Recipe special: Last minute Diwali preparations

This Diwali, whip up these quick-fix recipes when guests make their way up to your home, and you have just a few minutes to create a quirky dish. Phorum Dalal hunts a few down for you

Crudiites platter and dips
They get their name from the word Cru, which means raw, explains chef Dharmesh Karmokar of Silver Beach Cafe.

Homemade veg dip and aioli dip by chef Dharmesh Karmokar of Silver Beach Cafe in Juhu. Pic/Satyajit Desai

This Diwali, as you host a card party, a group of friends for dinner or a family gathering, keep your finger foods non-messy, simple and fingerlicking-good. Here’s how:

You can choose a variety of veggies such as carrots, capsicum, cucumber, raddish, and boiled babycorn to make some delicious dips. You can even add fruits such as pears, apples, pineapples in the dips. What’s more, you can make them crunchier by adding bread sticks, cheese straws, chips
and khakra.

Aioli

Ingredients
* 1 egg
* 90 ml oil
* A pinch of mustard
* 5 ml lime juice
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 5 g garlic paste

Method
* Make mayonnaise the classical way by pouring oil drop by drop and whisking continuously in a bowl with egg yolk and all the other ingredients.

Veg Dip

Ingredients
* Leftover subzi
* Taste enhancer (Maggi cube)
* Chilli powder to taste

Method
* Put the subzi in a blender.
* Blend it into a fine paste. * Add a little chilli powder or maggi cube according to taste

Pistachio Rabdi

Ingredients
* 1.2 litre milk
* 80 g pistachio
* 80 g sugar
* 0.1 g saffron

Method
* Boil the milk in a heavy bottom vessel
* Let it boil until it reduces to half, then add sugar
* Add the chopped pistachios once it comes to boil
* Add saffron and set it aside
* Refrigerate and serve cold.

Banana Cutlet

Ingredients
* 2 boiled potatoes
* 1 boiled banana
* 1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
* 2 tsp garam masala powder
* ½ tsp coriander powder
* 4 tsp finely chopped cashew nuts
* ½ cup boiled noodles
* 2 tbsp oil
* Salt to taste for garnish
* Roasted noodles
* Red chilli powder
* Garam masala powder
* Coriander powder
* Roasted peels of bananas
* Finely chopped cashew nuts

Banana cutlet can be made in 15 minutes, says Executive Chef of Sun N Sand Hotel, Gautam Mehrishi

Method
* Mix diced potatoes, diced bananas, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, salt and cashew nuts in a bowl to prepare the cutlet mixture.
* Now, heat oil in a pan and cook the cutlets.
* Garnish the prepared cutlet with roasted noodles, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, banana peels and cashew nuts

Apple Jalebi

Ingredients
* 150 g flour
* 2 g baking soda
* 62.5 g yogurt
* 240 ml water
* 100 g apple, sliced in circular rings
* 200 ml oil
* 250 g sugar
* 240 ml water
* 3 g cardamom powder

Recipe by Foodhall, Palladium, Lower Parel

Method
* Sieve flour and baking soda
* Mix yogurt and water and ferment it overnight
* Slice the apples in circular motion without the skin
* Add sugar and water in a vessel, dissolve it and let the syrup boil to a sticky consistency
* Add powdered cardamom and saffron and keep it aside
* Heat oil and drop a little batter. If it pops, it is ready to fry
* Check th fermented batter. If it is very thick, add a little water
* Dip the apple slices in the batter in batches and fry till they turn golden brown. Flip over to fry the other side
* Drain the jalebis with your ladle, pour over the syrup
* Put them in the wire rack to drain excess syrup
* Proceed with remaining apple slices
* Garnish with pistachio and saffron 

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