Feast while you fast

Ingredients:

• 3-4 potatoes boiled, peeled and grated
• 1/4-cup fresh coconut scraped
• 1 tbsp cashew nuts, chopped
• 1 tbsp peanuts, roasted and crushed
• ½ tbsp raisins
• Rock salt to taste
• ¼ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp ginger-green chilli paste
• 1tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• Oil for greasing and deep-frying

Method:

• To make stuffing, combine coconut, cashew nuts, peanuts, raisins, rock salt, sugar, lemon juice, ginger-green chilli paste and chopped coriander in a bowl and mix well.
• Heat sufficient oil in a kadai. Combine potatoes, arrowroot powder and rock salt in another bowl and mix well.
• Grease your palms with some oil. Spread some arrowroot powder on a plate. Divide the potato mixture into equal portions, make a dent in the centre and fill it with a portion of the stuffing. Coat it with arrowroot powder.
• Deep-fry pattice in hot oil till golden and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper.

Samo rice and Tomato Dal:

Ingredients:

For Tomato dal:

• 1 ½ tablespoons Oil or Ghee
• ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 2 small Green chillies slit
• 5-6 Curry leaves
• 2 small or 1 ¼ cups Tomato chopped, keep few for garnishing
• Salt to taste ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• ½ cup Water
• 1 tablespoon Cilantro or coriander leaves chopped finely

For Samo Rice:

• 1 cup samo rice
• 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 green chilli
• 2 tbsp scrapped fresh coconut (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp oil
• Rock salt to taste

Method:

• For dal, heat the oil or ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds. Then add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and slit green chillies. Mix and cook for about a minute.
• Add chopped tomatoes and curry leaves. Mix well and add remaining salt. Cook for few minutes or till tomatoes get soft and then, add water. Mix well and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add finely chopped coriander leaves.
• For samo rice, dry roast samo rice till turns light brown. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, green chilli and scrapped coconut. Sauté for one minute.
• Add samo, rock salt and mix well. Add 2 1/4 of hot water, mix well and cover
• Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or till all the water is absorbed and rice become soft.

Shakarkandi Halwa (Sweet Potato Halwa):

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiled, peeled and mashed sweet potatoes
• A few saffron strands
• 1 tbsp warm milk
• 1 tsp ghee
• 3/4-cup milk
• 1/2-cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp chopped mixed nuts

Method:

• Combine the saffron and warm milk in a small bowl, mix well and keep aside. Heat the ghee in a deep non-stick pan, add the sweet potatoes and sauté on a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the milk, ½ cup of water, sugar and cardamom powder and mix well. Cook on a slow flam for 2 to 3 minutes or till the mixture has little liquid remaining and not completely dry, while stirring continuously. Switch off the flam, add the saffron-milk mixture and mixed nuts and mix well.

— Recipes by Maharaj Jodharam Choudhary, Corporate Chef at Khandani Rajdhan