Oman dining: Best recipes for Diwali

T-Mag Wednesday 18/October/2017 19:44 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman dining: Best recipes for Diwali

Crispy Peanut Thattu Vadai (recipe by Geetha Rajesh)
**media[756208]**
Thattu Vadai is a very popular South Indian crispy and spicy deep fried snack and is often made during festivals and special occasions. Crispy Thattu Vadai is stuffed with the traditional spongy aloo bonda and peanut butter.

Ingredients
For Thattu Vadai
2 cups par boiled rice
2 red chillies whole
½ cup fried gram dal powder
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons chana dal
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
Few curry leaves
Salt as per taste
¼ teaspoon hot oil
Oil for frying

For Peanut Butter Bonda
2 potatoes
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
Curry leaves
1 onion
1 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons peanut butter
½ cup gram flour
¼ cup rice flour
½ teaspoon pepper powder
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
2 pinches turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
Oil for frying

Preparation
For Thattu Vadai
1. Soak par boiled rice along with red chillies for a minimum of 3 hours. Drain water and grind it in a wet grinder with very little water. The batter should be thick as well as smooth. Sprinkle water in between if it’s too tight. Mix the fried gram flour to the prepared wet batter. Mix well.
2. Mix all other ingredients like sesame seeds, chana dal, asafoetida, curry leaves and salt (very little).
3. Mix hot oil. Roll mini sized balls. Flatten it over a clean cloth. Flatten with your fingers to ensure evenly thin. Prick everywhere with a fork for crispy texture. Deep fry in medium flame until crispy texture.

For Peanut Butter Bonda
1. Pressure cook potatoes for 3 whistles, peel off the skin and mash it well. In a pan, season with mustard, urad dal and curry leaves.
2. Add chopped onion and ginger. Add mashed potatoes and salt (very little). Stir for 2 minutes. Now at this stage add peanut butter and mix it well.
3. Make small sized balls and set aside. For batter, mix gram flour, rice flour, pepper powder, asafoetida, turmeric powder and salt (very little).
4. Please note the batter should be thick. Heat very little oil in the paniyaram pan (Dutch poffertje pan).
5. Place the potato peanut butter balls in the prepared crispy Thattai dipped to coat it well with gram flour batter mix.
6. Fry it in the paniyaram pan and turn over in a minute to cook evenly on both sides.
7. Cook on medium heat. Crispy peanut butter Thattu Vadai Bonda is ready to serve and enjoy with a cup of tea.

Note: Please use very little salt on the overall dish as we are adding little salt in every stage.

Chatpati Mattar Cone Chaat (recipe Anupma Nagvanshi)
**media[756209]**
Chatpati Mattar Cone Chat is a savoury snack typically served as appetisers and starters. The chaat variants are based on fried dough, with various other ingredients. While chaats can be eaten any day and at anytime Diwali is the perfect occasion to have it.

Ingredients
For Cone
1/2 kg maida (refined flour)
4 tablespoons ghee
Salt as per taste
Oil for frying
Water accordingly for kneading dough
Extra 1/2 cup plain maida for rolling
Cone shape mould

For Chaat
2 to 3 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chopped green chilli
1 cup yellow mattar soaked overnight and then boiled
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons chopped ginger
1 lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt as per taste
Homemade green chutney and sweet chutney
For garnishing freshly chopped coriander, chopped ginger, sliced lemon, sev, and yoghurt

Preparation
For Cone
1. Mix together all the above ingredients in a bowl and knead to a semi stiff dough using water.
2. Divide the dough into equal portions and roll it in the shape of chapati, using a knife cut it into thin long strips, roll these strips round the cone mould like a coil, starting from the pointed end towards the broader end, till entire cone is uniformally covered with the strips and seal well, follow the same procedure for the remaining dough.
3. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry till golden brown in colour, remove cone from the oil and drain it on absorbent paper. Once the cones are cooled shake the cone mould to demould it. Cone is ready.

For Mattar Chaat
1. Heat a pan add oil in it. As oil heats up add cumin seeds, chopped green chillies and sauté till the fragrant comes.
2. Add boiled mattar and all dried spices, lemon juice, sugar, chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Sauté for 5-6 mins.
3. Switch off the heat. Now take the cone, fill it with the prepared mattar chaat filling. Top the filling with sweet chutney and green chutney.
4. Garnish it with chopped coriander, chopped ginger, sliced lemon, sev, and yoghurt.
5. Chatpati mattar cone chat is ready to eat.

