Stir Fry Tapioca- Saboodane ki Khichdi & Instant Peanut Bar(Burfi)

 Har Har Mahadev! Today is a special day because of Mahashivratri. It is always a good experience for the entire family to fast together and to offer our prayers to lord shiva.

In India, festival means food. Even though people fast on Mahashivratri, there are a variety of dishes that can be eaten during the fast. Though people prefer eating fruits as grains, vegetables and spices like- wheat, rice, lentils, peas, beans, rajma, corn, chana, turmeric, sesame seeds and ground red chillies are not allowed to be cooked on this day. The only spices that can be used are red or green chillies, rock salt, pepper, lime and fresh coriander.

Most of the fats recipes are non-cereal and salt free. But that does not necessarily make them boring. Contrary to this, my quest into the Vrat world, has led me to discover the range of recipes available to us from various regional cuisines, thus making Vrats or feasts more fun!

Today I decided to make Saboodane ki khichdi and instant peanut bar for lunch. This is an easy and quick option to satisfy your palate while fasting :)

For making perfect sabudana khichdi, you need to wash the sabudana nicely in enough water and soak them in water (just enough to cover them) and leave it for 2-3 hours.

Ingredients for Tapioca Khichdi:

Soaked Sabudana (Sago pearls): 1 ½ Cup

Peanuts (dry roasted and coarsely pound):1/2 cup- Don’t forget to remove the roasted peanut skin before grinding.

Salt: As per taste

Refine Oil or clarified Butter:1 ½ Tsp

Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp

Green Chillies: 2 chopped finely

Potato: 1 finely chopped

Chopped Ginger:1/2 tsp

Lemon Juice: 1 tbsp

Green Coriander: ½ cup( I prefer to use a lot of it)

 Method:

1. Strain the soaked tapioca and then press it with hands gently and remove the water from them. Once the water is drained, press them again and if you feel that it is little hard from the center then sprinkle some water and let it rest for some time to soften it properly.

2. Now take a nonstick pan or a kadhai and add. Put cumin, green chillies, ginger and potatoes stir it over medium flame till the potatoes get cooked.

3. Once the potatoes are cooked, add the Sabudana to the pan and fry it over medium heat till it gets translucent.

4. Now the next step is to add the crushed peanuts powder and cook it approximately for a minute before shutting of the flame.

5. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice to finish the dish. It goes well with curd or any kind of chutney.

Ingredients for Instant peanuts bar (Chikki):

Roasted and coarsely powdered Groundnut: 2 Cups

Sugar:2 ½ Cups

Water: 1 Cup

Clarified Butter: ½ tsp

Method:

1.    In a pan, heat the sugar and water to make 1-string syrup. Let the syrup to be cooked on low flame. The sugar should get dissolved completely. To test whether it is ready for the bars to be made -You can put 1-2 drops of sugar syrup in a bowl of water to check if it is sticking to the bottom of the bowl. This is the main part of the recipe.

2.    Once the sugar syrup is ready, add groundnut powder and cook it over low flame by continuously stirring it till the mixture leaves the side of the pan. This will take approximately 1-2 minutes.

1.    Remove the pan from the heat and keep stirring it remove it from the side.

2.    Grease a thali(plate) with ghee and spread the mixture. Cut into burfis while the mixture is still hot.

With both these recipes, you are ready to feast while fasting. Try these recipes at home and savor the food for life.