Known as the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year in the Hindu calendar, Ugadi is commemorated under various names and traditions across India. It is called as Yugadi/ Ugadi in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the south and is known as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Chaitra Navratri in several northern parts of India.
On this auspicious occasion, the family gathers and rejoices by performing pooja, decorating the house with flowers and rangoli and preparing an array of sweets and savouries. In southern India, the food is served on a banana leaf as per tradition.
Here are a few mouth-watering recipes which you can prepare at home to celebrate the new year.
SAVOURIES
CUCUMBER & MOONG DAL KOSAMBARI (RAW SEASONED SALAD)
Preparation time – 15 minutes | Serves – 4
Ingredients
- Cucumbers, diced – 2
- Moong dal, soaked (for 30 minutes) – 1 cup
- Green chilli, chopped thinly – 1
- Fresh coconut, grated – ½ cup
- Ginger, grated – ½ spoon
- Lemon, squeezed – 1 spoon
- Salt to taste
Tempering
- Mustard seeds – 1 spoon
- Oil – 1 spoon
- A pinch of hing
Cooking steps
Step 1: Rinse and soak the moong dal in water till it is completely immersed.
Step 2: Wash and cut the cucumber and green chilli. Grate the coconut and ginger.
Step 3: Take a small frying pan and heat the oil on a low flame. Toss in the mustard seeds, green chilli, ginger and stir them for a few seconds. Lastly, add the hing before you turn off the stove.
Step 4: Toss them all into a big vessel, add salt and lemon and stir well.
Recipe credit – Pankaja
SABUDANA VADA
Make the fasting exciting with the Crispy Sabudana Vadas. Sabudana is known for its use in varieties of fast and festive dishes. This vada is made with a simple yet delicate mixture of potato and sabudana. Even with a minimal spice element, these vadas are doubtlessly satisfying. Serve these crisp delights with tangy chutneys and curd dips and add the extra oomph to the fasting.
Preparation time – 20 mins | Cooking time – 10 mins | Serves – 2
Ingredients
- Potatoes- 3 medium (boiled & peeled)
- Sabudana-1 cup (soaked 2 hours)
- Green Chilies- 2 nos
- Ginger- ½ inch piece
- Coriander Leaves – 2 tablespoons
- Mint Leaves- 2 tablespoons
- Cumin Seeds- 1 teaspoon
- Salt to taste (use sendha salt if fasting)
- Ghee to fry
Cooking steps
Step 1: First, rinse off the sabudana under cold tap water to take off the extra starch and soak it in water, enough to cover it, for 2 hours. After sabudana has absorbed the water and has fluffed up, drain off the excess water and set aside.
Step 2: Boil the potatoes and gently peel off the skin. Then, mash the potatoes.
Step 3: To make the Sabudana Vada mixture, in a large mixing bowl, add the mashed potatoes and soaked sabudana. To it, add the chopped green chillies, chopped ginger and cumin seeds followed by chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. Add salt to taste and mix it well to prepare a dough-like mixture.
Step 4: Next, divide the mixture into equal portions and make small lemon sized balls from it. Slightly flatten the prepared balls to give it a perfect vada shape.
Step 5: Heat the ghee in a kadai and shallow fry the prepared sabudana balls until crisp and golden.
Step 6: Serve the crispy Sabudana Vadas with a tangy mint or coriander chutney.
Recipe credit – Mona
KALA CHANA
Celebrate the Navratri with this traditional recipe of masala kala chana. Kala Chana is one of the traditional recipes that mark the festivity in the food when it comes to Navratri. It is often prepared with sooji halwa and poori for ashtmi-navmi Prassad. It is a quick meal to prepare and is rich in fibre and protein.
Preparation time – 30 min | Cooking time – 15 min | Serves – 2
Ingredients
- Black Chana- 1 cup (soaked 8 hours)
- Ghee- 2 tablespoons
- Ginger-1 inch piece
- Green Chilies- 2 nos
- Red Chili Powder-1 teaspoon
- Coriander Powder- 1 teaspoon
- Turmeric -½ teaspoon
- Cumin Powder- ½ teaspoon
- Dry Mango Powder-½ teaspoon
- Salt to taste
- Coriander leaves (chopped for garnish)
Cooking steps
Step 1: Boil the chana- Add the soaked black chana to a pressure cooker along with 2.5 cups of water and some salt. Pressure cook it on high flame till 3-4 whistles, then simmer it for 15 minutes.
Step 2: To make the Kala Chana, heat the ghee in a kadai and temper it with cumin seeds, chopped ginger and green chillies. Saute it for 1-2 minutes.
Step 3: Next, add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and coriander powder followed by cumin powder and dry mango powder. Saute and cook the spices until the raw smell from the spices fades away.
Step 4: Then, add the boiled black chana along with the stock(water in which the chana is boiled) and mix it well. Add salt to taste and simmer it for 10-12 minutes, until the water is absorbed completely.
Step 5: After simmering the chana, stir and cook it on high flame for 2-3 minutes to reduce the water.
Step 6: Garnish the Kala Chana with fresh coriander leaves and serve right away with Poori and Halwa.
