Haven’t you heard, we eat with our eyes first! Taste on the other hand comes in later with texture and sound. The link between visual senses and perception of flavors is very strong. Otherwise why would a picture of food make you salivate? Such is the power of visual appearance! Having said that, on the occasion of Navratri, let’s play with the nine colours of the festival. Colours you can wear and eat. We all know that the colours of Navratri represent the nine avatars or incarnations of Goddess Durga. So, wear and at the same time eat these colours to celebrate the festival in all its glory!
1. Orange: Let colour orange do the talking with some delights like orange rasmalai, tomato rasam, santra barfi. You just can’t shun away from the epic motichoor laddoo.
2. White: Dishes with sabudana dominate the 9 days of Navratri. Boil custard apple along with milk, sugar and saffron to get a thick Sitaphal Basundi. Also, try cashew barfi – in a hot pan, mix ghee, castor sugar and broken cashew nuts and set aside for 20 minutes to get the crunchy texture or chikki!
3. Red: Go red on the third day with fruits like pomegranate, apple, fresh dates and berries like cherries, cranberries or raspberries. You can make kheer, pudding or just a simple milk shake, which has a hint of red. If you can’t resist temptation for desserts during Navratri, you must try the mouthwatering carrot halwa.
4. Blue: On the fourth day, cook up blueberry halwa or kheer by simply mixing ghee, milkshake and a generous amount of blueberries puree. Mango and blueberry yogurt – a delicious dish of hung yogurt mixed with blueberry jam and add mango pieces only if you want to.
5. Joyful Yellow: Make peach or pineapple halwa or kesari shrikhand, boondi laddoo for prasad. Or cook up something with boiled corn kernels, yellow bell pepper and black salt. Remember, yellow is the theme!
6. Green: Just make kadipatta chutney for the green effect.It has got tons of nutritional values in it. Cook up Beans poriyal – a south Indian delight or coriander wadis or kiwi pudding as a sweet dish. There are no limits for green delights!
7. Grey: Use baajra, buckwheat or chestnut flour for the grey effect on this day. Whether you make halwa, barfi, laddoo or sheera, let grey be the hero of your fast food plate. This is a must for the grey day – rich sweet made of water chestnut flour, especially for fasts –Singhade Ka Sheera.
9.Peacock green: Do make honey glazed beans and four bean saladto feel fresh. Else you can satisfy your sweet-tooth with matar kheer, lauki barfi, pista barfi.
Do not shy away from eating out this navratri festival.Wish you all a wonderful Navratris/Dussehra/Durga Puja!
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