Happy Gudi Padwa!
Two days to go for Gudi Padwa. Maharashtra is gearing up with all pomp and show to welcome the new year. Apart from the other rituals like sweeping the house clean, making rangolis and wearing new clothes, another most important ritual is food. Yes, as we all know, across India perhaps there is no festival where it doesn't have a ritual related to food. In Gudi Padwa, the traditional Maharashtrian families start the festivities by eating neem leaves. Neem leaves are pasted with sweet jaggery and tamarind and are eaten by the family members to symbolize good health and purify blood.
Apart from these, there are several other full-fledged dishes that are cooked for the ocassion which are savored for lunch and dinner. Two most common dishes are Puran Poli and Shrikhand. Puran Poli is made with sweetened chana dal paste as stuffing inside wheat dough which is then flattened and shallow fried and are eaten with generous amount of ghee. Shrikhand on other hand is a sweet dish made out of hung curd and sugar and is eaten as accompaniment with pooris. In case you are celebrating the festival a new, here's a simple fusion recipe for Fruit Shrikhand, which can be savored with pooris or alone as desert. All you need for this, is 2 cups of hung curd, 1 cup of castor sugar, half cup of mango pulp, and 1 apple and 1 pomegranate. Cut the apple into tiny biteable pieces, deseed the pomegranate. Take the curd and sugar in a bowl and whip, whip, whip till smooth and silky. Add the mango pulp and whip again to get a homogeneous consistency. Finally pour over the cut fruits and mix. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.
Apart from Shrikhand and Puran Poli, there are several other dishes that gets cooked to celebrate this auspicious ocassion. With international ingredients and recipes pouring over indian market these days, there are many traditional dishes that are increasingly getting fusion touch, just like our Fruit Shrikhand. Do let us know, what are the recipes that are gonna get cooked in your house this Gudi Padwa. Is it the traditional one or you have decided to add your own fusion touch to it. Drop us you recipes in the comment box. Happy Gudi Padwa!