Spicy Za'atar Shankar Pali (recipe by Dhanitri Pritesh Pai)
**media[756205]**

Today is Diwali and we all have our favourite dishes for the season. My favourite would be Chiroti (a traditional Konkani sweet dish) along with Spicy Shankar Pali. For me, Diwali celebrations are incomplete without these goodies. Today I bring to you this traditional spicy shankar pali recipe with an interesting twist. Za’atar, an aromatic Middle Eastern condiment, recently grabbed my attention and I had to give it a try. This simple humble looking spice was bursting with full of flavours and was an instant hit with me. So I had to incorporate this in our Indian cuisine which is known to use a variety of spices in our daily food preparations.

Ingredients
1.5 cups all purpose flour (maida)
Salt to taste
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon za’atar spice mix
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper powder (or more depending on your
spice level)
1 tablespoon hot olive oil
Water as needed
Oil or ghee for deep frying

Preparation
1. Sieve all purpose flour and salt together and then mix it with za’atar spice mix, sesame seeds, pepper powder and hot olive oil. Leave the mixture for a minute and when the oil has cooled enough to handle, using finger tips, mix everything nicely. It should resemble the texture of bread crumbs. Then add water as required and knead the mixture into nice firm dough. Cover it with cling wrap and keep aside for an 1 hour. Once the time is up, knead the dough for few mins and then divide it into equal parts.
2. Roll out each part into circle of about 5 to 6 inches.
3. Taking a pizza cutter, cut the circle into diamonds or squares. Heat oil or ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Test the temperature by dropping a small part or dough in it, if it rises immediately, oil temperature is ready. Drop the cut diamonds into oil and then lower the flame to medium low. Turning in between, fry till they are light golden brown in colour. Once light golden brown, immediately take them out on a paper towel as it will continue to cook by itself even after taking them out. On complete cooling, store it in an air tight box.

Note: For healthier version, you can use a mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. The dough should not be soft. Make sure to knead it tight or else the shankar pali will absorb more oil and not be crisp. Don’t skip adding hot oil to the dough mix as it helps in making crispy shankar pali. Always fry the shankar pali on medium low heat to get that nice crispy pali. Always fry in batches and don’t over crowd them.

Carrot Chandrakala with Butterscotch Shots (recipe by Jain Aanchal)
**media[756210]**

Chandrakala is a popular Indian Diwali sweet and here it has been stuffed with carrot halwa with lots of dry fruits and mawa for a different flavour.

Ingredients
For Chandrakala Dough
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons pure ghee
1/2 cup water
Oil for frying

Preparation
1. Take a bowl and add flour and ghee together. Mix it gently with your hands.
2. Now add water slowly to make a soft dough but remember your dough should not be very hard or very soft.
3. Cover your dough with soft muslin cloth and keep aside for 1/2 an hour.

Ingredients
For Stuffing
1.5 litre full cream milk
2kg carrots
1/2 cup khoya (homemade)
1/4 cup pure ghee
11/2 cups sugar
1 cup cashew nuts, almonds, and pistachio
1 tablespoon cardamom powder

Preparation
1. Keep the milk in a heavy bottom vessel to boil.
2. Peel the carrots. Wash them and then grate them.
3. When milk starts boiling, add the grated carrots to the milk and mix it well. Now cook them on medium heat till the milk is totally absorbed.
4. Add 1/2 cup of khoya and mix it well. Now add 1/4 cup of ghee.
5. Mix it for 30 seconds then add mentioned quantity of sugar (add sugar according to your taste buds) and roast it for next 10 -15 minutes. Now switch off the burner.
6. Add the chopped dry fruits and cardamom powder and mix well and then keep it aside.

Chandrakala
Preparation
1. Knead the dough again after 30 minutes to make a soft and smooth dough without any cracks. Make small equal size dough.
2. Roll into a thick puri neither very thick nor very thin. For stuffing take 2 teaspoons of the mixture and place it in the middle of the puri. Cover the mixture with another puri and seal the edges by applying water.
3. Now with the help of your finger tip press the sides to fold and seal till end. Take a kadai, add oil when it’s hot and drop chandrakala on a low flame and fry till it gets brown in colour.
4. Take out the excess oil and keep it in tissue towel so that excess oil gets absorbed.

