Maha yum mantras for the feasting

Sama ki khichdi

Ingredients
Sama  millet 100 gm
Ghee or oil 50 gm
Cumin seeds 5 gm
Peanuts 20 gm
Green chillies 1 (chopped finely)
Potato 1 medium
Rock salt to taste
Water 150 ml
Lemon juice 1 no
Coriander leaves 3 to 4 nos

Method
Wash barnyard millet and soak for 10 minutes. Then discard water.
Heat ghee in a pan. Once hot, add cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
Fry peanuts for a minute or till it gets light brown in colour.
Add chopped green chillies and fry for a few seconds.
Mix in cubed potatoes with a namak. Add soaked millet.
Mix and cook for a minute.
Add a cup water and bring it to a boil.
Once boiling, cover the pan and lower the heat to low fire and let it cook for 15 minutes.
Squeeze fresh lemon juice.
Add chopped coriander.

Kootoo ke puri

Ingredients
Kootoo ka atta 1 cup
Potatoes boiled 2 large
Fresh coriander leaves 3 tbsp (chopped)
Green chilli paste 1 tsp
Rock salt (sendha namak) to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method
Place the flour in a bowl. Add potatoes, coriander leaves, green chilli paste, rock salt and knead into a stiff dough.
Heat sufficient oil in a kadai. Divide dough into small pedas.
Place pedas, one at a time, on a plastic sheet and pat them into small puris with your fingers.
Slide the puris into hot oil and deep fry till golden. Drain on an absorbent paper. Serve them hot with vratwale alu.

Arbi dahi kadi

Ingredients
Colocassia (arbi) 250 gm (boiled)
Oil 2 tbsp to deep fry
Sour yogurt 1-1/2 cups
Water chestnut flour (singare ka atta) 1/4 cup
Rock salt (sendha namak) to taste
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Dried red chillies broken 2 to 3
Fresh coriander leaves 1 tbsp (chopped)

Method
Cool arbi slightly, peel and cut into half-inch thick slices. Take yogurt in a bowl. Add water chestnut flour and whisk well till properly blended.
Add rock salt, red chilli and turmeric powder and mix again. Add two cups of water and whisk well.
Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep fry arbi till golden brown.
Drain and place on an absorbent paper. Set aside. Heat two tbsp oil in a deep pan. Add cumin seeds and dry red chillies.
When cumin seeds begin to change colour, add yogurt mixture. Cook for five minutes, stirring continuously.
Add fried arbi pieces and mix. Continue cooking for five more minutes or till you get the desired consistency.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.

Sabudana khichdi

Ingredients
Sago (sabudana) 1-1/2 cups
Peanuts 1/4 cup
Green chillies 4-5
Potato 1 medium
Ghee 3 tbsp
Curry leaves 1-2 sprigs
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Fresh coconut 2 tbsp (scraped)
A few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves

Method
Wash sabudana two to three times and then soak in one-cup water for three to four hours. Sabudana grains should be separate and moist. Roast peanuts on a hot griddle, peel off skin and grind coarsely.
Wash green chillies, remove stem and then chop finely. Peel and wash potato and cut into half cm cubes. Wash and chop coriander leaves.
Heat ghee in a pan, add curry leaves, cumin seeds and chopped green chillies. When cumin seeds crackle, add potato cubes.
Cook till the potatoes are done. Add sabudana, scraped coconut and ground peanuts, sauté for four to five minutes, stirring well.
Sprinkle a little water, add salt and lime juice. Mix well. Remove from heat. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot.

— Recipe courtesy Chef Shaikh Istekhar, brand chef, Indian Kitchen