[Breakfast to Dinner] 4 Quick and Easy Recipes for Mahashivratri

Ours is a land of vivid cultures and festivities are a part of this shared legacy. Mahashivratri is one such festival celebrated with divine devotion across the country. It is a festival dedicated to Lord Shiva, and is a grand affair for many Indian families.
No matter how you choose to celebrate this day of love, faith, and peace - we have something to add a blissful dimension to your day.
From crunchy hot Tikkis to steamy hot Idlis, here are 4 Mahashivratri special recipes to turn your day into a tasty affair.

Let’s get started!

1. Sabudana Tikki

Ingredients required:

• Sabudana pearls that have been rinsed well with water and soaked overnight.
• ½ teaspoon chopped Green Chillies
• 10 to 12 Cashews chopped finely or 4 tablespoons slashed Cashews
• ½ tablespoon chopped Raisins
• ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
• ¼ teaspoon dry Mango powder (Amchur powder) as per your taste

Recipe:

• Once rinsed, drench ½ cup Sabudana pearls in water, drowning them from 1 to 2 inches. Let these rest for 5 to 6 hours or overnight.
• Sabudana has the property of absorbing water and doubling in size, hence you can even leave it in water for 2 to 3 hours. Whenever the Sabudana is appropriately swollen and softened, you'll be able to crush them easily and even squeeze them. If you try to squeeze them, you feel some kind of hardness in the center. In that case, you might want to soak them in water for some more time.
• Boil 1 large Potato in a Pressure Cooker or with any method of your choice. The Potato must be cooked enough to be peeled off from the outside. Strain away all the excess water from the boiled potato.
• Add water depending on the situation while steaming or heating the potatoes utilizing any cooking method that you follow.
• When the Potato has cooled down, peel it and crush it well with a fork or a vegetable masher in a bowl. Let the Potato cool down to room temperature before you start adding the other ingredients to it.
• After the Potato has been mashed well for a smooth and even texture, add the other ingredients to it, like Cashews and Peanuts.
• Blend quite well. If you think that your Tikkis or cutlets could break when you're trying to deep fry them, you can even add cornflour or Buckwheat flour to them, to let the mixture stay intact and not break into pieces while being fried.
• Then, at that point, form and level patties from the combination. Keep the width of the patties to 1/3 inch as while cooking they cook rapidly from outside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of Nut Oil or Ghee in a skillet. Place 4 to 5 Sabudana Tikki in the skillet and fry on medium heat. Let the cutlets fry till they turn golden brown. Keep flipping the cutlets to let them fry evenly on both surfaces. You can also use the Nirlep snack maker by Bajaj, which comes with a 2 layer metal spoon-friendly, Non-Stick coating. 
• When the Sabudana Tikki has been cooked well, you can take them out of the skillet and place them on tissue paper so that the excessive oil is absorbed from them.

2. Sama Rice Idli:

Ingredients required:

• A cup of Sama Ke Chawal which is also known as barnyard millet across the globe.
• Half a cup of Sabudana balls which are also known as Tapioca Pearls.
• One or two pinches of Baking Soda, which is an important ingredient (this may be skipped if your traditions don’t permit).
• Rock Salt is used in this dish since it is made to serve to the ones who have fasted. If you're not fasting, you can even use regular salt. 
• A glass or two of water.

Recipe:

• Grind the ingredients together finely and bring them to a finer texture. Also, they have to be ground well so that they come to an even consistency. Before you start grinding the rice, make sure that there are no gravels or micro stones in the Rice. You can even use the Herculo Mixer grinder to grind your batter for a fine consistency.
• The ground mixture will form the batter for our dish and before cooking it to make Idlis, we should let the batter ferment overnight to let the yeast work on it and let it rise while steaming. Letting it rest overnight also adds a pleasant aroma to the batter by the next morning. 
• Many people also add Baking soda to the batter, so that the batter rises properly and the Idlis become fluffy when steamed or baked. 
• To improve the taste of the batter, you can also add one or two teaspoons of yogurt to the mixture. This will not only improve the aroma of the batter but can also work as a substitute measure Baking Soda to the Idlis before making them. 
• The fun part about this batter is that if the batter is left for the next day, you can even make Dhoklas using the same batter. All you'd need to do is stir the finely ground and then fermented mixture in half a cup of Sour Yogurt in the ground batter. As mentioned earlier, let the mixture be as it is to ferment overnight. 
• To ensure that your Idlis are fluffy, you can also add Eno to the batter before you place it in the molds. 
• The amount of Baking Soda added to the batter can vary from person to person. Some people may not like the aroma of baking soda too much. In that case, you can just sprinkle two pinches of Baking Soda on the batter. But if you're someone who does not mind its taste, you can add ¼ tablespoon of Baking Soda too.

3. Rajgire ki Curry

Ingredients required:

• 1/4 cup Rajgira (Amaranth) flour
• 1+1/2 cups Curd (Dahi)
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• Rock Salt (Sendha Namak) according to taste
• 2 tsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera)
• 1 tsp grated Ginger (Adrak)
• 3 sliced Green Chilies

Recipe:

• Mix the Curd, Rajgira flour, Sugar, and Rock Salt in a profound bowl and blend well utilizing a whisk.
• Add 2 cups of water and blend well. Keep to the side.
• Heat the Ghee in a profound non-stick skillet and add the Cumin seeds.
• Whenever the seeds pop, add the Ginger and Green Chilies and sauté on a medium fire for a couple of moments.
• Add the pre-made Curd-Rajgira flour blend to the skillet and mix it well and cook on medium heat for 7 minutes, while mixing continuously.
• Lower the heat and cook for 2 to 3 additional minutes, while mixing occasionally.
• Serve hot along with Samo Khichdi.

4. Shakarkand (sweet potato) ka Halwa

Ingredients required

• 2 medium to large-sized Sweet Potatoes (Shakarkandi)
• 4 tablespoon Sugar or according to requirement, depends upon the sweetness of the Shakarkandi.
• 7 to 8 tablespoons of Oil or Ghee.
• 3 to 4 green Cardamoms, crushed or powdered, or ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder (Choti Elaichi powder)
•  A pinch of Saffron (Kesar)
• 10 to 12 Cashews (Kaju) cut in half or chopped or kept as a whole

Recipe:

• Boil the Sweet Potatoes (Shakarkandi) first.
• As the Sweet Potatoes cool down, peel them and crush them well to make a mixture.
• Heat Oil or Ghee in a Kadhai (Indian deep frying pan)
• First fry the Cashews, remove them when they attain a golden appearance, and keep them to the side.
• In the same Oil, add the squashed Sweet Potatoes.
• Mix well and saute for 3-4 mins.
• Add Sugar and saute for 4-5 mins.
• Now add squashed Cardamom and mix
• Add a pinch of Saffron and mix.
• Continue to mix and cook the halwa till Oil or Ghee begins to leave the sides of the Halwa.
• This will take approx 10-12 minutes on low to medium heat.
• At last, add the fried Cashew Nuts and mix once more.
• Serve the Shakarkandi Halwa hot, warm or cold.

This Mahashivratri, relish every bit of these delicacies and savour the joy with Shiva in your heart. With our recipes, let fasting be a joyful and fulfilling experience.