Raksha Bandhan, having its lingual origin in Sanskrit, refers to the knot of protection. The word “raksha” refers to “protection”, while the word “bandhan” implies “knot”. The festival celebrates the eternal bond between brothers and sisters. Brothers vow to protect their sisters throughout their lives while sisters, in turn, pray for their well-being and tie the sacred thread, known a s “rakhi”. This year, Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on 30th August.
History & Significance Of Raksha Bandhan
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna’s finger was bleeding after beheading Sishupala with his weapon, Sudarshan Chakra. Draupadi tore a part of her saree and tied it around his finger to stop it from bleeding further. This act of kindness and concern moved Lord Krishna to the extent that he promised to protect her against all difficulties in her time of need. From then on, Draupadi started tying the sacred thread around Lord Krishna’s hands, marking Raksha Bandhan as an annual celebration.
Now let’s start discussing some Raksha Bandhan sweets you can savour on this special occasion. Because sweets for Raksha Bandhan are an indispensable part of the day.
6 Rakshabandhan Special Mithai Recipes You Can Try At Home
Here are 6 Raksha Bandhan sweets ideas that you can get inspired from. Move over your obsession for healthy sweets for Rakshabandhan and indulge your taste buds in the most yummy traditional mithai recipes.
1. Kalakand
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 400 grams sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups tightly packed grated or crumbled paneer
- ¾ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon rose water (optional)
- 10 to 12 pistachios
- 10 to 12 cashews or almonds
- 7 to 8 strands of saffron (optional)
Method
- For one of your favourite homemade sweets for Rakshabandhan, take a flat-bottomed kadhai and pour the sweetened condensed milk.
- Add the crumbled paneer to the above and mix well.
- Add sugar, if you want.
- Keep the heat on low and cook the above mixture.
- Keep stirring at regular intervals, so the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- When the mixture starts appearing from one mass and does nit stick to the pan’s side or bottom, it is time to switch off the heat.
- Add cardamom powder and rose water, and give it a good stir.
- Pour the mixture on a greased tray and shake the tray gently, so the mixture settles down well and you get a flat top surface.
- Sprinkle the cashews and pistas and let the mixture cool down to room temperature.
- After it sets, slice the mixture and serve the sweets for Raksha Bandhan.
2. Badam & Akrod Halwa
Preparation Time: 5-7 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of walnuts (akrod)
- 6 tablespoons ghee
- ½ cup of milk
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons semolina (rava)
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi)
- Water
Method:
- Firstly, make sugar syrup by adding 1 cup of water and sugar in a pan. Cook until the syrup is of one string consistency.
- Now, place another deep bottomed pan on low-medium flame and add ghee to it.
- Add rava and sauté until light brown. Add some crushed akroad, almonds, and keep stirring the mixture.
- Once the mixture starts drying out, add milk to the mixture, and cook for about 15 minutes. Once the mixture is cooked add elaichi powder and mix it well.
- Transfer the halwa to the serving bowl.
- Garnish the halwa with some walnuts and almonds on top.
- Savour this homemade Raksha Bandhan sweets with your loved ones.
3. Gulab Sevaiyan
Preparation Time: 5-7 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup seviyan
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ tablespoon ghee
- ¼ cup of sugar
- 4-5 strands of saffron (soaked in 2 tablespoons of warm milk)
- ¼ cup chopped pistachio
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi)
- 1½ tablespoons milk powder
Method:
- Take a deep pan and add ghee and seviyan to it.
- Roast it for about 3-4 minutes then add elaichi powder and 2 tablespoons of pistachios.
- Now, add milk and saffron to the seviyan mixture and keep the mixture stirring continuously till milk comes to a boil.
- Let the seviyan simmer in milk for about 4-5 minutes then add sugar to it.
- Boil the milk till it becomes slightly thicker.
- Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons of water in dry milk powder and mix it into a paste.
- Add the milk powder paste to the seviyan mixture and bring it to a boil.
- Take it off the heat and let it rest for about 5 minutes (this will make the seviyan thick and extra creamy).
- Now, transfer the relishing seviyan to a serving bowl and top it up with chopped pistachios and saffron.
- An irresistible pick from the list of recipes for Raksha Bandhan sweets, your yummy sevaiyan dish is ready to be relished.
4. Kaju Katli
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered cashews
- ½ cup of sugar
- ¼ cup of water
- 2 teaspoons cardamom powder (elaichi)
- Saffron (kesar)
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- Silver vark (optional)
Method:
- Grind cashews into a smooth powder.
- Now, heat a non-stick pan and make sugar syrup by adding ½ cup of sugar with ¼ cup of water. Stir the sugar syrup until it forms 1 string consistency.
- Meanwhile, sieve the ground cashew powder and add it to the sugar syrup.
- Then add elaichi and saffron to the sugar syrup and continue to mix till it starts releasing from the pan.
- Once the cashew paste turns to the dough and starts leaving the pan add a teaspoon of ghee to the kaju katli mix.
- Keep the mixture stirring until the ghee melts completely.
- Take the pan off the heat and grease the butter paper with ghee.
- Now, transfer the kaju katli dough onto the butter paper and knead it for about 30 seconds into smooth dough.
- Press the dough to form it in a uniform layer then roll the dough with a rolling pin.
- Cut the edges into perfect diamond shapes.
- Decorate it with a layer of silver vark.
- Enjoy your all-time favourite Rakshabandhan special mithai at home.
5. Shahi Tukda
Preparation Time: 10-12 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 6 slices of white bread
- Ghee for frying
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2-3 crushed cardamoms (elaichi)
- 1-liter full cream milk
- 15-20 saffron strands
- ½ teaspoon rosewater
- Chopped almonds and pistachios (for garnishing)
Method:
- Cut off the corners of bread slices then cut the slices diagonally.
- Heat the ghee and deep-fry the bread slices until it turns golden brown.
- Now, to make a sugar syrup, heat water in a pan and add ½ cup of sugar to it. Then, add elaichi to the sugar syrup.
- Take a pan and add water, bring it to boil then heat water in a pan and add crushed elaichi to the water.
- Once it is boiled for about 7-8 minutes keep it aside and let it cool.
- Heat milk in a kadhai and bring it to boil. Add saffron and rosewater.
- Let this milk simmer until it reduces to half like a rabri. Keep stirring.
- Now, add sugar and thicken it a little more.
- Meanwhile, dip bread slices in sugar syrup for 5-10 seconds.
- Plate the bread slices and top it with the rabri and garnish the sweets for Raksha Bandhan with almonds and pistachios.
6. Gulab Rabri
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- ¾ litre milk
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 8 to 10 strands of saffron
- ½ teaspoon raw beetroot juice
- ¼ teaspoon rose essence
- 1 tablespoon chopped almonds and pistachios
Method:
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pan and add milk to it. Bring the milk to a boil until it’s reduced to half of the original quantity.
- Scrape the sides of the pan to get the malai out of the edges and add it to the boiling milk and let the milk thicken.
- Now, add saffron and sugar to the milk.
- Let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
- Then, add the raw beetroot juice to the milk
- Keep stirring the milk and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped nuts and rose essence to the rabri and take it off the heat.
- You may savour this wonderful gulab rabri either warm or chilled.
No celebration is complete without delectable desserts. Although there are no special sweets that are known to be made specifically on Raksha Bandhan, it leaves us to the possibility of trying out our hands on any Indian dessert that we may fancy on this occasion. So, experiment with the sweet recipes that we have just elaborated above and have a lovely day with your brothers!
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