StepWise -साबुदाणा खिचडी सोबत अक्काची कोकम - दलचीनीची आमटी / sago khichadi with Dry Mangosteen- Cinnamon Soup| Fasting Recipe | Gluten Free

Hi All!!

The festive and the fasting days have begun, so let me start by saying ‘ A Happy Navaratri’ to all my readers. I have  explained the significance of the Navaratra and Dussehra previously here and have posted a few fasting recipes earlier, which to my delight many of you have tried, liked and appreciated.

Since the ‘Navaratri’ have begun and many people are fasting, I thought of sharing a fasting food recipe. I was amazed at myself that I had never managed to post the most commonly eaten fasting food till date here…I gently admonished myself and steered the foodie in me to cook & post it right away.

Read more »

अक्का पणजीच उपवासाच थालीपीठ​ | Akka Panaji’s Thalipeeth For Fasting Version I, Step Wise/ Upavasache Thalipeeth

Hi1
Nine days of fasting, the ‘Navaratra’ have recently got over. Many people fasted through all the nine days and a few on selected days. I wanted to post fasting recipes that time but things at home kept me away from active blogging. But this week again has few fasting days which also includes Hanuman Jayanti falling on the 25th, so thought of posting this fasting food, which I loved and now my family likes it too..

I’m posting today a recipe I grew up with, this is my great grand mother’s recipe. Whenever she used to fast, she would make thalipeeth of various kinds and we would eye her as we would only get a bite to taste. I must confess, I’ve never eaten a better thalipeeth than what she made.

Read more »

Sweet Potato Patty/Cutlet, For Fasting Days/ Ratalyache Cutlet..Navaratri Special

Hi all!

It is just another week to go for the festive days of Navaratri to begin. Navaratri literally means ‘nine days’; it starts immediately after the full moon of Mahalaya i.e. the 17th October. The idea behind Navratri is the time for cleansing our own evil characteristics like hatred, jealousy, ignorance, anger, greed, violence, etc. inside and outside of us. In the West India, the divine feminine is referred to as Goddess, but in the East, she is referred to as Shakti, or Power and hence celebrated as Durga Puja. She is your own consciousness as well as the Supreme Consciousness.The Nine Nights/Moon Phases of the Goddess is an important time period wherein the energy of 3 primary Shaktis of the Divine Feminine, the Supreme Goddess, is invoked.

Read more »

Watermelon Rind Thalipeeth..a treat for fasting days | तरबूज के सफेद भाग का उपवास के लिए थालीपीठ | Step Wise | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Hi.

In a traditional Maharashtrian family fasting is quite regular. fasting on Ekadashi, Chaturthi is quite common, apart from that some people do fast on Tuesdays/Mangalwar or Thursdays/Guruwar or any one day of the week. On such days they stick to fasting food that is, no grains are eaten and only satvik food is eaten like sabudana, bhagar, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Even salt used is not the common salt but sendha namak is used. In these months, many people fast for Shravan Somvaar  i.e. the Mondays of Monsoon and a few fast on Fridays too.

Read more »

I’m back with Crispy Raw Banana - Tapioca Pearls Patty for Fasting Food and the new winner for ‘Only’- Pasta, Pizza and Noodles

Hi!

Finally I have managed to post after a long gap of two months. Though I managed to announce the events but I know how difficult it was.

The last two months made me realise that moving into a new city can be so difficult… though I must confess that this is my 4th transfer in the last 6 years but it was never so difficult earlier. Searching for a new house and school seemed like a herculean task and amidst all this chaos we all fell sick one by one and S suffered for 15days due to an antibiotic reaction.

Read more »

How To Make An Authentic Maharashtrian Style Sabudana Vada….revealing my secret

Hi!

One might wonder why do I say a ‘must read’ for this post as Sabudana Vada is a very commonly made stuff and a lot of people make it quite regularly as fasting food. I have eaten this vada made by many people but have always found something missing, there’s a particular taste that always haunts me and which I am seeking for, when I want to eat or try this and which goes amiss in most of them.

Most of the people just mix the sago, potato, peanut, salt and chillies to make the vada and it turns out to be a good vada with great flavour but this is not what I am looking for, there are a few more ingredients when added to this

Read more »

Upavasacha Batatyacha Kees (Grated Potatoes for Fasting)

Hello one and all!

Last few days were really hectic and it seems the days just vanished in the air. Today my dear cousin P had visited us with her DH, MIL and her one year old daughter V. She had told me to make fasting food for them as they all fast on all Mondays of Shravana maasa. So I made sabudana khichadi, butter milk, fruit salad and the batatyacha kees. I am really glad they visited us and at least enjoyed eating the preparations as they were so badly stuck in traffic jam that they were extremely exhausted by the time they reached home.

The kees is a common fasting food in all Maharashtrian homes and is my personal favorite. I do not need to fast to eat this. During my school days my mom used to give me this in my lunch box as it’s quite filling and extremely tasty. The word Kees in Marathi  means basically anything grated. Since here the grated item is potato (in marathi batata) it is called batatyacha kees.

The preparation is quite simple, needs a few ingredients and is very tasty, but surely needs a few precautions while cooking. As we all know that potato contains large amount of starch, hence it’s important that after grating the potatoes  they be dipped in water for while for the starch to get separated. If there’s starch left in the potatoes then there are chances that the preparation turns soggy as well as dark in color. Also in this preparation the potatoes should be peeled (which I normally never do) to get a more clean textured preparation. This preparation tastes better when a little spicy and the spice should come from green chilies and not from red chili powder.

Ingredients

8-10 peeled and grated potatoes (medium)

5-6 green chilies finely chopped

a small handful of raw peanuts

1 tbsp cumin seeds

a cup or a little more of coarsely pounded roasted and peeled peanuts

salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

ghee or oil for cooking (about 5-6 tbsp)

Method

Dip the grated potatoes in water and leave for some time so that the starch settles down.Decant and then wash the grated potatoes thoroughly with water so that excess starch gets separated. Squeeze out excess water.

Heat oil or ghee (tastes better with ghee) and crackle the cumin and add chopped green chilies, peanuts and fry. Now add salt to taste. Adding salt at this stage ensures that it gets applied evenly everywhere later. ( I have not taken any  pics till this stage as I never had in my mind that I should post this).

Add the potatoes and give it a quick mix. Cover and cook till half done.

Once half done spread half of the the coarsely pounded roasted peanut and mix. Take precaution that the peanuts are not roasted overly as the color of the pounded peanuts spoils the color of the kees.

Cook covered till done and then add the remaining pounded roasted peanut, mix and serve hot with curds/yogurt.

  Do try this if you haven’t tasted it till now.

A quick reminder to readers from US/UK/Canada to enter the CSN giveaway which  ends tomorrow, the 7th September.

Since all kids love potatoes which are high on carbs and the peanuts in the preparation  adds a good lot of proteins so  I am sending this to Neha’s Kids Menu Event