Vegan Sweet Recipes For This Festive Season

“From Kheer to Panjiri, 5 Delectable Vegan Sweet Dishes for Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami & Ganesh Chaturthi”

The celebrations are about to begin! We are at the threshold of those weeks and months of festivals that are integral to our culture. It is also the season of hosting friends and family, and serving up our favourite traditional recipes. Many of us who tried a vegan diet this January are still going strong. But we probably need a little motivation to stick to a plant-based diet in the season of celebrations. Beginning this Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami, elevate your festivities with a delightful array of vegan sweets.

From the creamy richness of Badam Phirni to the melt-in-your-mouth Vegan Modaks, each recipe is crafted to honor the tradition while embracing a plant-based lifestyle. They are crafted by Hina Gujral- Banker turned Blogger, and author of the international cookbook – The 100 Best Curries for your Instant Pot.

Vegan Badam Phirni

Here is a creamy vegan badam phirni recipe perfect for festive celebrations. It has the goodness of almond milk, brown rice, and jaggery powder, making it a wholesomely delicious Indian dessert.

Method

1.     Wash and soak brown rice in water for 1 hour. Next, drain water, and spread

2.     soaked rice on a kitchen towel. Allow the rice to become completely dry.

3.     Make a coarse powder (you should feel the rice texture) of rice, cardamom, and saffron in the blender.

4.     Boil almond milk. Let it simmer over low heat, till it is reduced to almost half the original quantity.

5.     Add rice powder and stir continuously to avoid any lump formation. Cook till rice is soft and the texture of phirni is thick.

6.     Once the badam phirni is thick, add jaggery powder and stir to combine. Cook for 2–3minutes for the jaggery to dissolve.

7.     Vegan Badam Phirni is ready! Garnish with almonds.

Vegan Energy Laddos

Healthy Energy Ladoo. No FLOUR. No SUGAR. No GHEE. They are a perfectly guilt-free gift for your sibling for this Raksha Bandhan.

Method

1.     Soak seedless dates in hot water for 10- 15 minutes.

2.     Dry roast all the nuts and seeds except berries.

3.     Add them to a food processor along with coconut, cranberry, spice powders, and soaked dates minus water. Pulse a few times.

4.     Bind into bite size laddos. Coat each ladoo in pistachio powder, rose petals, sesame seeds or

5.     melted chocolate.

Vegan Modak

Easy instant Modaks recipe without condensed milk or mawa.

Method

1.     Dry roast peanuts and sesame seeds.

2.     Blend them to a coarse powder.

3.     Heat oil in a pan. Add coconut and fry over low heat.

4.     Add milk, jaggery powder, saffron, and fry it nicely.

5.     Add peanut powder. Mix it all together.

6.     Turn off the heat. Grease a modak mold and fill it with the mixture. Press gently.

7.     Instant modaks are ready.

Pahadi Style Janmashtami Panjri

Panjiri is a North Indian sweet mixture. It is healthy, nutritious, and has a savory taste.  This is a traditional panjiri recipe from my Kumaoni family made with dry fruits, edible gum (gond), and spices.

Method

1.     In a pan dry roast ajwain and coriander seeds till the aroma is released. Grind to a coarse powder in a mixer. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside.

2.     Heat one tablespoon of coconut oil. Add gond/gum, fry till it pops up and expands in size.

3.     Heat remaining oil in the same skillet. Fry together lotus seeds, peanuts, dry fruits till they are crisp and crunchy. Turn off the heat. Transfer to a plate.

4.     Now in the mixer make a coarse powder of roasted lotus seeds, dry fruits, peanuts, and fried gond. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add desiccated coconut, cardamom powder, ginger powder, turmeric powder, powdered sugar, coriander seeds powder. Combine all together. Panjiri is ready for prasad.

5.     To make sugar syrup, heat sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir till the sugar dissolves.

6.     Let the sugar syrup simmer over medium heat. We need thick 1 to 2 thread consistency sugar syrup.

7.     Grease a large square baking sheet with a teaspoon of ghee. Once sugar syrup is ready, turn off the heat. Add the powdered ingredients mixture in the warm sugar syrup. Stir to combine.

8.     Spread the mixture in the baking tray of an inch thickness. Using a spatula or lightly wet fingers even out the surface of the mixture.

9.     At this stage, you can keep the tray in the fridge to get set or leave at room temperature as well. I usually keep it in the fridge for 15– 20 minutes. Once panjiri is set, use a sharp knife cut into squares.

Vegan Millet Kheer

Millet Kheer without refined sugar or jaggery that you can make any time for Muh Meetha moments. It has no gluten or refined sugar.

Method

1.     Rinse the millet with water 2– 3 times. Soak for 2- 3 hours.

2.     Soak seedless dates in hot water for 10- 15 minutes. Blend to a smooth paste.

3.     Heat oil. Add millet, sauté for 3– 5 minutes.

4.     Add milk, cardamom powder, stir to avoid any lump formation and let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let the milk simmer. Keep on stirring at regular intervals.

5.     The whole process of slow cooking the millet in the milk takes about 30– 40

6.     minutes on a low flame. Scrape the sides of the pan and add this layer of cream into the kheer.

7.     Once the millet is cooked and the kheer is thickened, that is the signal it is ready.

8.     Add date paste, mix, and allow the kheer to simmer for 5 minutes

9.     Serve Kheer warm or chilled garnished with saffron and dry fruits.