The Cucumbertown Festive Recipe Round Up, The Double D’s; Dussera and Durga Pooja
It’s festival season all over the world!
It started off with the always awesome Oktoberfest and at the end of this month it is going to be ghee galore in India with Durga Pooja and Dussera hitting the households. Indian festivals are all about celebrating with family and friends over lavish spreads of sweets, savouries and everything in between. And no other time of the year is as laden with festivities as this. Almost the entire country is partying, and along with the DJ’s and the music, comes the platters of festive food after the abstinence of Navratri (or 9 nights).
This round up is an eclectic mix of traditional classics and modern twists to favourite Indian recipes that come calling around this time of the year.
Since all things wonderful are celebrated with a sweet offering, this list too kicks off with a delicious laddoo. One of the most loved of the indian sweets.
Gulkand Dry Fruits Laddoo
This the kind of thing that anyone would feel festive about! Adding her own quirks to the universally favourite Laddoo, Subhasmita beautifully blends cream, rose and dry fruit flavours in this dish. Milky, creamy, laddoos stuffed with dry fruits in a rose flavoured jam. What’s not to love!
Rajma Sundal
Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the savoury stuff when you have all these delicious sweets around you. But Navratri is as much about savoury delights as it is about the laddoos and the kheers. In fact, the Sundal is popular as a prasad (sacrament) in Tamil homes. I know I used to wait for these kidney beans stir fried in freshly ground coconut when I went to my Tamilian friends’ homes. Nandita’s post has made me nostalgic for college days with invites to friendly homes and refuge from hostel food!
Quinoa Apple Kheer
Coming back to the sweets, this one is just pure genius.
For anyone who is being cautious about the 50 shades of ghee they are going to be loading themselves on, this is the perfect solution.
Tasty, healthy, and innovative. The perfect way to bring in a superfood to our festivities! This is spot on Richa!
Nakel’er Torkari
From the musings of the north Indian foodie, we move west, to the splendour of Durga Pujo. This vibrant, boisterous Bengali festival is the ultimate riot of colours, food, family and opulence. Priyadarshini’s yearning for a more personal, less luxurious display from her childhood,will strike a chord with all of us. This simply, hearty meal of spicy potatoes stir fried in coconut is what is missing in festivities of today. So about time we revisited it, don’t you think?
Gluten Free Rajgira Barfi Shards
Though some of us can afford to mindlessly stuff our faces during festive season, there are the less fortunate with celiac and gluten allergies. (I would not want to be one of them). But there’s no time for despair with this recipe. Although Donna means it for Diwali, i’m sure some of you wouldn’t ind giving it a try for Dussera, huh?
Puliyodharai: Traditional Tamarind Rice
After talk of any sweets, I immediately start to think of tangy stuff. Nothing like that sweet, spicy, tanginess to flirt with your taste buds. And when it’s Dussera or Diwali, what better way to get the tangy twist than Puliyodharai? Given away in temples as sacrament, this tingly rice dish is how simple perfection should be done. Nandita brings the traditional methods to light with this authentic recipe. Try it, I did, and om nom nom!
Phulkopir Mithai: Cauliflower Sweetmeat
For someone who has only really heard of cauliflower in savoury dishes or curries, this dish was the revelation of this round up.
And to add to that s the undeniably appealing fact that this was a favourite of that powerhouse of Indian literature, Rabindranath Tagore.
Maangsher Korma: A sweet and spicy goat curry
Just like we started off this roundup with the customary sweet dish, to bow out this epic flavour list, is this sweet and spicy mutton Curry. And unlike the other dishes on this list, this will surely appeal to the carnivorous lot out there. Priyadarshini tells me that it is imperative for Bengalis to eat mutton on the last day of Durga Pooja. And hey, I wouldn’t say no to a little bit of that Maangsher Korma!
So there you have it. 8 dishes to celebrate this festive season in style. And yes, there are going to be more round ups along the way. To be featured in our other roundups please contact me on ramyaATcucumbertownDOTcom.
Happy Festivities Folks, From Team Cucumbertown.
A big shout out to all the gracious bloggers who contributed recipes. My mouth is watering even as I type this out!
