Dussehra, a festival famous in East India, celebrates the triumph of Rama over king Ravana, the victory of good over evil. This celebration stretches upto a period of ten days in India and is celebrated with a unique pomp in every part of India. The highlight of this festival is the food served in all the ten days, the most appealing being the foods served in East India.
Let us begin with the foods served in East India on the sixth day of Dussehra. To begin with the breakfast platter contains Luchi (Deep-fried flour breads), Aloo Dum (Spicy Curried Potatoes) and Rosogolla (commonly known as the cottage cheese ball in sugar syrup.
1. Recipe for Luchi
Ingredients
500gms Flour
4 tablespoons of clarified butter
Warm Water
Salt
Oily for frying
1. Sieve flour and salt and place it in a flat dish.
2. Make well in the center and add melted clarified butter. Knead the flour and butter dry, until you get a crumbly texture.
3. Gradually add warm water and make a tight dough.
4. Make balls out of the dough.
5. Roll it out into small disc-like shapes.
6. Heat oil and deep-fry them until they discs are puffed up.
2. Recipe for Aloor Dum
Ingredients
Boiled Potatoes (Small and Round)
Freshly roasted and powdered cumin seeds
Turmeric Powder
Cumin Powder
Red Chili Powder
Yogurt
All spices Powder
Ginger-Garlic Paste
Onion Paste
Salt
Sugar
Slitted Green Chilies
Chopped Coriander Leaves
Oil
Method
1. Fry the peled and boiled potatoes until brown. Keep Aside.
2. In the same pan fry onion, ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, chili powder and cumin powder. Fry this paste until brown.
3. Add yogurt to this paste and add the fried potatoes, salt, all-spices powder and half teaspoon sugar. Blend them thoroughly.
4. Simmer this gravy and garnish it with slitted green chilies and coriander leaves.
3. Recipe for Rosogolla
Ingredients
500gms Cottage cheese
500gms Sugar
0.75 liters of water
1 tsp Rose Water
Cardamom Powder
1 teaspoon Semolina
2 tablespoons Clarified butter
1 teaspoon flour
Method
1. In a pan make the sugar syrup by combining sugar and water and boiling them for 20-30 minutes.
2. Knead together cottage cheese, rosewater, semolina, flour, cardamom powder and clarified butter.
3. Knead them until it is sioft and then make balls out of it.
4. Drop these balls into the boiling sugar syrup. Simmer the heat and leave them to be cooked in the syrup for 20 minutes.
5. Cool it and serve chilled.
