chhath puja: Chhath festival started with Nahay Khay, know the recipe of Pumpkin Bhaat eaten on this day

Today i.e. on 5th November, Chhath festival has started from Nahay Khay. The house is purified on the first day of the fast. After this, Chhath devotees take bath and start their fast by consuming pure Satvik food. In Nahay-Khay, the fasting people consume bottle gourd vegetables, chickpeas and radish etc. along with rice.

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From this day itself, women start a fast of 36 hours and during this time they do not consume anything including food and water. Here, on the day of Nahay-Khay, there is a tradition of mainly eating pumpkin rice as Prasad. Eating it is considered correct according to tradition. Know the recipe to make it. Here pumpkin means bottle gourd, because in many places bottle gourd is called pumpkin. In such a situation, people eat gram dal, arwa rice and pumpkin vegetable with great enthusiasm on the day of Nahay Khay. In Bihar, gourd is also known as pumpkin.

Ingredients to make Pumpkin Rice

half kilo bottle gourd
Half cup gram dal,
rock salt
Half teaspoon turmeric powder,
a cup of water,
two chopped green chillies
Rice.
Ingredients for Tadka
Half teaspoon cumin,
One-fourth teaspoon asafoetida,
One to two spoons of ghee,
One to two dry red chillies,
Two to three bay leaves.

How to make Pumpkin Rice

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Before cooking, wash the rice thoroughly with water and soak it for half an hour. Now put twice the amount of rice in a deep and thick bottomed vessel on fire. That means if you have one bowl of rice then keep two bowls of water for boiling. When the water boils, add soaked rice in it, along with one spoon of ghee and a little rock salt. Now cover and cook on medium flame, when the water starts drying, reduce the flame. Rice will be ready in some time.

Now boil bottle gourd and gram dal with a cup of water in the cooker, also add turmeric powder and rock salt to it. You can also add some ghee. Due to this water does not come out of the cooker. After one to two whistles, turn off the gas and check that the gourd and lentils are cooked properly.

Heat ghee or oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and crackle, then add bay leaves, chopped green chillies, dry chillies and then asafoetida. You can also add one spoon ginger paste in it. Now stir it for two minutes and add boiled gram dal and bottle gourd. Knead it lightly with a spoon and cook until it gets a good texture. Your pumpkin rice recipe is ready. If you cook this entire dish on an earthen stove, it tastes even better.