Navratri and Satvik, A way to restore balance -- By Kunal Kapur
Baked Pumpkin and Potato Mash
No of portions – 2
Charnamrit shots with Banana Chips
Method
It's that time of the year again. As the Navratras approach, I hear a lot of people complaining about having to give up on non-vegetarian or vegetarian food - depending on if they are fasting or not. They talk about how boring simple food (and life) has become. Unfortunately most people also have a skewed understanding of Sattvik (which means pure essence) food - mostly because of the ‘special fasting thalis’ that being dished out as
Sattvik at most restaurants - are anything but. I will get to that later.Most of us know that the word 'Navaratri" is a conjunction of two words ‘nava’ (meaning
‘nine’) and ‘ratri’ (meaning ‘night’). Spread over 9 nights and 10 days, it is one of the most sacred festivals in Hindu religion where we worship Goddess Durga or Shakti, which represents the energy of the universe, in her 9 beautiful forms with great reverence. This is one festival which truly celebrates the feminine.
Each state has its unique way of celebrating the festival with the common theme of bringing the community together with music, dance and lots of good food. Like all ancient traditions (apart from the religious aspect) there is a scientific reason for celebrating it twice a year, once around April and other around Oct-Nov. This is the time the seasons change, and our body & mind also undergo a lot of change at the same time.
Fasting and/or eating Sattvik food is done to get our body ready for the next season, to detoxify and restore our balance. And when I think of Sattvik, I think of fresh makhan, fresh vegetables and fruits, kuttu atta, dahi, and milk. Sattvik food is cooked with minimum oil and masalas, it is made with fresh unrefined ingredients - what we call organic farming today has existed in our culture for millenia. The food retains the nutritive value since it is cooked very simply.
All this makes Sattvik food not only powerful and delicious but one that also has tremendous benefit on the overall system. I strongly feel that to cook delicious food simply, is a great art, as the cook's talent doesn't have a place to hide behind the masalas or spices. How you bring out and retain the natural flavours of the limited ingredients is what matters the most.
We can look at these 9 days as an opportunity. An opportunity to restore balance in the body that has become so used to not just junk, but badly cooked food, so much so that in some cases it has become a physical dependence.
Even if it’s for a short time, this festival forces us to stop and think about what we consume. It forces us to plan our meals carefully and that process naturally takes us back to our roots, it reminds us of our grandmothers who spent their precious time doing just that. And when so much attention is being paid to what we are eating, we end up not only eating the right food, but also consuming it in the right quantities.
Puffed Rice Bars
Toffee Bananas with Kuttu Atta Crumble
Sattvik at most restaurants - are anything but. I will get to that later.Most of us know that the word 'Navaratri" is a conjunction of two words ‘nava’ (meaning
‘nine’) and ‘ratri’ (meaning ‘night’). Spread over 9 nights and 10 days, it is one of the most sacred festivals in Hindu religion where we worship Goddess Durga or Shakti, which represents the energy of the universe, in her 9 beautiful forms with great reverence. This is one festival which truly celebrates the feminine.
Each state has its unique way of celebrating the festival with the common theme of bringing the community together with music, dance and lots of good food. Like all ancient traditions (apart from the religious aspect) there is a scientific reason for celebrating it twice a year, once around April and other around Oct-Nov. This is the time the seasons change, and our body & mind also undergo a lot of change at the same time.
Fasting and/or eating Sattvik food is done to get our body ready for the next season, to detoxify and restore our balance. And when I think of Sattvik, I think of fresh makhan, fresh vegetables and fruits, kuttu atta, dahi, and milk. Sattvik food is cooked with minimum oil and masalas, it is made with fresh unrefined ingredients - what we call organic farming today has existed in our culture for millenia. The food retains the nutritive value since it is cooked very simply.
All this makes Sattvik food not only powerful and delicious but one that also has tremendous benefit on the overall system. I strongly feel that to cook delicious food simply, is a great art, as the cook's talent doesn't have a place to hide behind the masalas or spices. How you bring out and retain the natural flavours of the limited ingredients is what matters the most.
We can look at these 9 days as an opportunity. An opportunity to restore balance in the body that has become so used to not just junk, but badly cooked food, so much so that in some cases it has become a physical dependence.
Even if it’s for a short time, this festival forces us to stop and think about what we consume. It forces us to plan our meals carefully and that process naturally takes us back to our roots, it reminds us of our grandmothers who spent their precious time doing just that. And when so much attention is being paid to what we are eating, we end up not only eating the right food, but also consuming it in the right quantities.
