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Makar Sankranti is one of the harvest festivals in India and it is celebrated every year with performance of various rituals. The festival of Makar Sankranti takes place throughout India. Makar Sankranti follows the movement of the sun and the lunar calendar. As the Sun moves from the Dakhsinayana to the Uttarayana that is from Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn it marks the beginning of the Makar Sankranti. The movement takes place during the month of Pausha or mid of January. No festival in India is complete with food and therefore Makar Sankranti is no exception to this fact. It is one of the most awaited festivals in Bengal in terms of preparation of exquisite delicacies, which are not commonly prepared during the other times of the year. The freshly harvested paddy, the jaggery happens to be some of the principal ingredients in preparation of Makar Sankranti recipes. The several Makar Sankranti recipes include different kinds of sweet dishes, such as, “Pithey and Payesh”, dishes made of til (sesame) and different types of ‘Kichri’. This is one of the reason that the ‘Makar Sankranti is also known as, ‘Til Sankranti’ or the ‘Kichri Sankranti’. Here are some of the most well known Makar Sankranti dishes. They are,
- Kichri
- Patisapta ( Pancakes with fillings of coconut)
- Gokul Pithe
- Malpua
- Payesh
Here is the preparation of these lip-smacking delights to assist you to have the exquisite taste of these Makar Sankranti recipes.
Kichri
Ingredients:
- 50 grams Soaked masur Dal
- 200 grams Soaked rice
- 50 grams Soaked moong Dal
- gratedGarlic flakes
- 4 Large onions
- 1 minced Ginger
- 2 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon Garam masala
- 2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 2 Potatoes
- Green chillies
- Oil for frying
Preparation:
Peel of the potatoes and cut them into pieces, chop the green chilly and the onion. Put the oil in a pan and fry the onion until they turn brown. The grated green chilly ginger and garlic are added and fried for few minutes. Put the garam masala and cook for 3 minutes. Then pour in warm water and put the moong dal. Put the rice and the musur dal after some time. Then put in the potato and salt to taste. Cook on a medium flame till all the ingredients are cooked fully. Serve hot.
Patisapta
Ingredients:
- 200 grams flour
- 200 grams ghee
- 100 grams freshly-grated coconut for filling
- 200 ml milk
- 100 grams of khoya kheer
- Kishmish or raisins
- Ghee for shallow frying
Preparation:
Blend the milk and the flour in a bowl, stir it well and keep it aside for some time. Whip the coconut, khoya kheer and sugar in another bowl. And cook at a low flame. When the mixture becomes soft and moist, remove it and leave to be cooled down. Heat a frying pan with a depth of about six inches, grease it evenly all over with little ghee. Drop the batter of coconut, sugar and kheer on it and twirl it and evenly cover the base of the pan with the batter. Give some moment to it to settle and cook until it turns little brown. Put some coconut filling with a teaspoon across the pancake and spread it in an even manner and roll the pancake from one end to the other. Take it off the pan. It is good to have patisapta both hot and cold.
Gokul Pithe
Ingredients:
- 200 grams Coconut (grated)
- 2-1/2 cup Date Palm Jaggery or Sugar
- 150 grams Flour
- 5-6 cup Water
- 1/8 teaspoon Sodium Bicarbonate
- 450 grams Khoya Kheer
- 40 grams Ghee
Preparation:
Take 4 cups of water and mix it with 2 cups of sugar in a vessel with a deep base. Put it at a slow flame, until it turns to a consistent blend. Thus the sugar syrup is ready. Leave it to cool down. Make the filling by frying the grated coconut, sugar and khoya kheer at a medium flame. Stir the mixture continuously, so that it does not hold on to the base of the pan. Put off the flame. Take the mixture on your palm and flatten them. Then make the batter by mixing the water, the flour, little ghee and the sodium bi carbonate. Put ghee in the pan and heat it. Put the batter in the pan; add the flattened mix in the batter. Deep fry it until the batter turns deep brown. The Gokul Pithe is prepared and remove the batter from the flame. Remove the extra oil by putting it on paper and then put the pithes in the sugar syrup.
Malpua
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (saunf)
- ¼ cup beaten curds
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup milk
- crushed peppercorns
- ghee for deep frying
- 2 tsps of chopped pistachios for garnishing
Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl adding up 1 and ½ cup of warm water. Make the batter smooth and keep apart for about 45 minutes. Take ghee in a shallow pan. Take a teaspoon full of batter, put it in the ghee, and cook it in medium flame. Fry until it turns golden brown. The hot yummy malpuas are ready.Remove the excess oil with a absorbent paper. Garnish them with pistachios and serve hot.
Payesh
Ingredients:
- 200 grams Rice
- 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg powder
- 200 grams Soft jaggery
- 2 tbsp Chopped pistachios
- 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 2 Litres milk
- 6 Strands of kesar
- 2 tbsp Chopped almonds
Preparation:
Wash the rice and leave for drying. It is better to put the milk at a medium flame and boil for 15 minutes. Then put the rice in the milk and boil until the milk is thickened to some extent. Put nutmeg powder, kesar and cardamom powder in the milk. Then it is the time to add the jaggery and stir the milk until the jaggery melts and gets mixed evenly in it. Remove it from fire and garnish with chopped almonds and pistas. The payesh will be then ready to be served.
Sigi says pamper your sweet tooth with exclusive range of Makar Sankranti recipes.
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