Madgane

The one occasion for which Madgane (‘mud – guh – neigh’) will definitely be made in all aamchi households is Ganesh Chaturthi/ Chauthi or Chavathi/ Ganpati, as it is a firm favourite of lord Ganesh. I have never been a huge fan of madgane, but this year is different . It was Aatmay's first Gouri Puja and Ganesh Chathurthi and we were very enthusiastic about celebrating it properly for him.

Despite everything we had on our hands, we attempted to make a complete smorgasbord of dishes for both pujas, including chaklis and somashes/kaanjis, the latter being baked. The extensive use of coconut ensured that most dishes were vegan friendly. I'm glad Aatmay, who is on track to becoming a foodie like me, also had the chance to try the food and seemed to relish everything!

Thankfully, Chauthi fell on a weekend and so I could help with preparing some of the dishes. I made the kholmbo (aamchi version of sambar) - not just because it is one of my all time favourites but because I wanted to make it my way (aka spicy!) and the madgane. Quite surprisingly, this time I ended up liking the madgane.

Madgane is not a very difficult thing to make, and I worked on the Rasachandrika recipe to make it even easier. The main ingredient used in its preparation is split chickpeas or chana dal. The other ingredients are jaggery, coconut milk, cashews, and green cardamom. That's it. It has a lovely mild sweetness owing to the jaggery and the use of coconut milk gives it a richness which however doesn't feel too heavy or intense unlike many traditional sweets. The dal and cashews add to the texture.

This recipe is in the Rasachandrika on page 141 under "Bengal gram kheer (madgane) but the recipe below is my modification of it (i.e. the 'under time pressure' recipe!)

Ingredients:

1 cup chana dal (washed and soaked overnight, or at least for a few hours)

1 cup powdered jaggery (could be altered to your liking)

1/2 cup cashew nuts

1-1.5 cups coconut milk

3-4 green cardamoms/elaichi or 1/2 tsp green cardamom powder

Method:

1. Cook the soaked dal in double the amount of water , in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles.

2. Coarsely chop the cashew nuts and keep aside.

3. Add the powdered jaggery, the coarsely chopped cashewnuts, 1-1.5 cups more of water and cook further for another 2-3 whistles. Note: I added the jaggery right at the outset and cooked the dal straight for 5-6 whistles, followed by adding the cashews and cooking for 1-2 whistles. But, I was constantly worried that the dal or jaggery would stick to the bottom of the cooker and get burnt. Hence my suggestion is to first semi-cook the dal, then cook it fully with the jaggery and the cashew nuts so it absorbs the sweetness.

3. Add the coconut milk, and green cardamom powder and mix. Note: if you do not have ready cardamom powder, you could just add 3-4 green cardamoms to the dal before you start cooking it.

4. Boil the madgane properly and serve

And that is it - sweet and mild. Enjoy!