Top 10 Makar Sankranti Special Food Recipes

Makar sankranti celebrated in all over India on 14th January. It is celebrated because of the transition of the sun in the zodiac sign Capricorn (known as makar in Hindi). As soon as we hear, Makar Sankranti we think of the kite fight. And, don’t we all feel hungry after the massive kite fight?

As this festival, holds a special place in different parts of India so the food prepared on this day is also special. Below mentioned are Makar Sankranti special food recipes in the different parts of India.

Makar Sankranti Special Food Recipes

1. Vegetable Khichdi (Uttar Pradesh)

In Uttar Pradesh, the festival is popularly known as Khichdi. So, the Khichdi prepared is not as ordinary as we prepare in our daily lives.

Ingredients

1. Rice- 1 cup
2. Moong dal (yellow split gram)- 1/2 cup
3. Masoor dal(red lentil)- ½ cup
4. Chopped Potato- 4
5. Tomato- 2
6. Peas- 1 cup
7. Green chilly- 2
8. Cauliflower-1
9. Ginger- 50 grams
10. Hing(asafetida) – one pinch
11. Cumin seeds- 1 spoon
12. Turmeric powder- 2 spoon
13. Salt- according to taste
14. Coriander – for garnishing
15. Masala (of your choice)
16. Desi Ghee or Butter
17. Bay leaf (if available)

Method of Preparation

1. Wash the dal and rice and soak them into the water for an hour
2. Chop the vegetables.
3. Fry the potatoes and cauliflower separately.
4. Put Ghee in a kadhai (pot) and let it heat then put cumin seeds, asafetida into it, let them splutter.
5. Add, turmeric powder, green chilly and ginger.
6. Stir the above-mentioned spices and put all vegetables into it.
7. Put the bay leaves into it.
8. Cover the lid and keep it on the gas for 10 minutes
9. Add the different dal and rice in a pressure cooker, also add turmeric powder and salt to it.
10. Add 2 cups of water, and close the lid up to 2 whistles.
11. Then add the vegetables into the pressure cooker.

Vegetable khichdi is ready, garnish it with the coriander.

2. Tilkut Laddoos (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujrat)

Did you know that Til (sesame seeds) when consumed; provide heat in your body, which is necessary for winters, and has a great importance in the festival of makar sankranti all over india.

Ingredients

1. Til (sesame seeds)- 500 grams
2. Jaggery – 500 grams
3. Desi ghee – 2 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil in the pan(kadhai) and roast sesame seeds on medium flame till they turn light brown. Do not burn the sesame seeds as burned til leave a bitter taste.
2. Take out the til and grind it in the mixer so that it forms a coarse powder. Do not grind it for a long time.
3. In a pan, take the jaggery and melt it by putting ghee in the pan. If you want you could also put dry fruits and green cardamom in it.
4. Take out the mixture from the pan and mix the sesame seeds in it.
5. Make the round laddoos out of the mixture. Remember, the mixture has to be hot for preparing ladoos, as it turns rigid when it gets cold.

Nom Nom Nom! The ladoos are ready.

3. Ven Pongal (Tamil Nadu)

It is popular south Indian food, which is prepared with rice and moong dal.

Ingredients

1. Rice
2. Moong Dal
3. Cashew Nuts
4. Ginger
5. Curry leaves
6. Asafetida
7. Cumin seeds
8. Pepper
9. Ghee
10. Turmeric

Method of Preparation

1. Dry roast the dal.
2. Add rice and dal to a pressure cooker, put two cups of water and salt
3. When the pressure cooker goes off you can open the lid, and if you want you can mash up a bit to get the creamy consistency
4. Heat the pan with ghee and fry cashew nuts till it turns golden
5. Add cumin and peppercorn and allow them to splutter.
6. Now Add ginger, turmeric, and hing
7. Add this to the pongali (the rice and dal)
8. Mix it well

The ven pongal is ready. Serve it with chutney or sambar.

4. Puran Poli (Maharashtra)

Do you also have a sweet tooth? Then this mouth-watering recipe will make your Sankranti awesome.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup flour
2. one and a half cup sugar
3. 3 powdered green cardamom
4. 1 pinch salt
5. 4 tablespoon milk
6. 2 teaspoon rice flour
7. one and a half cup chana dal
8. 1/2 cup ghee
9. 1/4 cup water
10. Refined oil as required
11. 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg powder

Method of Preparation

1. Make a dough with flour and water and keep it aside for an hour.
2. In a pressure cooker add chana dal and water, cook it on a high flame. Once it’s done strain the excess water.
   Allow the dal to cool and then add it to the pan and put sugar along with ghee in it. Cook it, until it’s soft and sticky.
3. Now knead the dough again, adding salt water and oil in it.
4. Grind the dal and sugar mixture to a smooth consistency, add milk if it’s too dry. At the same time add cardamom and nutmeg powder.
5. Divide the dough into small balls (approx. 7 inches in diameter), and fill the dal sugar mixture in it.
   Now, heat ghee on a hot griddle(tawa) put the Puran poli on it.
6. Keep pressing and turning it, until it’s cooked.

Serve with tea or coffee.

5. Pitha (West Bengal)

Pitha or Rice flour dumpling is a traditional dish of Bengal, which is made on Makar Sankranti, made with rice flour and is stuffed with sweet filling.

