Durga Puja - Dashera

Now, most people who know I'm a Goddess believing Pagan, know that Durga is one of my favorite faces of Goddess. Now, on 21st of October is the first day of 9-days feast for Durga :-)
Nine days for Durga!

Durga Puja .org

It's traditional to serve dishes made of cereals, and every day a new kind of sweet is served to Durga, usually including rice :-)

"On the ninth day or Mahanavami day, books wrapped in silk cloth are kept before the Goddess in the form of Saraswati and worshipped. On Dusshera day the books are removed and the children are made to read or write at least one page as a mark of respect to Goddess Saraswati. Also scenes culled from various stories in the epics and puranas are displayed. The sweet dishes offered to Goddess Saraswati are different variations of milk puddings called payasam."
-- Sanjeev Kapoor
I like Saraswati as well ;-) And milk puddings :-D

Yummy Indian recipe blog :-)

Sabudana Batata Thalipeeth
Delicious tea time snack of sago served hot with chutney.
Serves 4

Ingredients
1½ cups Sago (sabudana)
4-5 Potatoes
2 tsps Red chilli powder
2 tsps Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Ghee to fry

Wash, peel and grate the potatoes. To this add the soaked sabudana. Add cumin seeds, red chilli powder and mix well to form a smooth dough. Make small roundels of the dough. Use little water and roll it out evenly with a hole in the center. Roast on a hot tawa by applying ghee on both sides. Serve hot with curd or coconut chutney.

Coconut Chutney (Nariyal Chutney)
Serves: 4

4 tablespoons grated coconut
2 teaspoon(s) bengal gram (chana dal) roasted
1" piece ginger peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves chopped
4 green chillies chopped
1 teaspoon(s) each of mustard seeds and black gram (udad dal)
½ teaspoon(s) asafoetida powder
4 curry leaves
1 red chilli(es) broken into bits
2 tablespoon(s) oil
lemon juice and salt to taste

1. Grind the coconut, roasted gram, green chillies, coriander leaves and ginger to a fine paste using a little water. Pour the paste / chutney into a bowl and adjust the consistency using suitable amount of water.
2. Heat the oil in a pan on medium level for about 2 minute(s) till it is hot enough. Add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter and then add the black gram (udad dal), red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Fry briefly till the gram turns red and pour it on the chutney.
3. Add salt and lemon juice to the chutney.

Saffron and Rose Yoghurt Mousse (Rose Shrikand)

Channa Payesh
Bengali "version" of rice pudding. (The name of the cheese is written in different ways - Channar, Chenna, Chennar, Chenar... How to make Chenna and Paneer at home ;-))
Instead of chenna or paneer, you can use cottage cheese or tofu.

Ingredients:
1 liter - milk
250 gms - paneer
4 tbsps - sugar
½ tsp - essence of rose
1 tsp - cardamom powder
25 gms - fried and sliced almonds
25 gms - fried and sliced pistachio nuts
25 gms - fried and sliced raisins

Method:

1. Grind paneer to a paste.
2. Mix milk with 125 gms sugar and boil over a slow fire till it is reduced to half its original quantity.
3. Mix in the paneer, cardamoms and nuts and cook till quite thick. Remove from and sprinkle rose essence on top.

another version

Channar Payesh

Ingredients:
1 litre - wholefat milk
200 gms - paneer or silky tofu
1/2 tin - condensed milk
2 tbsp - sugar
1/2 tsp - cardamom powder
15 to 20 strands - saffron, lightly crushed
2 tsp - milk masala or slivered almonds & pistachios


1. Dissolve cardamom, milk masala(save some for garnish) in 1 tbsp. cold milk.
2. Keep aside till required.
3. Put rest of milk to boil in a large heavy vessel.
4. Grate or crumble paneer, sprinkle 1 tsp sugar over it.
5. Toss to mix lightly, keep aside till required.
6. Take one tsp. of boiling milk, rub saffron into it.
7. Keep aside till required.
8. Add condensed milk, to the boiling milk.
9. Simmer on low for 12-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
10. When milk is reduced to 2/3 volume, stir in dissolved cardamom and masala.
11. Add paneer, stirring very gently, so as to keep crumbs intact.
12. Add saffron, saving few drops for garnish.
13. Simmer further 2 minutes.
14. Take off fire, pour into serving dish.
15. Garnish with splash of saffron drops, and saved slivers.
16. Serve piping hot, or very chilled.

Bengali Recipe: Durga Puja Cuisine

Indian desserts
Traditional Indian Sweets from Menu Today blog
Indian Sweets

Durga Puja recipes - not only sweets ;-)
Dassera recipes