Maha Shivratri Mega Festivities Begin Today

Himachal This Week

The seven daylong Maha Shivratri fair of Mandi will commence today. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will inaugurate the fair after performing prayer at the temple of Madho Rai in accordance with the centuries-old royal tradition of the former rulers of Mandi State. This will be followed by a Shobha Yatra, a divine procession of deities accompanied by thousands of devotees along with ‘dev dhwani’ towards the Paddal Ground. More than 200 deities would participate in the procession on the beginning of the fair with their ‘Bajantris’ (instrumentalists). This time the entire Paddal Stadium would be weather-proof. Enough arrangements have been made to beautify the town. The divine procession locally called “Jaleb” will finish at the Mela Ground where the Chief Minister will formally inaugurate the fair and take salute from the contingents of Police, Home guards and NCC. Bands of Police, Army, Home Guards and mounted Police are among the star attractions of the mega Shivratri Procession. The Chief Minister will also inaugurate the Shivratri exhibitions in which various public and private sectors from across the country participate. Governor Acharya Devvrat will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on March 2.

Stars Cultural Night

During the festivities of Maha Shivratri in Mandi, we will see popular Bollywood stars performing before the audience. On the very first day, Sukhwinder Singh, a popular Bollywood singer will entertain the audience to be followed by Sherry Mann, a Punjabi singer, Shalmali Kholgade, Satinder Sartaj etc. Local artists will also have enough space to perform in the show.

‘Dev Dhwani’ Enters Limca Book Of Records

Meanwhile, ‘dev dhwani’, the enchanting sound of hill instruments of the Maha Shivratri fair 2016 has entered into the Limca Book of Records. Under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam, the district administration had organised the largest folk instrumental ensemble, ‘dev dhwani’, with 1,806 local musicians at the Paddal ground on March 10, 2016. The event was a part of the Maha Shivratri fair in Mandi. The district administration received the confirmation letter from the Limca Book of records. It was first of its kind event in India, where such a large number of instrumentalists took part in the event to display ‘dev dhwani’ at a single time. This year too, more than 2,000 instrumentalists will be assembled to display ‘dev dhwani’ to break the last year’s record of its own.

Chef’s Corner

Vegetable Nargisi Kofta

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4-5 people

Ingredients For Kofta

* Boiled vegetables (potato, cauliflower, green peas, carrots) – 1 ½ cup * Paneer (grated) – 1/2cup * Grated ginger – 1 tbsp * Black pepper – 1 tbsp * White pepper – 1 tbsp * Maida (all purpose flour) – 3-4 tbsp * Salt to taste * Oil for deep frying

For Gravy

*1 medium size boiled onion paste * 3-4 tbsp tomato puree or 1 medium size tomato (chopped) * Canola/olive/vegetable oil – 2-3 tbsp * Bay leaves – 2 * Ginger paste – 1 tbsp * Garlic paste – 1 tbsp * Red chili powder – 1tsp * Turmeric powder – 1 tsp * Coriander powder – 1 tbsp * Garam masala powder – 1tspMilk – ½ cup * Fresh cream – 2 tbsp * Salt to taste

How To Prepare Recipe For Kofta

Take a bowl and mix all ingredients of kofta except oil. Make small kofta balls from this mixture. Heat oil on high in deep frying pan and deep fry all koftas until they turn to golden brown. Drain all koftas on absorbent paper to absorb extra oil and keep them aside.

For Gravy

Now heat a vessel with oil and add bay leaves. After that add onion, ginger and garlic paste. Reduce the heat to medium and fry this mixture until it turns translucent and oil starts to separate. Now add red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt in this mixture. Mix well and cook it for another 5 min on medium heat. Add milk and little water into this mixture to make gravy. Bring it to boil on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low. Add fresh cream and garam masala powder. Mix it well and cover this vessel with a lid. Cook this gravy for another 3-4 min on medium low heat. Now turn off the stove. Add koftas into this prepared Gravy and serve hot with rice or chapatti. (Remember one thing; add koftas to gravy only 5-6min before serving otherwise kofta would break.)

-By Chef Nitin Guleria

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