Mother’s Day Recipes You’ll Love

We all have memories of our mothers being there for us no matter what the situation. Us being pampered, scolded and even doted over on the smallest of achievements and mistakes but above all, them not being imperfectly perfect. All through it all, food is the centre of our existence. Ghar Ke nuske to get over the cold, the special sweet dishes when you achieved something big or even small or even better when we had a bad day, the food was always the centre for everything. “Maa ke haath ka khana” is a connotation which has become synonymous with feelings of victory, failure, sadness, happiness, and fun to name a few. 

This Mother’s Day let’s choose to celebrate your mother by cooking her some simple, easy and fresh dishes because this shall definitely put a huge smile on her face. A Maharashtrian inspired dish, Masala Bhat, makes for a spicy, tasty, warm fuzzy dish that your mother will never forget. 

Masala Bhat

Ingredients For Masala Bhat

Masala Bhat	Dry Spice Powder
2 Cups Brown/White Rice2 Tsp Oil ½ Tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera) ½ Cup Finely Chopped Onions A Pinch Of Asafoetida (Hing) ½ Tsp Grated Ginger (Adrak) 1 Tsp Finely Chopped Green Chillies ½ Tsp Turmeric (Haldi) ½ Cup Sliced Tendli (Ivy Gourd) ½ Cup Green Peas ½ Cup Eggplant/Brinjal (Baingan) Salt To Taste	½ Tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera) ½ Tsp Coriander Seeds (Dhania) 3 Cloves (Laung/Lavang) 5 To 6 Black Peppercorns (Sabut Kalimirch)

Instructions

For Dry Spice Powder

1. Combine cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, and the peppercorns in a non-stick pan.
2. Dry roast them till it is fragrant. Once fragrant, remove from the flame and let it cool down.
3. Once cooled, grind them to a fine powder.

For Masala Bhat

1. In a deep non-stick pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds.
2. Once the seeds splutter, add the onions and sauté for a minute.
3. To this mixture add asafoetida, ginger, green chillies, and turmeric powder and sauté this for a few seconds on a medium flame.
4. Proceed to add tendli, green peas, brinjal, salt and 3 tbsp water, cover it with a lid and cook it on a medium flame for 8-10 minutes, stirring it occasionally.
5. Add the rice and dry spice powder, mix this well. Cook this for 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve the masala bhat, hot garnished with coriander.

Mango Suji ka halwa

Mother’s Day should have some sweet and what better sweet than suji ka halwa with a twist! Add some Mango to it! Yes! It is mango season and adding a twist to it would be a great surprise!

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Mango Pulp
• ½ cup ghee
• 1 cup Semolina (suji)
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ milk
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder (elaichi)
• 2 tbsp almond (badam) slivers for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat the ghee in a heavy bottom, non-stick pan. Add the suji and saute it for 6-7 minutes on a low flame.
2. Once you get a slightly brown colour on the suji then dd the sugar, milk and 2 ½ cups of hot water (you can replace water with milk for a creamier halwa). Mix all the ingredients well and cover and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring intermittently.
3. When the liquid has been absorbed, the sugar has melted and the halwa is leaving the sides of the pan, turn the flame off.
4. Add the mango pulp and elaichi powder.
5. Put it in the refrigerator to cool.
6. Serve with almond slivers.