane Ki Chaat)
A mouth-watering sweet and tangy chaat is overloaded with nutrition and is prepared with cooked black chickpeas, pomegranate pearls, crunchy peanuts, onion, tomatoes, green chilies, raw mango, fresh cilantro, and powdered masalas, drizzled with lemon juice and given a dhungar with a live coal, desi
ghee with cumin seeds which further imparts a smoky flavour.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Soaking Time for Chana: Overnight / 08 hours
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients and Quantity:
- Black Chana, soaked overnight -1 ½ cup
- Water- 04 cups
- Salt- 1/4 th tsp.
- Peanut oil- 1 ½ tbsp.
- Pomegranate Pearls- ½ cup
- Peanuts without skin, roasted- 01 tbsp.
- Onions chopped- 01 large
- Tomatoes pulp removed, chopped- 01 large
- Green chillies, finely chopped – 02 nos.
- Raw mango, chopped- ½ tbsp.
- Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped -02 tbsp.
- Black salt -to taste
- Freshly ground cumin powder – 01 tsp.
- Chaat masala -1/2 tsp. tsp.
- Dry mango powder- ½ tsp.
- Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
- Lemon juice – 02 tbsp.
- For the Dungar / Smoking Technique:
- Small bowl-01 no
- Live coal- 02 small
- Clarified butter (Desi ghee)- 01 tsp.
- Cumin seeds- ½ tsp.
- For the garnishing:
- Cilantro, finely chopped -01 tbsp.
Method:
- Wash and pressure cook soaked black chana in 04 cups of water and 1/4 tsp. of salt for seven to eight whistles or till done. Transfer them into a non-stick kadai and simmer till all the water evaporates add peanut oil and sauté for a minute.
- In a large salad bowl add the cooked hot chana. Let it cool. Add pomegranate pearls, peanuts, chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, chopped raw mango, chopped cilantro, black salt, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala, dry mango powder, red chilli powder, and lemon juice and mix well.
- Place the small bowl on the prepared chana. In that place the live coal.
- Add the cumin seeds and desi ghee. Once it starts smoking cover the salad bowl with a tight-fitting lid, so that smoke does not escape.
- Serve the chaat immediately garnished with chopped cilantro.
Chef Tips:
- You may add chopped cucumber and boiled and cubed potatoes.
- You may make the same chaat with Green chana, when in season.
- “Dhungar”
Dhungar (Smoked / Smoking) is a technique of imparting a smoky flavour to a dish when a particular dish has finished cooking, live coal is taken and pure ghee is poured on it, when it starts to smoke this is put in the pot, the smoke from the coal must be trapped by tightly closing the lid. The smoke thus trapped for about 25 to 30 minutes, permeates the cooked food/beverage. on the live coal such as Cumin Seeds, Cloves, or Cardamom -Green or Black on the live coal and then add pure ghee and cover it. The spices/flavorings used while giving dhungar vary according to the recipe.