Shubho Bijoya

Durga puja is over, four days of festivity, pandal hopping and eating oil soaked but yummy junk food late in the evening has finally given way to the mundane home-ofiice-home routine. I have always felt that the build up to the Puja is much more fun than the Puja itself. The shopping, exchange of gifts, seeing the pandals being erected brings builds an excitement that leads to the final four days, which always whizzes past. But the whinning isn't entirely justified, afterall we have all had loads of fun in the past few days. The fun of pushing the crowd to catch a glimpse of the idol, or pushing an even larger crowd to watch the cutural performances at the make shift stages, the smell and rustle of new clothes, watching kids brave shoe bites and walking in new shoes, the camaradrie of the women in applying sindur on one another in Dashami and sharing sweets...all these form a happy collage of memories that will last us all another year.

Amongst all these, cooking and the kitchen had taken a back seat, to the extent of fading from the mind, until it made a royal comeback on Bijoya Dashami. An elaborate lunch on Dashami is quite a challenge - on one hand, I had forgotten the existence of the kitchen in last few days, and then it had to be juggled with the 'pratima boron' at the pandal. So, I decided on simple but special recipes for the occassion that takes about a couple of minutes of preparation time each and are gauranteed to please the family.

Bhapa Doi:

What all is required

400gms pack of simple yogurt or greek yogurt, 1/2 a tin of condensed milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, a pinch of cardamom powder

How to make it

Mix all the ingrediants till smooth.

Pour into a simple baking dish or an earthern dish (I love using this for the earthy flavour it lends to the bhapa doi)

Cover with aluminium foil and steam in a pressure cooker or bain-marie on slow heat for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This makes a delicious dessert and can be served with fresh fruits.