Ganesh Chaturthi Special: 5 Best of festive recipes for Bappa’s celebrations

Matar Pulao Recipe by Nisha Madhulika: Ingredients: · Fresh Green Peas - 1.5 cup · Basmati Rice - 1 cup ( 200 gms ) ( soaked ) · Cashews - 10 to 12 · Green Coriander - 1 to 2 tbsp ( finely chopped ) · Ghee - 3 to 4 tbsp · Ginger - 1 inch piece (julienne) · Lemon - 1 · Whole Garam masala · Black peppers - 15 · Brown Cardamom - 2 · Cloves - 5 · Cinnamon sticks - 2 piece · Green Chili - 2 (finely chopped) · Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp · Garam masala - 1/2 tsp · Salt - 1.25 tsp ( or to taste) Method: · How to make Green Peas Pulao · Preheat a cooker to make the Green pea pulao. Once rightly hot, add ghee, then add cumin seeds. Reduce flame. Put these whole spices in ghee and saute them · Add ginger julienne, and chopped green chilli and saute the spices; add cashews and roast until slightly pink · Add 1.5 cup green peas to it, stir and saute for 1 minute. Add rice previously soaked in water for 20 minutes. Stir and saute these for 1 minute. Keep flame medium · Add water, Add salt, garam masala. Mix well. Add 1 lemon juice to it. Mix it. Close the cooker's lid and cook until 1 whistle, then turn off the flame. Wait till pressure escapes · Check the pulao, stir it lightly to make it more grainy, and keep it open

Besan Laddoo by Nita Mehta: Ingredients: · 3/4 cup (125 gm) ghee · 2 cups (250 gm) gram flour · Slightly less than 1/2 cup (50 gm) semolina · 1 1/4 cups (250 gm) castor sugar (bura) · A pinch of turmeric powder · 5 green cardamoms, seeds crushed Method: · Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed kadhai · Add gram flour and semolina to the melted ghee. Cook while stirring continuously till light brown in colour and smells roasted, about 15 minutes on medium heat · Reduce heat and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Remove from the flame. Add turmeric and mix well · Remove from kadhai to a flat thaali and let it cool slightly. Add sugar and cardamom mix well · Shape into laddoos while the mixture is warm

Matar k Chole by Nisha Madhulika: Ingredients: · Soaked dried peas 1 cup (200 grams) · Tomatoes 2 (200 grams) · Green chillies 2 · Oil 2 tbsp · Green coriander 2 to 3 tbsp (finely chopped) · Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp · Asafoetida 1/2 pinch · Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp · Coriander powder 1.5 tsp · Red chilli powder 1/4 tsp · Garam masala 1/4 tsp · Ginger 1 tsp (paste) · Salt 1 tsp or to taste Method: · To pressure cook the dried soaked peas, take a pressure cooker and place the soaked peas into it, followed by 1 cup of water. Make sure that the peas are immersed nicely in water. Also, add 3/4 tsp salt to the pressure cooker. Mix well, and pressure cook the dried peas until one whistle · When it starts whistling, reduce the flame and cook the peas for 2 more minutes on low flame. After 2 minutes, turn off the flame. Peas are now cooked through, take off the pressure cooker from the flame let the steam escape on its own and then check if they are tender and soft · Let us prepare masala for the dried peas. For this, heat a pan with 2 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, splutter 1/2 tsp cumin seeds first. Then add 1/2 pinch asafoetida as well and keep the flame low to prevent browning of the spices · Then add the following spices to the masala as well - 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1.5 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp ginger paste and sauté for a while. Then add the tomato-green chilly paste and sauté the masala until oil starts leaving its edges and you get grainy textured masala. Keep the flame medium and keep stirring at regular intervals. When the oil starts leaving the sides of the masala, add 1/4 tsp red chilly powder as well. You can adjust the quantity of red chilly powder as per your taste · Now mix the boiled peas to the masala, followed by some water. Add water as required to make the peas thick or thin in consistency. We are adding 1/2 cup water · Add the remaining salt as well, followed by 1/4 tsp garam masala and some green coriander and mix well. Cover and cook the chole for 3 to 4 minutes on medium flame · After 4 minutes, turn off the flame and transfer the cooked dried matar chole sabzi to a serving bowl

Coconut & Rava Laddoo by Tarla Dalal: Ingredients · 2 cups freshly grated coconut · 1 cup semolina (rava / sooji) · 1 1/2 cups sugar · 1/2 cup melted ghee · 1 tbsp chopped cashewnuts (kaju) · 1 tbsp raisins (kismis) · A pinch saffron (kesar) strands · 1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder Method · To make coconut and rava ladoo, dry roast the semolina in a non-stick kadhai on a slow flame for 3 minutes · Switch off the flame, add the coconut and mix well. Keep aside · Combine the sugar and 1 cup of water in a sauce pan, mix well and cook on a medium flame for approx. 5 to 6 minutes, while stirring occasionally. Keep this sugar syrup aside to cool slightly · Heat the ghee in a non-stick kadhai and add the semolina-coconut mixture, cashewnuts and raisins, mix well and cook on medium flame for 5 to 6 minutes, while stirring continuously · Add the sugar syrup, saffron and cardamom powder, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes, while stirring continuously · Transfer the mixture into a 10” (250 mm. ) diameter thali and spread it evenly using a flat ladle. Keep aside to cool for 2 hours · Once cooled, scrape out the mixture from the thali and again mix well · Divide dough into 26 equal portions and shape each portion in between your palms into a round ladoo · Serve or store the coconut and rava ladoo in an air-tight container