Let this fasting season be a fabulous time for your palate! This navratri season, get over the usual boring fast meals. Because we've brought you a recipe that is perfect to twist up your navratri food cycle. This recipe, for a healthy and tasty kaddu ki tikki, is going to take your fasting meals to a new level.
Navratri is a major festival for a huge population of the country. During this festival, many go under fasts for 9 days with a restrictive diet, which eliminates some of the major ingredients used in our Indian household, like whole wheat, rice, onions and garlic. This recipe of kaddu ki tikki is an attempt to bring a twist to the usual vrat wali thali that most people are accustomed to. This tikki is made using mashed boiled pumpkin and mixed together with almonds and paneer. It's spiced only with ginger and green chilli and seasoned to taste. Grilled in desi ghee, these little flavour bombs become a perfect snack item for your next navratri season.
This simple tikki recipe is perfect for your next navratri as it is not only appropriately made without all the specified ingredients, but it gets ready in just under 20 minutes. So, this navratri season, be a little experimental with your food and try out new and innovative recipes, starting with this one right here.
1) Start by boiling water in a Meyer Cast Iron Deep Skillet, and to that add cubed pumpkin pieces and let them cook for 10-15 minutes and then strain.
2) After straining the cubes, mash them thoroughly. Put the mash in a muslin cloth and squeeze out the water from it. Add it to a large bowl.
3) To the mashed and drained pumpkin, add chopped green chillies and ginger, grated paneer and chopped almonds. Mix them all together into a thick dough consistency.
4) Season the mixture with some pepper and sendha namak (rock salt) and also add some roasted jeera to it.
5) Form the dough into 2 inch big tikkis and set them aside. Heat a nonstick tawa and add desi ghee onto it. Place the tikkis onto the Meyer Induction Tawa to grill them.
6) Grill the tikkis for 2-3 minutes on one side or till golden brown and then flip them over. Grill them similarly on the other side also and take them off the tawa.
7) Serve them hot with some freshly made green chutney.
Expert Tips
Cook the pumpkin properly till it is soft, otherwise it won't mash properly.
Make sure that the paneer and almonds are chopped finely and evenly to make a cohesive dough.
Let the pan heat properly before adding the tikki, or it might take too long to grill.
Start by boiling water in a cast iron deep skillet, and to that add cubed pumpkin pieces and let them cook for 10-15 minutes and then strain.
After straining the cubes, mash them thoroughly. Put the mash in a muslin cloth and squeeze out the water from it. Add it to a large bowl.
To the mashed and drained pumpkin, add chopped green chillies and ginger, grated paneer and chopped almonds. Mix it all together into a thick dough consistency.
Season the mixture with some pepper and sendha namak (rock salt) and also add some roasted jerra to it.
Form the dough into 2 inch big tikkis and set them aside. Heat a nonstick tawa and add desi ghee onto it. Place the tikkis onto the tawa to grill them.
Grill the tikkis for 2-3 minutes on one side or till golden brown and then flip them over. Grill them similarly on the other side also and take them off the tawa.
Serve them hot with some freshly made green chutney.
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