Ingredients

1. 250 gm rice flour
2. 150 gm sugar
3. 2 cups grated coconut
4. 1.5 cup water
5. Salt
6. 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Method of Preparation

For stuffing:-

• Heat the pan and one tsp ghee, add coconut and sugar. Mix it well till it becomes dry. Allow it to cool

For pitha:-

• Heat water in a deep pan on a low medium pan and add salt to the water. Slowly add rice flour and stir it continuously until you get a thick dough. Keep the dough to cool down and knead it by adding one spoon oil to it.
• Make balls out of the dough, rolling with your hands. Flatten each ball and fill it with the mixture and give it a modak shape or any shape according to your choice.
• Steam the balls for 4-5 minutes. Serve it hot.

6. Dahi Chaura (Bihar)

Flatten rice is called chura in Bihar, served with delicious yogurt. Hang on! Don’t misunderstand it as ordinary dish. This dish has utmost importance when consumed on the day of Makar Sankranti in Bihar.

Method of Preparation

1. Wash the Chura well with water
2. Whip the yogurt with honey or jaggery.
3. Add cubed fresh fruits in the yogurt.
4. Mix the Chura and yogurt.

Dahi Chura is ready.

Note:- Dahi Chura tastes best with the tilkut.

7. Kateri Halwa (Maharashtra)

Ingredients

1. Sugar – 1 Cup
2. Til (Sesame seeds) – One and a half Tbsp
3. Milk – 1 Tsp

Method of Preparation

1. In a pan, pour ½ cup of water and add sugar and milk in it. Make it boil so that it forms the syrup of one consistency
2. In a broad bottom pan, take sesame seeds and add a drop of sugar syrup and mix it carefully. Keep adding syrup if it’s dried.
3. Continue this till you observe a sugar coating on sesame seeds (approx. one hour)
4. Add one tsp of sugar syrup for two hours till you observe very little “kaante” on sesame seeds.
5. Continue this process till the halwa is big enough of the size you desire. Don’t make it too big else it will lose the kateri texture.

Halwa is ready!

8. Basundi (Gujrat)

Basundi is more like a kheer, which is almost loved by everyone in the cities of Gujrat.

Ingredients

1. 1 liter milk
2. ¼ cup sugar
3. Cardamom
4. Nutmegs
5. Saffron (Kesar)
6. Dry fruits – Cashew nuts, pistachios, almond

Method of Preparation

1. Boil the milk in a heavy bottom pan on medium high flame
2. Keep stirring and cooking the milk till it’s reduced to half (approx. 35 minutes)
3. Now mix sugar, cardamom powder, freshly grated nutmeg powder, and stir
4. Add saffron and dry fruits in it. Mix it well, and stir it for 5 minutes

Basundi is ready to be served!

9. Moong Dal Kachori

If you’re not much of a sweet tooth, you’ll love this spicy kachori.

Ingredients

• 2 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
• Salt
• Refine oil
• Soaked moong dal- ½ cup
• Green chilly
• Fennel seed powder- 1
• Asafetida- 1 gram
• Cumin seeds- ½ tsp
• Coriander leaves
• Coriander powder – 1tsp
• Garam masala powder- ¼ tsp
• Red chilly powder- ¼ tsp
• Ginger powder – half tsp

Method of Preparation

1. In a large bowl mix maida, salt and oil and add little water at a time so as to knead a soft dough. Keep it aside for 15-20 min.
2. Preheat a pan add 3-4 tsp oil in it. Add cumin seeds, asafetida, green chilly, coriander powder, fennel powder and sauté it for few minutes.
3. Now, add soaked dal, garam masala, red chilly powder, ginger powder, and salt to taste.
4. Stir continuously and cook dal till it dries up. Allow it to cool and keep it separate.
5. Now, take one dough ball and flatten it with your hands. Fill it with stuffing and deep fry it till it turns golden brown.
6. Tastes best when served with green coriander chutney or sweet tomato chutney.

Your Kachori is ready!

10. Peanut Chikki

You must have heard the name of this sweet candy from your childhood, which is made of jaggery and peanuts or sesame seeds. This sweet is the most loved sweet snack across India. It is a bit time-consuming recipe but a tasty one.

Ingredients

1. Peanuts- 1 cup
2. Jaggery- ¾ cup
3. Ghee

Method of Preparation

1. Roast the peanut on a medium-low flame.
2. Cook, until its golden and aromatic now, let it cool and remove the skin of the peanut.
3. Transfer them to a bowl and crush them with the help of the base of a cup for 2-3 minutes
4. Grease a steel plate with ghee.
5. Now, next grease the rolling pin or the base of the cup to level the hot chikki mixture.
   Keep a small bowl, half filled with water ready to check the consistency of the jaggery syrup.
6. Grate the jaggery and pour it to heavy bottom pan and pour 1 tsp of water
7. Begin to dissolve on a low flame, and then add ghee and mix.
8. Boil the jaggery syrup until it reaches hard ball brittle consistency
9. Now, remove and break it. The jaggery piece should now easily be broken like a candy. Do not cook past this stage.
10. Add the peanuts and mix well
11. Quickly pour this to a steel plate and with the help of a spatula shape it to a rectangle.
12. Roll the mixture with a rolling pin evenly and cut the pieces when it is slightly hot.
13. Cool it completely and break the peanut chikki in pieces and store it in an airtight jar.

Yummy! Chikki is ready to eat!

These were some delicious mouth watering Makar Sankranti special food recipes cooked in different parts of India. Now, grab your kite in one hand and ladoos on another. Happy Makarsankranti!!!