Recipes for Karva Chauth

Festivals in India are incomplete without the flavor of mouth watering delicacies. Karva Chauth is the most familiar festival among married women. On this day, married women keep fast and don’t take food or water through out the day. Only in evening after worshipping the moon, women break their fast and enjoy delicious food with all family members. There is practice of preparing variety of special delicacies on the Karva Chauth eve.

• Rabri
• Tomato Paneer
• Meethi Mathri
• Kesar Badam Milk

Rabri

Ingredients :

• 4 cups full cream milk
• 75 gm khoya - grated (1/2 cup)
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 6-8 pistas - chopped
• 3 chhoti illaichi (green cardamoms) - powdered
• Rose petals or silver sheet (varq)
  
  

Preparation:

1. Boil milk in a heavy bottomed kadhai. Add khoya and sugar
2. Simmer on low-medium heat for about 40-45 minutes, scraping the sides, till the quantity is reduced to almost half and the mixture turns thick with a thick pouring consistency. Remove from fire. The rabri turns thick on keeping
3. Add some chopped pistas and cardamom powder into the mixture
4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with pistas and rose petals
5. Chill and serve plain by itself or with jalebis or with some fruit
   
   

Tomato Paneer

Ingredients:

• 1/4 kg paneer  (Cube and sauté in 1-2 tsps ghee till lightly brown, remove into a bowl, add a cup of water to the fried paneer cubes and let them sit for 4-5mts, drain the water and keep aside)
• 1 large onion (blanch for 6-7 mts and make a coarse paste)
• Ginger-green chilli paste (1 ginger piece+5 green chillis)
• 2 large ripe tomatoes (blanch, de-skin and puree)
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• Large pinch cumin powder
• Pinch of haldi/turmeric powder
• 3/4 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
• Garam masala powder (make a powder of 3 cloves,1 green cardamom and 1” cinnamon)
• 1 1/2 tsps malai/fresh cream
• cashew nut paste (soak 5-6 cashew nuts in warm water for 10 mts and grind to a paste)
• Salt to taste
• 1-1/2 tbsps oil
  
  

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a cooking vessel, add the onion paste and sauté till light brown, approx 6-7 mts. Add ginger-green chilli paste, coriander pwd, turmeric pwd and cumin pwd and combine. Saute for 1-2 mts.
2. Add tomato puree, crushed kasuri methi and salt. Stir and let it simmer for 4-5 mts on low to medium flame.
3. Add the paneer and simmer for 4 mts. Add a cup of water and let it cook on medium heat for 8-10 mts or till you get the desired curry consistency. Remove from fire, stir in fresh cream/malai, cashewnut paste and garam masala pwd. Simmer for 2-3 mts.
4. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rotis or naan.

Meethi Mathri

Ingredients:

For the Mathri:

• 2 tbsp semolina
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tbsp oil
• Oil for frying

For the Syrup:

• 2 tbsp pistachios, crushed
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• Pinch of saffron
  
  

Preparation:

1. Mix flour, semolina and 1 tsp of oil and knead into a stiff dough, adding enough water.
2. Heat oil in deep pan. Divide dough into 12 balls.
3. Roll out each one into disk like 2 1/2 inches wide by 1/4 inch thick.
4. Deep fry it till golden on both sides. Keep it aside.
5. To make syrup, on high heat, boil sugar with 1/4 cup water till slightly thick and sticky.
6. Add cardamom powder and saffron to syrup.
7. Dip each mathri into syrup. Sprinkle it with pistachios and Serve.

Kesar Badam Milk

Ingredients:

• 1 cup badam/almonds
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cup or 1 can evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 1/2 cup sugar

Procedure:

1. Soak almonds in hot water for 15 minutes, wash and drain and repeat the process until the pink color leaves.
2. Soak the saffron in warm milk for about 1/2 hour to an hour.
3. Then peel the skin and grind the almonds to a paste adding one cup of milk.
4. Bring the remaining cup of milk, sugar, almond paste and evaporated milk to a boil.
5. Keep stirring once in a while to ensure lumps are not formed and they do not burn because they tend to stick to the bottom and form lumps.
6. Finally add the cardamom powder and saffron, stir well.Turn off heat.
7. Garnish with slivered almonds or pistachios and serve chilled.