If we begin to take a look at the holiday calendar we would realize that our homeland is brimming with festivities all around the year. While some parts are celebrating their harvest, the others are welcoming a new year. If you take a closer look, you would also notice that it is the latter half of the year that is buzzing with celebrations. Starting with Ramazan and Eid there after, there is no end to the long list of festivals that await us. One festival that I personally look forward to is Diwali. Rightly called the festival of lights, there are a host of precursors to it. For instance, Navratri and Dusshera.
For the unversed, Navratri is a nine-day long fast according to the Hindu calendar, after which Dusshera takes place on the tenth day. During this time, the nine different avatars of Goddess Durga, one of the Hindu goddesses, are worshipped each day. Goddess Durga is believed to be a symbol of feminine power and the fasts are observed in order to celebrate this shakti. Since one is fasting, there are certain rules and regulations around what to eat and what not to eat.
If you start cravings some desserts at this hour, you would definitely be in a fix. Fret not, we’ve dug out some yummy dessert recipes to satiate your cravings this Navratri.
1. Apple Rabdi
A creamy and sweet affair, rabdi is generally paired with jalebis. However, the rabdi works as an excellent standalone dessert too. Slice apples into the heavy cream mixture and add sugar to it. Keep it in the refrigerator and let it cool down.
2. Kesar Shrikhand
A popular dessert from Gujarati and Maharashtrian fare, shrikhand is yet another creamy dessert that will make you fall in love with it. Made with minimum ingredients, the smooth texture owes itself to hung curd. Top it up with nuts for the crunch.
3. Sweet Potato Halwa
Sweet potatoes are mashed and flavoured with cardamom powder, cooked in milk. You wouldn’t need to add too much sugar since the sweet potatoes are inherently sweet. Serve hot!
4. Vrat Ki Kheer
For those untouched by the phenomenon of kheer, it is an Indian milk pudding. The specialty about this vrat ki kheer (fast pudding) is that it is made of millets instead of rice.
5. Coconut Ladoos
Roll up these bite-sized ladoos and pop them into your mouth whenever a sugar craving hits. Desiccated coconut is mixed with sugar and then gently rolled into balls. Keep them in the fridge to set and then enjoy.
6. Shakarkandi and Singhara Fruit Chaat
This healthy and sweet chaat is a great refresher during the fast. Dice the sweet potato (shakarkandi) and sighara (waterchestnut) into squares and spruce up with some chaat masala and rock salt. You can add several other fruits to it like papaya and pomegranate too.
What if you’re fasting, we can always make it a tasty affair for you!