Puffed Rice Bars
Ingredients
Puffed Rice — 3 cups
Butter — 50gms
Honey — 1/2 cup
Almonds chopped — 2 tbsp
Grated Coconut — 1/4 cup
Chocolate molten (optional)
Method
- apply some butter on a tray and keep aside.
- melt butter and honey in a pan on slow heat. add all the ingredients and mix together on low heat. make sure that the mixture is neither too sticky or too dry.
- the rice puffs should be coated evenly. immediately transfer it to the tray and lightly press. allow it to cool completely. if its too hot outside, you can refrigerate for 5 minutes. remove and cut into squares and serve.
- and if you are ok with eating chocolates in navratri, then you can dip the bars in molten chocolate and allow them to cool and solidify and then eat.
No of portions – 2
Preparation time – 10mins
Cooking time – 15 mins
Ingredients
For the Crumble
Kuttu Atta (Buckwheat flour)– 1 cup
Butter – 2 tbl spn
Sugar – 2 tbl spn
For Toffee Bananas
Bananas – 2 nos
Sugar – ½ cup
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Cream – ½ cup
Butter – 25 gms
Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp
Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp
Method
- Rub together kuttu atta and butter together. Rub it till all the atta is crumbled. Keep aside.
- In a pan heat sugar, 2tbl spn water and lemon juice. Add the bananas and cook on low heat till the sugar is dissolved and caramelizes. Add the cream immediately.
- Swirl the pan and allow the cream and sugar to mix in. add the butter and sprinkle cinnamon powder and remove to a baking dish. Allow to cool for 5 mins.
- Now cover the top of the dish with kuttu atta crumble and place it in a pre heated oven at 180c for 12 mins or till the top is crumbly and baked.
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| Baked Pumpkin & Potato Mash |
No of portions – 2
Preparation time – 15 mins
Cooking time – 15 mins
Ingredients
For Potato Mash
Potato (large) – 2 nos
Jeera roasted (cumin roasted) – 1 tsp
Salt (sendha) – to taste
Milk – ¼ cup
Butter – 1 tbl spn
Cheese* grated (optional) – 3 tbl spn
For Pumpkin Mash
Pumpkin diced – 2 cups
Salt (sendha) – to taste
Saunf (fennel seeds) – 2 tsp
Butter – 1 tbl spn
Cheese* grated (optional) – 2 tbl spn
Method
- Peel and cut the potatoes into two. Boil potato with some salt. Once boiled immediately strain them and immediately transfer to a deep pan.
- Using the potato masher mash up the potatoes while they are still very hot. Now add butter and milk to it and mix well.
- Heat a pan and add the mashed potato and season with salt and roasted jeera. Toss till the mash come together. Remove to a bowl and add grated cheese.
- For the pumpkin mash melt butter and add saunf. Sauté for few seconds and add the diced pumpkin and sauté. Add salt and cook till pumpkin goes soft. Remove into a bowl and mash with it up with a fork.
- Mix grated cheese with pumpkin. Place this in a baking dish and spread it on the bottom. Keep atleast ½ inch thick. Now cover the pumpkin mash with potato mash till it completely covers it.
- Place this dish in a pre heated oven at 160c for 10 mins. Serve hot.
Note -- * use a cheese that is free of rennet. That is 100% vegetarian.
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| Charnamrit Shots with Banana Chips |
No of portions – 3
Preparation time – 10mins
Cooking time – 5 mins
Ingredients
For charnamrit
Milk – 1 cup
Curd – 2 tbl spn
Sugar – 1 tsp
Honey –1 tbl spn
Tulsi chopped (sweet basil) – 2 leaves
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Rose water – few drops
Kewra drops – few drops
For chips
Raw banana – 2 nos
Oil – for frying
Salt – to taste
Method
- For charnamrit shots place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them lightly with a spoon. Refrigerate it to chill.
- For making the banana chips in a bowl add ice cold water and some salt. Slice the raw banana and using a slicer thinly slice the raw banana into wafers. Immediately dunk the wafers in iced water for 5 mins.
- Remove the chips and place on a kitchen towel. Pat dry them completely. Heat oil in a deep pan. Heat it to high and immediately fry the bananas till crisp.
- Remove and sprinkle some more salt. Serve them with chilled charnamrit.
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Nice recipe. Thanks for sharing. sabudana vrat khichdi recipe in hindi, 25 vrat recipes in hindi
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