~Durga Puja ~
O Mother !!You are present everywhere ,
You are the embodiment of power & energy !
I bow to you !! I bow to you!! I bow to you!!
The Goddess of power and strength , Durga
commonly known as Durga maa or Mother Durga
is the most important Goddess of Hindus . With a
multidimensional persona she is the destroyer of
evil and carries a trident to slay down the demons.
A nine day long festival called Navratri
(or nine nights ) is celebrated twice a year to celebrate
her nine divine qualities of strength, transformation,
anger, beauty, compassion fear and power in various
avatars (or incarnations). Sitting astride a lion, it is
believed that the multi limbed Goddess battles
the forces of evil and makes the world a better place.
Durga - The Mother Goddess !!!
Brown bread, Orange, Red bell pepper, guava,
beans, babycorn, olive, crispy snack-boondi, berries
The auspicious festival of Durga Puja is an annual five day
celebration to pay homage to the Goddess. Indians all
over the world decorate their houses and cook traditional
meals and desserts as it is believed that mother Durga visits
her earthly abode during this time.
Idols in temples and homes are
decorated with beautiful flowers . Orange
stemmed night jasmine flowers called harsingar,
shuili or parijat in local dialect bloom profusely during
this season and are greatly used along with red
hibiscus for worshipping. With a nip of chill in the
air and the advent of winters a lot of seasonal food stuffs
start lining the local markets and Nolen Gur or Date
Jaggery is one of those winter delights, a natural
sweetener it is a power packed with health benefits.
Nolen Gur Payesh aka rice pudding is speciality of this
festival. This Bengali dessert is super easy to
make and is perfect to add zing to your Navratra
& pujo offering .
Nolen Gur Payesh
(Rice pudding with date palm jaggery)
Ingredients -
1.5 l full cream milk
1/2 cup Gobind bhog rice (or basmati rice)
200gms nolen gur
1 bay leaf
3-4 cardamom coarsely pounded
2 tbsp chopped nuts (cashew, almond, chironji)
1 tbsp ghee
Method-
1. Soak the rice for half hour.
2. Grate the gur using a grater and keep aside.
3.Heat ghee in a pan and lightly fry the nuts till golden.
Strain n keep aside.
4.In the remaining ghee add bay leaf , drain water
from rice, add and lightly roast for a min .
5. Add in milk and simmer for half an hour , keep stirring
occasionally so that it does not burn.
6. Once the milk has reduced to half , check a grain of rice ,
once softened turn off the flame .
7. Add in cardamon, grated nolen gur & half
of the fried nuts & stir well to dissolve the jaggery .
8. Pour in a bowl , garnish with nuts &
serve warm (Or refrigerate to serve chilled ).
This year Durga Puja began on Monday, October 11
(Maha Shasthi) and will end on Friday, October 15.
The Devi has time and again been visualised in different
forms, yet the Puranas speak of her as a formless
supreme power.
Wishing everybody a safe and
happy Durga Puja, May the spirit of peace and
brotherhood prevail.
