This Special Prasadam Offered to the Goddess During Navratri…Here’s How to Make It

Kadamba is a special offering prepared for Goddess Durga during the Navratri festival. Served as prasadam in many temples, this traditional dish is known for its distinctive aroma and rich flavour, which set it apart from ordinary sambar rice. Made with rice, lentils, a variety of vegetables and root vegetables, Kadamba gets its unique taste from a specially prepared spice powder.

The ingredients include one cup of rice, half a cup of toor dal, pumpkin, bottle gourd, carrot, radish, drumsticks, tomatoes, potato, sweet potato, cluster beans, green chillies, ginger, tamarind extract, turmeric, salt, jaggery, ghee, curry leaves and coriander leaves. The special spice powder is prepared using peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, dried red chillies, chana dal, urad dal, cumin, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida.

First, cook the rice and toor dal with water, turmeric and salt until soft. Dry roast the spices without oil, allow them to cool, and grind them with asafoetida into a fine powder. Boil the chopped vegetables until partially cooked, then add tamarind extract and simmer until its raw smell disappears. Mix in the spice powder, curry leaves, jaggery and cooked rice dal mixture. Finally, add ghee and chopped coriander, simmer for a few minutes, and serve the aromatic temple-style Kadamba prasadam.