Durga Puja Bhog Recipe – Bengali Bhog Thali

Are you sad about missing Durga puja/pujo bhog because of this ongoing pandemic? Don’t worry, today I’m sharing with you all a step-by-step bhog recipe that is very easy to follow. So let’s stay home and celebrate Durga puja with this comforting meal.

This five-day festival, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil, is one of India’s most popular festivals. Huge puja pandals are built all over the country, the streets get decorated with festive lights, various cultural programs and fairs are also organised. The devotees or pandal-hoppers, from all age groups, visit these pandals throughout these five days.

However this year, the celebration has been scaled down across the country due to Covid-19 restrictions. The Durga puja committees, keeping the safety of the people in mind, are either restricting the entry of devotees into the pandals or are allowing only a few of them at a time. Many are even going digital by live streaming pushpanjali, shondhe aarti and several other rituals. Moreover this year there will not be any distribution of bhog or prasad. This brings us to the thought behind today’s recipe. As we can’t get the bhog this year, so I thought about making it at home. It is a wholesome meal that is quite easy to make and doesn’t take much time. Let’s celebrate this year’s Durga puja from the confines of our homes and hope this pandemic ends soon.

“Aashche Bochhor Abar Hobe”

What is bhog?

Bhog is a prasad that is distributed to the devotees on the seventh (Saptami), eighth (Ashtami) and ninth (Navami) day of Durga puja. It is vegetarian and doesn’t even contain onion or garlic. Bhog mainly comprises delicious Bengali dishes like khichuri, chorchori, chutney, beguni or begun bhaja, luchi, payesh, mishti doi or roshogolla. Many puja committees also offer pulao, labra, alur dom, cholar dal, aloo phulkopir dalna, chanar dalna etc.

This recipe includes:

Khichuri or khichdi:

Bengali Khichuri or bhoger khichuri is a one-pot dish that is made with moong dal, rice and a few spices. Traditionally it is made with gobindobhog rice, which is a short-grain variety of rice. But here I have made it with basmati rice.

Chorchori:

Chorchori is a traditional Bengali dish that consists of various vegetables. It is super healthy and nutritious. In this dish, a variety of different vegetables like potato, spinach, pumpkin, radish etc are cooked together with panch phoran (which is a blend of 5 spices), asafoetida and a bunch of other spices.

Tomato Chutney:

This Bengali tomato chutney is made with tomatoes, ginger, sugar, panch phoran and a few other ingredients. It is super easy to make and tastes delicious.

Bengali Chaler Payesh:

Chaler payesh means rice kheer. It is a Bengali rice pudding made with gobindobhog rice, milk and sugar. And it is flavoured with cardamom powder. This dessert has a creamy and rich texture.

Beguni:

Beguni or eggplant fritter or batter-fried brinjal is a traditional Bengali snack. It is prepared by slicing the eggplants and coating it with besan or gram flour batter before being deep-fried in hot oil. For the recipe click here.

Watch how to make Durga Puja Bhog:

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Serves: 4 people

To Make Bhoger Khichuri

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup basmati rice, or gobindobhog rice
• 1/2 cup yellow or dhuli moong dal
• 2 red chillies, dried
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp hing or asafoetida
• 1 medium-sized tomato, chopped
• 1.5 tbsp ginger, grated
• Salt to taste, I have added 1.5 tsp
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 3-4 cups water
• 2-3 green chillies
• 5 green cardamoms, roughly crushed
• 2-inch cinnamon, roughly crushed
• 3 cloves, roughly crushed
• 2 tbsp mustard oil
• 2-3 tbsp ghee or clarified butter

Cooking Directions:

Take a heavy-bottomed pot, add the unwashed moong dal and dry roast it over medium-high flame. You need to cook it while stirring continuously, for 3-4 minutes or until the colour of the dal changes from yellow to light brown/mustard (check the above picture) and it starts giving out a nutty aroma. Transfer it to a bowl and immediately rinse it with water. Keep it aside.

Pour rice into the same pot and dry roast it for 2-3minutes. Keep stirring until its colour changes to pale brown colour (check the above picture). Transfer it to a bowl and rinse it with water. Keep it aside.