Recipe credit – Mona
MAAVINKAI CHITRANNA (RAW MANGO RICE)
Welcoming the mango season, this delicious rice is prepared with kaccha mango/ raw green mango as a main ingredient. It has a zing of sour and spice with a crunch of peanuts and grated coconut.
Preparation time – 10 minutes | Cooking time – 20 minutes | Serves – 4
Ingredients
- Cooked rice – 1 Pao (4-5 cups)
- Freshly coconut, grated – 1 cup
- Raw green mango, grated – 1 whole (add in half more if you want it to be tangier)
- Turmeric – ½ spoon
- Salt as per your preference
Tempering
- Urad dal – 1 spoon
- Chana dal – 1 spoon
- Green chilli – 4 (Medium spicy)
- Mustard seeds – 1 spoon
- Curry leaves – 5-6
- Coriander leaves, chopped – ½ cup
- Oil – 3 spoons
- A handful of peanuts
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 spoon
- A pinch of hing
Cooking steps
Step 1: Rinse 1 Pao of rice well and cook it with 2 big glasses of water in the ratio of 1:2. Allow the cooker to cook until 3 whistles, switch off the flame and keep it aside.
Step 2: Take a frying pan (big), heat it on a low flame and add in 3 teaspoons of oil.
Step 3: Once you feel the oil is heated, add in mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, peanuts and stir them till they splutter gently and turn brown. Turn down the flame a little and add green chilli, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Stir them a little and add in the turmeric powder and hing.
Step 4: Add in grated coconut and the grated mango and stir them well for 2-3 minutes on a medium flame. Add salt as per your preference. Switch off the stove and add the cooked rice and mix it well.
Recipe credit – Pankaja
TRADITIONALLY SWEET
AKKI KADLEBELE PAYASA (RICE & CHANA DAL KA KHEER)
This scrumptious kheer is a famous south Indian dish prepared during festivals and weddings. Flavoured with jaggery syrup, grated coconut and elaichi, this payasa is something your family can relish.
Tip: To make it a little more fun for your kids, you can serve it with a scoop of vanilla or butterscotch ice cream and top it with roasted almonds and pistachios.
Preparation time – 10 minutes | Cooking time – 30 minutes | Serves – 4
Ingredients
- Cooked rice – 2 cups
- Cooked chana dal – 1 cup
- Jaggery syrup – 2 cups
- Grated coconut – ½ cup
- Elaichi – 4 to 5 cloves
- Khus-khus – 1 spoon
- Ghee – 2 spoons
- Handful of cashew and raisins
- Boiled milk – 1 cup or ½ cup for a thicker consistency
Cooking steps
Step 1: Rinse the rice and chana dal well. Cook them with 2 1/2 big glasses of water in the ratio of 1:2. Allow the cooker to cook until 3 whistles, switch off the flame and keep it aside.
Step 2: Take a vessel, add in 1 and ½ glasses of water, 2 cups of broken/ grated jaggery. Stir and bring it to boil and continue stirring with pauses till the syrup thickens. Strain it to get a smooth syrup and set it aside.
Step 3: Parallel to the above step, take a frying pan (big), roast the khus-khus and grated coconut until golden, cool and blend them in a mixer and keep it aside for later.
Step 4: In the same frying pan, add 2 spoons of ghee and heat it on medium flame. Once the glee melts, toss in the elaichi and stir for a few seconds before adding in cashews and raisins.
Step 5: Toss in the khus-khus and coconut mixture. Pour the syrup into the pan, heat it on medium flame. Mix the cooked rice and chana dal and blend them well.
Step 6: Heat it on a low flame and add the cup of boiled milk and stir it well till the milk sets in.
Recipe credit – Pankaja
Sooji Halwa
A perfectly filling and wholesome dessert for the festive season. With a minimal set of ingredients, this halwa can be prepared in no time and is as comforting as the festival.
This halwa is often prepared as Prasad for Navratri, accompanied by pori and kala chana.
Preparation time – 10 minutes | Cooking time – 20 minutes | Servings – 2
Ingredients
- Sooji (Semolina)- 1 cup
- Ghee- ½ cup
- Sugar- ½ cup
- Chopped Nuts- cashews, almonds, chironji and raisins
- Cardamom Powder-½ teaspoon
- Water- around ¾ cup to 1 cup
Cooking steps
Step 1: Heat the ghee in a kadai and add the sooji into it. Stir and roast the sooji on low flame until it turns fragrant and slightly golden. Keep roasting the sooji until ghee separates.
Step 2: Add the chopped nuts (only cashew and almonds at this stage) into it and stir it together for some time to slightly roast the nuts.
Step 3: Next, add the chironji and raisins followed by a cup of hot water. Add the sugar right after adding the water and mix it well. Keep stirring it on low flame until the sugar is dissolved. Then, simmer it for 6-7 minutes.
Step 4: Once the sooji has absorbed all the water, saute and roast the halwa until it comes together and leaves the pan. Add the cardamom powder to infuse the mild and sweet fragrance to the halwa and mix it well.
Step 5: Garnish the halwa with chopped nuts and serve it with poori and kala chana.
Recipe credit – Mona
Relish these scrumptious recipes and have a joyous New Year with your family.
Article by Namratha
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