What to prepare for Durga Pujo?

New Delhi: Indian festivals are authentic to the country's aesthetic culture and traditions; people have indelible memories and attachments to them. While different parts of India celebrate festivals like Navratri and Durga Pujo, their spirit is the same. Sharing a festive feast across the table with your loved ones is one of the many joys of the holiday, deeply rooted in our tradition and culture.

With guests arriving and numerous preparations to make, the search for delectable snacks and meals appropriate for the occasion is endless. With guests arriving and numerous preparations to make, the search for delectable snacks and meals appropriate for the occasion is endless. While sweets are the highlight of the holiday season, savoury snacks become a staple during the festivities as well. Don't those chatpata, tasty, tangy, quick and easy bites make us all drool? So, this holiday season, get creative with your snacks.

Saffola Masala Oats, with their perfect blend of desi Indian masalas, will add a chatpata twist to your favourite snack recipes and up the yum factor. Here are some of Chef Kunal Kapur's lip smacking festive recipes that you must try!

Oats Masala Dhokla

Ingredients:

1 Cup Rice

1 Cup Masala Oats

1 Cup sour yoghurt

1 tsp ginger and green chili paste

2 tsp ghee

4 curry leaves

1 tsp sesame seeds

Salt to taste

Garnishing - grated coconut and coriander

Method:

Roast Masala Oats in a pan till aromatic

In a bowl add rice and soak it for 40 mins and keep it aside

In a separate bowl, add rice and oats, yoghurt, ginger and green chili paste, 2 tsp ghee, Salt to taste. grind it into a thick batter

Grease a tin with ghee and add the batter into it

Place the tin into the steamer and let cook for 20 mins

In a pan add 1 teaspoon oil, when it sizzles add curry leaves, sesame seeds and grated coconut.

Once Masala Oats Dhokla is ready, garnish it with curry leaves, sesame seeds and grated coconut.

Moong Dal and Matar Ghugra

Ingredients for the outer crust:

2 cups maida (all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup ghee

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Water

1 tablespoon Oil

Ingredients for the filling:

1 cup Masala Oats

1 cup Green Moong Dal, soaked and steamed

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon hing

1 teaspoon amchur (dry mango powder)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

2 Green chilies, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the moong dal and masala oats in 2 cups of water for about 3 to 4 hours. Once soaked, drain any excess water and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat; add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, sesame seeds, hing and allow them to crackle.

Stir in the cooked green moong dal and add mouthwatering Masala Oats

Allow the moong dal and oats mixture to cool and divide into 20 portions

In the next step we will make the dough for the pastry crust for the ghugras

Combine the maida, ghee and salt in a bowl. Work the ghee into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Sprinkle water onto the crumbly dough and with your hands push the dough from the sides to the middle of the bowl to form a ball that holds together.

Be careful to add a little water at a time, and not allow the dough to become soggy. Knead well with your hands until the dough becomes a firm ball of dough.

Once rested, make 20 small portions of the ghughra dough and roll into a small 3-inch circle.

Place a teaspoon full of moong dal and Masala Oats' mixture onto one half of the circle. Wet your fingers into the bowl of water and spread a little water around the edges of the circle.

Gently fold the circle into a semi-circle, seal the edges so that the dough sticks to each other making sure all the filling is concealed inside.

Preheat the oil for deep frying and deep fry these ghugras on medium heat

Serve the Moong Dal Oats ghugras along with green chutney and chai for tea time snacks

Baked Pudina Oats Broken Wheat Tikki

Ingredients:

1 Sweet Potato, boiled and peeled

200 grams Paneer, crumbled

2 cups Masala Oats

1 inch ginger, grated

2 green chilies, finely chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

Pudina (Mint Leaves)

Oil for cooking tikkis

Salt

Method:

To begin making the recipe, first get all the ingredients prepped, boil the sweet potatoes.

Add in both the boiled sweet potatoes, paneer, grated ginger, green chilies, onion, mint leaves and the key ingredient Masala Oats

Blend the ingredients until the potatoes are coarsely mashed and all the ingredients come together. Open the processor and give the mixture a stir halfway through so the ingredients come together and blend again.

Transfer the tikki dough into a bowl. Check the salt and add more only if you feel you require it as the masala oats also have salt in them.

Grease your fingers with a little oil and shape the pudina oat & broken wheat dough into bite size tikkis.

Preheat a skillet on medium heat.

Place a few pudina oat tikkis at a time on the skillet, drizzle a few drops of oil on each of the Pudina Oat & Broken Wheat Tikki and cook them on low to medium heat until browned and crisp on both sides.

Remove onto an oil absorbent paper and serve

Oats Kathi Roll

Ingredients for Kathi Rolls:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for filling:

1/2 teaspoon oil

2 cups Masala Oats

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

1 cup sliced onion

3 stalks finely chopped spring onion

1 teaspoon mustard

Method:

In a large bowl, add wheat flour, oil and salt and mix it well. Knead the mixture by adding a little water and prepare a firm dough. Cover it and keep it aside for 10mins

Divide the dough into 3 big portions.

Roll the dough portions into balls and flatten them with the palm of your hand. Toss them in flour and roll them out into circles

Put skillet on medium heat. Rolled out dough keep it on the skillet and cook it. Flip it after 2 mins and sprinkle some oil.

Once ready remove from the skillet and keep it aside, repeat the same with other dough portions

Next step is to prepare Masala Oats filling. Take a bowl, add spring onions, salt to taste and raw masala oats, and mix the ingredients well.

Take a pan, preheat on medium flame, sprinkle some oil and add the masala oats mixture and allow it to cook on medium flame for 3 mins

Once masala oats filling is ready, Place paratha on board, add the filling portion onto it. Add a few sliced onions, drizzle some tomato ketchup and mustard, tightly wrap the filling and serve it.