Navratri 2023: Chef Anand Rawat Shares 5 Festive Recipes

Navratri is here, and we are all celebrating it with great enthusiasm and excitement. This auspicious festival is devoted to Maa Durga, and during this time Hindus worship and seek blessings from the Goddess. It is a nine-day occasion where the devotees fast, pray, set up pandals, and organise garba nights. 

As per the Hindu calendar, Shardiya Navratri starts on Pratipada Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Ashwin and will end on Dashami Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the same month. This year, it began on October 15 and will conclude on October 24 with Dussehra. Besides puja and other rituals, Navratri is also celebrated with a lot of delicious delicacies. 

If you are also looking for some festive dishes for Navratri, here are five recipes shared by Chef Anand Rawat, Corporate Executive Chef at Noormahal Palace, Karnal: 

Khajur Gud Ke Rasgulle  

Ingredients 

• 1 litre of full-fat milk or whole milk 
• 3  tablespoons vinegar or lime juice; add more or less 
• 1 teaspoon milk powder 
• 1 cup date palm jaggery grated 
• ½ cup sugar 
• 4 cup water 
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder

Method 

Making chenna for rasgulla 

• Heat the milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. 
• Once the milk starts to boil, reduce the flame and add 1 teaspoon of vinegar at a time. Stir. Repeat the process until you see the milk curdles and whey separates.  
• Strain it with a muslin cloth and rinse under running water to get rid of any sourness from the vinegar or lime juice. 
• Now squeeze gently to drain out extra water and put it under a heavy object for 5–10 minutes. The chhena should not be too dry.  

Making chenna balls 

• Knead the chenna with milk powder by mashing with your hand until you get a smooth dough or your hands become slightly greasy. It will take around 8–10 minutes to get a smooth dough.  
• Divide the dough into equal portions and make small, round balls. Just make sure they are crack-free, or else they will break while cooking. 

Making jaggery syrup 

• In a wide-bottomed pan or pot, heat water, followed by sugar, khajur jaggery, and cardamom powder. Bring them together to boil until the khajur jaggery melts. The syrup must have a runny consistency. There's no need to make just one or two strings.

For making jaggery rasgulla 

• Add the chenna balls slowly, one by one, to the bubbling syrup. Cover and let it cook for 8–10 minutes over a high flame. 
• Then Remove the lid, and you can see the balls have increased in size. Now slowly turn each of them around once and again and cook them over a high flame for 3 minutes. 
• Once done, reduce the flame to low to medium. Cover and cook for 15 minutes more. Check-in between them and slowly turn them around twice. 
• Remove from the flame and transfer to a bowl with the syrup. let them rest for 4-5 hours. Remember, the rasgullas must be soaked in the syrup, or they will be flattened.  Jaggery Rasgulla is ready to serve. 

Shakarkandi Galouti  

Ingredients

For Pressure Cooking: 

• 100 g boiled sakarkandi 
• 4 cups of water  
• ½ teaspoon sendha namak  

For Masala Paste: 

• 10 whole fried cashews  
• 1-2 green chillies, finely chopped  
• 2 pods of cardamom  
• 2 teaspoons of coriander 
• A pinch of saffron  

Other Ingredients: 

• ¼ teaspoon sendha namak  
• ½ teaspoon rose water 
• ½ teaspoon kewra water  
• 1-2 teaspoons ghee  
• ¼ singhade ka atta 
• Desi ghee for roasting  

Method  

• In a small blender, take 10 whole cashews. make sure to soak cashews in warm water for 10 minutes. Also add 1 chilli, 2 pods of cardamom, and a pinch of saffron; blend to a smooth paste. 
• Transfer the masala paste to the shakarkandi paste. Further, add all spices, 1 teaspoon of ghee, and ¼ cup of singhade ka atta. 
• Combine well. Grease the hands with oil and shape a small, ball-sized mixture. Roast in a tawa, heating 2 teaspoons of ghee. 
• Roast on both sides until the galouti kebab turns golden and crisp. Finally, enjoy galouti kebab with coriander chutney.  

