The Festivities of Navratri : Kachori
It is a happy co-incidence that last few days of Ramazan which culminated with Eid overlapped with the beginning of the days of Navratri which will culminate with Dusshera, the biggest festivals of Hindu. This assumes significance and encourages people to celebrate the festivals with each other, share the festive cuisine and develop the understanding for each other’s religion. It should also help bridge the gap of opinions and opinion-makers who should take pride in the long standing tradition of mutual trust and respect.
The celebration of Navratri is an opportunity to showcase the multitude of cuisine on offer across the whole of India and also re-emphasize the complexity and vastness of regional Indian cuisine. Some of the people who observe a fast during the day eat only one meal after the sunset without any intake of cereals or cereal based products. Even the salt used for the preparation of simple food is not so commonly used (Sendha namak), otherwise known as Rock salt. The food for the entire nine days of fasting is simple vegetarian and some of the houses do not even use onion and garlic to ensure “Saatvik (aesthetic) meal experience for the entire family.
In the parts of Maharashtra and Gujrat, the festival provides a unique opportunity to flex the dance skill popularly known as Dandiya/Garba which is played with two sticks. It does require some skill to play the sticks in tandem with each other and people do practice a lot to appear good in the company of other skilled players.
The feast in the east involves the best of fish dishes with generous amount of sweet dishes like payas (rice, milk and nuts pudding), and sandesh (range of reduced milk based sweets). It also brings the rich version of Indian cuisine which otherwise remains subdued for most part of the year barring few such occasions. One of the very popular recipes found during the occasion is “kachori” which can either be sweet or savoury with or vary from place to place as far as stuffinf is concerned.
Kachori
1 Cup refined flour
2tbsp ghee
½ cup split moong lentil(soaked)
¼ tsp Fennel seeds powder
¼ ajwain seeds
½ tsp Cumin powder
¼ tsp Garam masala
½ tsp Red chilli powder
Pinch Baking powder
Vegetable Oil for frying
Salt to taste
Method:
Sieve flour with baking powder, add salt and stir well. Add enough water to make a smooth but semi hard dough. Rest for 30 minutes to improve the gluten.
Grind the soaked moong lentil coarsely. Heat ghee in a frying pan, crackle ajwain seeds followed by ground lentil and cook on medium heat to remove extra moisture. Add all the powders and stir to mix well. When the moong lentil paste will be almost semi-dry, remove from heat and allow cooling.
Divide the dough into equal balls, roll the dough a little, encase a small amount of stuffing and roll the dough ball round. Flatten a little using the palm of one hand and fingers of another. Heat the vegetable oil in a kadhai/ wok and deep fry the kachoris/ patties until nice golden brown. Drain on a kitchen towel to remove excess oil and serve with either chutney or pickle of your choice.
- Kuntal
Tags: tikka masala, indian food, karahi, paneer, chicken, indian curry, balti, bhatura, chana, kulfi