Wipe the same pan with a cloth or kitchen towel. Pour mustard oil and heat it over medium flame until it starts to smoke. Then add dried red chillies and cumin. Let the seeds splutter. After that lower the flame and add hing. Mix well and cook for a few seconds.

Add tomato, ginger and salt. Mix well and cook over low flame for a few minutes until the tomato softens.

Add sugar, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Stir it and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Then add the washed rice and dal. Give it a good mix.

Pour water and mix well. You may require 3-4 cups of water. Start with 3 cups and you can add more if the khichdi starts drying out while the rice and dal are not cooked completely. Here I have used 3.5 cups of water.

Add green chillies and increase the flame to high. Let it boil for a few minutes until the rice and dal are cooked through.

Turn the flame off. Add crushed green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and pour ghee over the top. Mix well. Serve hot.

To Make Chorchori:

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 40 min

Ingredients:

• 1 large aloo or potato, cut into large pieces
• 150 g red or yellow kaddu pumpkin, cut into large pieces
• 1 medium mooli or radish, cut into large pieces
• 1/2 kg palak or spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 medium baingan or brinjal, cut into large pieces
• 2 turai or ridged gourd, cut into large pieces
• 1 tbsp panch phoron
• 1/2 tsp hing or asafoetida
• 2 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste, I have added 1 ¼ tsp
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp mustard powder, mixed in 1/4 cup water
• 4 green chillies
• 4 tbsp mustard oil

Cooking Directions:

Heat 3 tbsp mustard oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high or medium flame. After it starts to smoke, add panch phoran and asafoetida. Cook for a few seconds.

Add the potato pieces and cook them for 2 minutes.

Then add pumpkin and radish. Mix well. Cook them for 1-2 minutes.

Add brinjal and ridge gourd. Give them a mix.

Add the chopped spinach. Mix everything well and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Add salt, sugar, turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder. Mix well. Lower the flame to medium or medium-low. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, uncover and pour the mustard powder slurry i.e. mustard powder mixed in 1/4 cup water.

Mix well and add green whole chillies. Cover again and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Uncover and increase the flame to high or medium-high. Let it boil for 10-15 minutes until all the water evaporates. Stir frequently.

Turn the flame off. Pour 1 tbsp mustard oil over the chorchori and mix well. Serve hot.

To Make Tomato Chutney

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg tomatoes, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp beetroot, grated
• 1/2 tbsp ginger, grated
• 8-10 raisins
• 1 tsp panch phoran
• 2 red chillies, dried
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt, or add it according to your taste
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1.5 tbsp mustard oil

Cooking Directions:

Heat mustard oil in a non-stick pan over medium flame. Add panch phoran and dried red chillies. Let the seeds splutter.

Add chopped tomatoes and give it a mix.

Then add salt and turmeric powder. Mix well.

Cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes. Or until the tomatoes become soft and mushy.

Then add grated beetroot and ginger. Beetroot provides a beautiful colour to the chutney. Mix well.

Add sugar and mix again.

Cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar melts.

Uncover and add raisins. Bring it to a boil. Allow it to cook for 5 minutes. All the water will evaporate and the chutney will thicken slightly.

To Make Payesh

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 25 min

Ingredients:

• 4 cups full-fat or whole milk
• 2 tbsp rice, gobindobhog rice or kalanamak rice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 8-10 raisins, soaked in warm water
• 6-8 cashews, chopped
• 8-10 almonds, chopped
• 1 tsp green cardamom powder

Cooking Directions:

Pour milk into a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring it to a boil over medium heat.

Continue to cook it while stirring frequently until it reduces to 3/4 of its original quantity.

Add rinsed rice and give it a mix. Allow it to cook for 8-10 minutes or until the rice is cooked completely. Continue to stir it frequently.

Add sugar and soaked raisins. Give it a mix. Cook it for a few minutes until the sugar melts.

Turn the flame off. Add chopped cashews, almonds and green cardamom powder. Mix well. You can either serve it hot or cold.

Pour all the dishes into the serving plate/thali. Serve with crispy beguni and papad.

If you do try this recipe, please share your experience with me by posting a picture of the dish using #temptingtreat and @temptingtreat on Instagram or you can also give your feedback in the comments section below.
Happy Cooking!