Sabudana Kheer/Tapioca Pudding with Saffron and Nuts

ndia is the land of festivities. Believe it or not but national and regional festivals together would probably go into three figures. What's more is that these vary widely in the way they are celebrated from one region to another. Some are quiet and solemn including prayers and worship, some an expression of love and affection and most are attributed to deities and celebrated with quite the pomp and fervor.

Many of the regional festivals often are the quiet and solemn kind (but still elaborate nonetheless) and they are often associated with fasting. Fasting is a way of worship where you eliminate certain food groups from your diet for the period of the fast or sometimes, depending on how resilient you are and the method the particular festival dictates, not eat or drink at all.

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Dalpoori aur Aloo Tamatar ki Sabji / Lentil stuffed fried bread with potato curry

This is a very traditional recipe of lentil stuffed poori from my native Indian state of Bihar. It is typically made during festivals and special occasions. One such special occasion is the arrival of a new daughter in law in the family as that is seen as the arrival of goddess Laxmi (I have seen this tradition in my family at least). This poori is also considered auspicious and mom used to make it on festivals like Anant Chaturdashi, Dusshera and Deepawali. The usual accompaniments of these pooris are raas wali aloo sabji (gravied potato curry), tamatar ki meethi chutney (sweet tomato chutney) and kheer. The dalpoori I learned from mom and the aloo sabji recipe is probably one of the simplest curry recipes.

I made these pooris during Diwali this year when my brother was visiting. Hubby and bro both enjoyed them thoroughly. I got cool compliments including that they felt they were sitting at a local halwai's shop and enjoying these pooris. Made my day.

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Sabudana khichdi

Sabudana (tapioca or sago) khichdi is a very famous dish from the state of Maharashtra but is popular all over India. It has a different taste in every bite, spice from the chillies, crunch from the peanuts, tang of lemons and slight sweetness from the sugar. This makes for a mouthwatering lunch, breakfast or snack. It is often enjoyed during the time of fasting, in fact as a kid I used to eagerly wait when my mom used to break her fast as she always used to make this dish. Nowadays I don't wait for fasts :-). I make it whenever I crave for some quick and easy yet delectable dish. The only time consuming part is soaking the tapioca otherwise the whole dish is ready in a matter of 10 minutes.

Heres how I make it.

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