Hayagreeva (Recipe by Madhuri Aggarwal, @msaggarwal)
- Bengal gram/ Chana Dal 1 cup
- Jaggery 1 cup
- Poppy seeds 2 tbsp Grated dry coconut 1/4 cup
- Cardamom/ Elaichi 3
- Soak the Bengal gram for half an hour and pressure cook till it is firm. Usually, it’s cooked for three whistles.
- In a deep pan, boil 2 cups of water along with jaggery, poppy seeds and grated dry coconut.
- Boil it till the jaggery dissolves completely and it gets syrupy. Not a one-string consistency but syrupy.
- Add the pressure cooked lentils into this syrup, cover it and cook it till the lentils soak all the syrup and thickens.
- Add cardamom powder and give it a good mix.
- Make sure you do not mash the lentils too much.
- Garnish it with some grated dry coconut, toasted poppy seeds, serve hot.
Gujjia (Recipe by Neel Sharma, @grihamsocial)
- Plain flour 2 cups Ghee 4 tbsps, melted (clarified ghee) + 3 tbsp
- For roasting filling Water as required to knead the dough Salt 1/2 tsp Oil for deep frying
- For the filling
- Dry coconut 1/2 cup Mawa 1/2 cup
- Powdered sugar 3/4 cup
- Cardamom powder 1 tsp
- Nutmeg powder 1/4 tsp Pistachios fistful Cashew nuts fistful
- Almonds 1/4th cup (blanched and peeled)
- In a bowl, add flour, salt, ghee and knead the dough. Divide the dough and shape it into small balls. Keep aside, covered, for half an hour.
- Heat a pan, add 1/2 tbsp ghee, add grated coconut, and roast over medium flame for a few minutes, till it turns golden brown. Add a tbsp of ghee, nuts, and roast till golden. Remove, cool and make a coarse powder.
- Drizzle 1/2 tbsp of ghee and add the khoya/mawa and roast for 5-6 mins. Powder the sugar and mix with the roasted dry coconut, groundnuts, and mawa. Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Set aside the prepared filling.
- Now, roll each ball with the rolling pin into a thin puri.
- Spread a tbsp of the filling on one — half of the rolled — out dough. Wet your finger and run it along the edges of the spread-out dough with water and fold over to the opposite end, enclosing the stuffing to form a semi-circle. Use a fork to seal the edges. Twist the edges.
- Heat enough oil in a wide vessel. Slowly drop 3-4 gujiyas into the oil and deep fry them on medium flame till golden brown. Drain the gujiya with a slotted ladle and place it on a plate.
- Cool and store in air-tight containers. Gujiya remains fresh for at least a week and can be stored up to 2-3 weeks.
Rava Kheer (Recipe by Sindhu Bharadwaj, @slurpyplatter)
- Rava 50 gm
- Full fat milk 2 cups (can use non-dairy mylk as well for vegan option) Sugar 3/4 cup Saffron strands a pinch (soaked in a tbsp of warm milk) Mixed nuts ( almonds, pistachios, cashews)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped
- Raisins 1 tbsp
- Ghee 1 tbsp
- Roast the rava on medium flame for 5-7 minutes until aromatic.
- Add milk and cook the rava till it thickens to a porridge consistency.
- Now, add the sugar and mix well. Keep the flame on low until the mixture thickens further, add the saffron milk.
- Heat ghee in a pan and add the nuts, raisins. Pour this over the kheer and enjoy it warm.
Shahi Tukra (Recipe by Vandana Hasija, @vandyskitchenblr)
- Slices of bread 2 Milk 1 cup Oil for frying
- A few sliced pista flakes Syrup Sugar 1 cup Water 2 cups Elachi powder 1 tsp
- A few strands of kesar Rabri Milk 1 litre
- Sugar 1 tbsp Elachi powder 1 tsp
- Pour milk in a plate .
- Cut the bread into triangle or square shape.
- Heat oil in a khadai. Individually dip each bread slice in milk for just a second and deep fry on medium flame till golden brown. Repeat the same with the rest.
- Syrup: Boil sugar and water; when sugar melts, add kesar (dissolved in warm water) and elachi.
- Boil for 20 minutes till you get a thread-like consistency. Turn off the flame.
- Dip each slice of bread in the syrup. Allow it to soak for 5 minutes. Keep it aside.
- Rabri: Boil one litre of milk, reduce till half. Stir continuously.
- Add sugar, and mix it. Add elachi and mix again for 5 minutes. Allow it to cool. Keep it in the fridge or enjoy at room temperature.
- In a serving plate, place sweet bread, pour Rabri on top, garnish with sliced pistas.