The nine-day-long festival of Sharad Navratri has myriad layers around its celebration. While fasting sits at its core of rituals, endless sweet delicacies are also prepared for the festivities. Often, these are served as offerings or bhog or naivedyam to the Goddess. While a few others add to the rich spread of festive desserts.
As the country is already into Navratri celebratory mode, we have curated a list of seven traditional Indian sweets something for you. Hop on. Let’s embark on an authentic festive and native sweet trip to India.
Sweet Pongal
This traditional porridge has a mushy and creamy texture. It is an authentic and conventional sweet preparation from South India, and it is also called chakkara pongal and sakkarai pongal. The main ingredients are rice, split and skinned green gram or yellow lentils (mung dal), jaggery, cardamoms, and dry fruits.
Try this recipe by Dassana Amit.
Milk Kesari
It is another popular recipe during Navratri from South India and is mainly offered to the Goddess Lakshmi. The list of ingredients includes Rava or semolina, sugar, milk, clarified butter (ghee), saffron, and cashew nuts. You can also add cardamom powder to make it more aromatic.
Try this recipe by Swasthi.
Also, read: 4 Delicious And Healthy Oatmeal Recipes You And Your Children Can’t Ever Say “NO” To
Paal Poli
If you have attended any Tamilian Brahmin wedding, you have tasted it already. This traditional dessert is also called paal (milk) poori. It needs a few essential ingredients such as milk or condensed milk, sugar, all-purpose flour (maida), semolina, clarified butter, roasted cashews, a few strands of saffron, edible camphor, water, and a pinch of salt (optional).
Try this recipe by Chitra.
Farali Shiro
This authentic dessert from Gujarat is a must-have Navratri sweet. One needs milk, sugar, clarified butter, chopped dry fruits like cashew nuts and almonds, and cardamom powder to prepare it. The use of Rajgira flour gives this dish a unique taste and texture.
Try this recipe by Gujrati Rasoi.
Sabudana Kheer
Prepare this creamy pudding with sabudana or tapioca pearls (soaked), milk, sugar, blanched almonds, cardamom powder, and saffron for aroma. Compared to most dessert recipes, this one is easy to prepare. However, one has to be careful with the sabudana soaking process. It’s filling and often offered as Navratri sweet to the Goddess.
Try this recipe from Bhavna’s Kitchen.
Chenna Payas
One of the most relished Navratri desserts, Chenna Payas, requires a bit of patience to prepare. The name translates to chenna – cottage cheese and payas-pudding. It’s a kheer or payas containing tiny paneer balls. A copious amount of milk is used, apart from other ingredients such as sugar, chopped almonds, pistachios, and cardamom. Vinegar is used to curdle part of the milk to prepare fresh chenna. Relish this thick consistency kheer or pudding with tiny chenna globules.
Try this recipe by Lakshmi Recipes.
Puran Poli
Tracing its roots in Maharashtra, this traditional Indian sweet is also spelled as pooran poli. A similar variant, Bobbattu is found in Andhra Pradesh. Pooran Poli is one of the healthiest Navratri desserts and is prepared with whole wheat flour, ghee, milk, chana dal (husked split Bengal gram), and sugar or jaggery. Cardamom and nutmeg powder add fragrance. The dal-based filling makes it irresistible and wholesome too. In Gujarat, toovar dal is used for the filling.
Try this recipe by Whisk Affair.
Voila! Now you have seven different Navaratri sweets to try at home. As these are traditional recipes, getting them ready-made at sweet stalls’ counters can be a tad challenging. Having said that, a few of them are simple recipes, and their preparation demands no sweat.