Navratri Special Recipes

Happy Navratri and Durga Puja to all my Friends :)

India is a land of festivals and festivals are incomplete without mouth watering dishes.

Festivals in India are incomplete without delicious food, and Navratri is no exception. Navratri is a long festival, which is celebrated continuously for nine days and celebrated with a variety of dishes. Therefore, a variety of dishes are made and served during this festival. Since, in most of the communities, people observe fast during Navratri and eat only one meal a day at sunset, the Navratri meal has special courses and is strictly vegetarian. Even onion and garlic are not allowed in the dishes.

Couple of my friends keep fast on this nine days festival, there are specific recipes which are made only with the ingredients used in the fast. Aloo is one such ingredient which is commonly used in the recipes for Navratri fasts.

Today I have given a special recipe for Aloo Pulao and Aloo Raita, which you can prepare during Navratri fasts. It is very easy dish to prepare with all day kitchen ingredients and delicious to taste.

Aloo Peas Pulao

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice / Jeera Rice - 2 cup

Potato - 2 large (peeled, half boiled and cut to cube pieces)

Peas - 1 cup

Water - 4 cups

Green chillies- 2 nos (slit to half)

Turmeric - ½ tsp

red chilli powder - ½ tsp

Cardamom - 3 nos

Cloves - 5 nos

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Preparation:

- Heat ghee in a pan, crackle cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and cumin seeds.

- Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, slit green chillies and fry for a sec.

- Add the half cooked potato, peas, salt and saute for few minutes.

- Add the washed rice, cooked masala, water and pour it into an electric rice cooker or cook the rice for 20 minutes in a microwave oven. On cooking stove, cover the cooking pan and let simmer for 15-20 minutes on low flame.

- Serve hot with Raita or Curd Salad.

Note:

- Adjust spice adding more green chilies if desired.

- When cooking potato pulao on a cooking stove, please do not cook potatoes and peas earlier. They will get cooked with the rice on low flame.

Aloo Raita

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 3 nos (peeled, boiled and cut to 1 inch cube pieces)

Curd - 2 cup (beaten well)

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - ½ tsp (white or black)

Red chilli powder - ½ tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp (for tempering)

Preparation:

- Boil cut potatoes with salt and black pepper powder.

- In a bowl add the boiled cut potatoes, curd and mix well.

- Heat oil a kadai, splutter cumin seeds, pepper powder, red chilli powder and fry for a sec.

- Add the above mixture to the potato curd and mix well. Add salt to taste.

- Aloo Raita is ready to serve with Poori and Pulao.

Note:

- You can either use white or black pepper powder or black pepper corns.

- Adjust salt and spice as per taste.

- The best taste is serving this dish after refrigerating for at least half hour.