Kache Kele Ke Kofte 

Ingredients 

• 5-6 raw bananas  
• sendha namak as per taste 
• 2 tablespoons of singhada atta  
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder 
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed powder 
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cashews  
• 2 tablespoons of raisins  
• 4, finely chopped green chilli  
• finely chopped coriander leaves  
• Refined oil for frying 

For Gravy 

• 1 medium-sized tomato  
• 2 green chillies 
• 1 inch of ginger 
• 1 small cup of curd  
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds 
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed powder  
• 2 tablespoons of desi ghee  
• 2 tablespoons of cashews   
• Sendha namak as per taste  

Method 

• Wash the raw bananas well with clean water, and then transfer them to a vessel filled with water. 
• Cover this vessel with its lid and place it on the gas stove over medium heat to cook the raw bananas in the water. 
• After some time, remove the lid from the vessel and poke a knife into the raw bananas to see if they are cooked and have become soft or not. Then turn off the flame. 
• Take the soft and cooked bananas from the hot water to a big plate and allow them to cool. Then remove their peel and mash all of them to form a fine paste-like texture. 
• Now add singhada atta, powdered spices, and salt to the mashed bananas. Mix all the ingredients well. Then add chopped coriander leaves, green chilli, cashews, and raisins to the banana mixture. Mix well again. 
• Heat a kadhai and add refined oil to it to fry the cutlets. When the oil is hot enough for cooking, lower the flame to a low level. 
• Now prepare small, round, tikki-like cutlets of the banana mixture. You can give your desired shape to these cutlets. Then put these cutlets into the hot oil for deep frying. Set 3–4 cutlets to fry at one time. 
• Allow these cutlets to fry over low heat until they turn golden brown in colour. Flip carefully to fry uniformly on both sides. Then transfer the fried cutlets to a plate. 
• Then take the tomato and green chilli to a mixer jar and grind them together to form a fine paste. 
• Now heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a kadhai. When the ghee is hot enough for cooking, add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds to it. Allow the cumin seeds to crackle. 
• Then add tomato-green chilli paste to the kadhai and mix with the cooking ingredients in the kadhai. Now add the powdered spices and salt to the kadhai. Stir and cook the ingredients together till the oil begins to separate from the cooking gravy masala for kela kofta curry. 
• Then add cashew paste and curd to the kadhai. Stir well. Now add water as per requirement to the kadhai. 
• Allow the gravy to boil, and add more salt if required. Turn off the flame after 2-3 minutes and add the kofta to the curry prepared. Then transfer the prepared kela kofta curry to a bowl and serve. 

Dahi Wale Aloo  

Ingredients:  

• 4 potatoes, half-boiled and cubed  
• ½ teaspoon grated ginger  
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds 
• 1-2 cloves 
• ½ inch of cinnamon  
• 1 teaspoon ghee   
• ¼ teaspoon rock salt 

Curd mixture:  

• 200 g curd  
• 100 g water  
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder  
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder  
• ¼ jeera powder  
• 1 teaspoon kuttu atta  
• ½ teaspoon sendha namak  
• Oil for frying  

Method 

• Make a mixture of all the ingredients in the curd mixture and keep it aside. 
• Heat the oil for frying and fry the half-boiled potatoes till they turn golden. Take them out on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil, and then put them in the curd mixture and let them soak for 1/2 – 1 hour. 
• Later, in a kadai, add the ghee and cumin seeds. When they sputter, add the cloves and cinnamon stick. Stir-fry for a few seconds, and then add turmeric powder, grated ginger, and red chilli powder.  
• Stir for once, and then add the potatoes soaked in the curd mixture without the liquid. Just add the soaked potatoes. Fry them in the ghee for a minute or two. Then add the curd mixture slowly and cook till the oil separates. 
• Turn off the fire, garnish with finely chopped green coriander, and serve with samak rice, kuttu puri, or kaddu ke pakode.  

Falahari Aloo Tikki  

Ingredients  

• 1/2 cup barnyard millet (sama rice) 
• 4 medium potatoes, boiled  
• 2 teaspoons green chillies, chopped  
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger  
• 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped green coriander 
• 1 teaspoon of pepper powder  
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds  
• 1/2 teaspoon mango powder  
• 3 tablespoons of ghee  

Method 

• Add the millet and 1 ¼ cup water to the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 3 whistles on medium heat.  
• When the cooker has cooled down completely, take out the cooked sama in a bowl, mash it with a spoon, and then let it come to room temperature.  
• Mix together the grated potato, sama, and all the ingredients and mash well. Grease your palms and make patties of the same size from the mixture.  
• Heat ghee in a flat nonstick pan and shallow fry the patties on medium flame till they become golden and crisp from both sides. 
• Drain on a paper napkin, and serve hot.