Basant Panchami 2024: Celebrate the festival with this delicious zarda rice recipe

Basant Panchami, also known as Saraswati Puja, is a Hindu festival celebrated to mark the onset of spring in India. It falls on the fifth day (Panchami) of the Hindu month of Magha. The festival is dedicated to the goddess Saraswati, the deity of knowledge, wisdom, music, and arts.

On this auspicious day, devotees wake up early and take a ritual bath before worshipping Goddess Saraswati. They dress in yellow attire, symbolizing the vibrancy of spring and the blooming mustard fields. Homes and temples are adorned with flowers, particularly marigolds, and mango leaves.

On this day, people wear yellow clothes and eat yellow food. And, Zarda-meethay chawal is the most common dish people cook on this day.

Ingredients

Rice

Yellow food-colour

Desi ghee

5-6 cardamoms

Sugar

Dry fruits

Recipe for Zarda rice

To make zarda rice, boil 1/2kg soaked basmati rice with a yellow colour until it's 70 per cent done. In another pan, add 100g of desi ghee and 5-6 cardamoms. Add 1/2 kg sugar, continuously mix and pour 3/4 cup water to melt the sugar. Once it thickens a bit, mix in preferred dry fruits, followed by the pre-boiled rice.
Ensure thorough mixing and let it simmer. Place it on the dam for 20 minutes. And, enjoy.

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