Ingredients
For Butterscotch Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup milk
4 teaspoons butter (unsalted)
2 teaspoons cream
1/2 cup water

Preparation
1. Take a nonstick pan and add 1/2 cup sugar. Cook it on a low flame. Mix it continuously. After sometime you will see sugar melting and changing its colour to brown.
2. Add 4 teaspoons butter, stir it continuously and mix it nicely. Add 1/2 cup milk and stir continuously on a low flame and cook till 1 minute.
3. Add 2 teaspoons of cream, mix it nicely for another 30 seconds. Keep your gas flame low. Add condensed milk and mix it nicely.
4. Add 1/4 cup water, stir it nicely for 30 seconds so that your sauce does not become too thick and hard. Switch off your gas when it’s fully done.

Ingredients
For Rabri
1 litre full cream milk
1 cup butterscotch sauce

Preparation
1. Boil the milk till it gets reduced to half. Keep on stirring regularly so that it doesn’t stick to the vessel. lWhen milk is reduced to almost half, then reduce the flame for another 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Now add butterscotch sauce, mix it nicely and keep it on low flame for 5 minutes and then put off the burner.
3. Keep aside for cooling. Your rabri butterscotch sauce is ready.

To Serve
Arrange small shot glasses. First pour rabri butterscotch sauce, then add chopped dry fruits. On the top of the shot glasses put the Chandrakala and make a small hole on the top. Garnish it with a drop of butterscotch sauce, chopped pistachio, and rose petals.

Chocolate Almond Penda (recipe by Dwikal Tanna)
**media[756207]**
It’s Diwali time and so much to do during festivals. So I always choose easy and quick recipes during Diwali and when it comes to desserts I can’t wait to have it. Yummy and delicious Chocolate Almond Penda.

Ingredients
1/2 cup almond powder
1 1/4 cups milk powder
1/2 cup condensed milk
4 teaspoons ghee
Edible colour pinch optional
4 to 5 drops vanilla essence

Preparation
Mix all the above ingredients together and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Stir and again microwave for 30 seconds. Do repeat till 2 to 2.5 minutes and you will get a nice dough. Shape pendas out of the dough and chill for at least 1 to 2 hours in the fridge. Take 200g compound chocolate and melt in microwave or double boiler for 30 seconds and coat pendas with chocolate by dipping pendas in chocolate. Garnish with almonds.

Rasmalai Cake (recipe by Chaiti Chowdhury)
**media[756204]**

Rasmalai cake is a fusion dessert in which a spongy cake is soaked with thick cardamom and saffron flavoured rabri. Layered and filled with saffron, cream, cottage cheese dumpling, and covered with cream, pistachios, and almond flakes, this Diwali make this special cake for your loved ones.

Ingredients
For Rosogolla
1 litre milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups sugar
5 cups water

Preparation
1. Make fresh chhena (paneer) using 1 litre milk. Boil the milk for some time. Then add 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
2. Take a clean muslin cloth and tie the chhena in it. Squeeze it gently to remove excess water and hang it over the hook for 30-40 minutes.
3. Make a smooth paste of it with your palm and make small size balls.
4. For making syrup, take 2 cups sugar and 5 cups water and let it boil. Add chenna balls in the syrup and boil for 15 minutes on high flame. Rosogollas are ready. Keep aside to cool.

Ingredients
For Rabri
1 litre milk
200g condensed milk
1 teaspoon green cardamom powder
Saffron strands soaked in lukewarm milk

Preparation
1. Boil milk and continue till a layer of cream is formed over the milk and it sticks to the sides of the vessel.
2. Repeat the process for at least 5 times or till milk reduces to one third. Further add condensed milk, cardamom powder, and saffron milk.
3. Give a good mix and let it boil. Keep it aside for cooling. Squeeze syrup from rosogollas and put them in rabri and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Ingredients
For Cake
3 eggs
1 cup powder sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup refined oil
1 cup refined flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preparation
1. Beat the eggs. Add the sugar and beat again. Now add vanilla essence and oil and mix properly.
2. Now gently fold in flour and baking powder mixture. Pour it in a greased cake tin. Bake the cake at 175 degree for 30 minutes in convection.
3. Cut the cake into 2 layers. Whip the cream and add saffron colour.
4. Place one part of the cake on serving plate. Soak this part of the cake sprinkling rabri with a spoon. On the soaked spread some whipped cream, then spread some cottage cheese dumplings.
5. Place on the other part of the cake on the top of the spread cream.
6. Soak this part of cake with rabri again. Spread again whipped cream covering the entire cake from the top and sides.
7. Fill the remaining cream in a piping bag and make rose design. Decorate the cake with almonds and pistachio flakes.

Compiled by Ashish Dubash