Navratri is celebrated with full enthusiasm in different parts of India. The festival is welcomed with day-long fasts followed with long hours of dancing to the traditional forms of Garba and Dandiya with some electrifying music. Through the festival, you get to witness several people decked up in the most colorful outfits wearing traditional clothes from the land of Gujarat.
The festival that originally belongs to the land of scrumptious food, Gujarat, deserves a platter of absolute lip-smacking recipes that are a balance of flavor and health. When you plan your meals for this Navratri, make sure to add a healthy twist with nutritious foods that add a crunchy texture along with great flavor!
When talking about healthy foods, one ingredient that instantly crosses the mind is almonds. Almonds have high nutritional value and are a source of 15 nutrients such as vitamin E, magnesium, protein, copper, zinc, iodine, etc. They are also known to be a rich source of antioxidant vitamin E and deliver essential fatty acids and polyphenols, which make them a great addition to our daily diet for improved skin health. Such a diverse ingredient is ought to make any recipe nutritious; read on and try the recipe:
Here are some of our favorites that are worth a try to impress your friends and family:
For appetizers:
Honey Jeera Badam
Serves: 3
Ingredients
Qty
Raw almonds
1 cup
Sugar
1 tbsp
Honey
1 1/2 tbsp
Kashmiri chili powder
1/2 tsp
Ground cumin
1/4 tsp
Salt
To taste
Steps
● Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
● Place the almonds in a medium nonstick pan and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 until lightly toasted
● Combine the remaining ingredients in a small glass bowl.
● Microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds. Add honey mixture to pan, and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
● Arrange almond mixture on prepared baking sheet in a single layer; let stand 10 minutes.
● Break apart any clusters.
For desserts
Almond and Rose Kheer
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients Quantity
● Full-fat milk 2ltr
● Gobindo bhog rice 120 gm
(or any other rice available)
● Grain sugar 40 gm
● Rose water 3-4 drops
● Dried rose petals 10 gm
● Almonds 100 gm
● Almond Slivers 25 gms
METHOD
● Soak the rice in water for about 20 mins.
● Heat milk in a heavy bottom pan, after a boil, reduce the heat and simmer till milk is reduced to half the original volume.
● Add the soaked rice, after draining the water and cook on low heat till rice is cooked well and the mix thickens.
● Add chopped almonds and cook for further 15 mins on low heat till the kheer is thick and creamy, add sugar.
● Set aside to cool. Once cool add rose water and mix. Refrigerate till serving
● Roast some almond slivers in an oven for 180 deg for 5 mins, until golden brown. Garnish with slivers and dried rose petals before serving.
Almond and Goji Berry Boondi Laddoos
Serves: 4 people (2 Boondi ladoo each)
Ingredients Quantity
For ladoo batter
Besan 1 ½ cup
Water 1 cup
Cardamom powder ½ tsp
Roasted Almond slivers ¼ cup
Goji berry 3 tbsp
Ghee ¾ tbsp.
Sunflower oil for deep frying
For the Sugar Syrup
Sugar 1 ½ cup
Water ¾ cup
Saffron strands a pinch
METHOD:
● Take sugar, saffron strands and water in a pan, and put it over low flame. Cook the syrup till a single string consistency is achieved. Keep the sugar syrup hot.
● Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
● Mix besan, cardamom powder together and add water to it to form a batter.
● To check the consistency of the boondi batter drop a few droplets of the better in hot oil, if it becomes flat, the batter is thin and if it has peaks, the batter is thick.
● To make the batter thick add some more besan and to make the batter thin add some water.
● To make boondis, hold a perforated ladle over hot oil, using a spoon spread the boondi batter over the perforated spoon; make sure that the perforated spoon and the pandon’t have much height between them or else the boondis will not be round.
● Do not over fry the boondis and do not crisp them.
● Remove them from oil once the oil stops to sizzle and put it in the sugar syrup. Strain the boondis from the syrup.
● Mix the boondis with almond slivers and goji berries and add around a tbsp of ghee for the binding.
● Make golf sized roundels and shape them. Use ghee so the mixture does not stick on hands.
