Happy Pongal :)

Happy pongal and thank you to all who shower their love through their visits and comments :)...wishing everyone a great 2012

shared beautiful muggus/kolams from our neighbourhood in hyderabad

creativity: neighbours

pictures: Mother in law :)

Diwali Special ~ Nutritious Mixed Dal ladoo ~ Kadhamba paruppu urundai

Diwali came and went by. I made some mixed dal ladoo. My hubby dear loves them. lol...he never refuses any ladoo variety I make..so I dont get surprised when 15 of them vanished in three days!!

I generally use most of the lentil/dals in varying combinations each time I make them. This time around..this is the combination

What you need
Moong dal - 2/3 cup
Masoor Dal - 2/3 cup
Urad Dal - 1/3 cup
Chana dal - 1/3 cup
light brown or Granulated sugar or jaggery- 1 1/4 cup ( or to suit your taste)
Elaichi powder - 1 tsp
melted unsalted Butter or ghee - 4 tbsp
raisins - 3 tbsp
Roasted almonds - 3 tbsp (split or coarsely crushed)

Process
1- Dry roast all the dals until you get a soothing aroma from them...take care when roasting. burnt dals will result in bitter tasting ladoos
2- spread roasted dals on a tray or a plate to cool
3- Grind them to the a stage where they are a combination of fine-coarse (a little finer than upma rawa /coarse sooji)
4- Pour into a mixing bowl and add sugar and elaichi powder
5- Saute curshed almonds and raisins in 2 tsps ghee and add them to the dal mix
6- Pour in the rest of the ghee and mix well until the ghee or melted butter is completely blended with the dal mix. (mixture should be moist and flaky)
7- Take a spoon full of the mix and start binding/rolling them

They ended up really yummy with this combo as well..Also made thattai and murukku to go with the ladoo

note: 

• I melted 1 stick(4 oz) of unsalted butter
• if using ghee make sure its a little warm helps in binding the ladoo better

Rama Navami Vaazhthukkal (subakaankshalu)

Celebrating Rama Navami means wishing Lord Sri Rama a happy bday :). This day is also celebrated as Sita- Rama wedding day.

 source:akbarpasha.files.wordpress

 Sri Rama temple in Bhadrachalam is known for its extravagant celebrations.Here is the video of Sita Rama Kalyana Mahotsavam at Bhadrachalam. The voice over is in Telugu (low volume recommended)

source : youtube

This festival is celebrated with a lot of fanfare in every Rama temple in Andhra Pradesh, India. 

Celebrations at home:
 We offer prayers to Sri Rama and serve the following as naivedyam.

• Panakam (jaggery, dry ginger powder and elaichi/cardamom powder and a hint of lemon juice, all diluted in water)
• Neer mooru (diluted buttermilk garnished with fresh grated ginger, green chillies, salt, asafoetida, curry leaves and cilantro/Coriander leaves)
• Vada Paruppu (pappu) - A refreshing salad made from pre soaked moong dal, green mango, salt, asafoetida and lemon juice. Curry leaves and cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish. I also added some grated carrot.

Interesting facts- 
I came to know these interesting facts about Rama Navami from Rukku Perima (aunt). She said

"Rama Navami marks the onset of Indian Summer and people gear up to tackle rising temperatures. Naivedyam served includes, panakam, neer mooru and vada paruppu. All these dishes are a great way to refresh our digestive system and prepare our body to bear the summer heat. On Ram Navami, we generally serve Panakam and Mooru when guests arrive home. This is Indian hospitality at its best and a great way to help them ward off heat and prepare their appetite for a sumptuous meal.

Also, this is the time when people used to begin their pilgrimages in the olden days. And communities and groups used to set up Chalivindhrum to serve free buttermilk to travelers passing through their village.This tradition continues till date and it feels nice to be served with fresh buttermilk when cool a parched throat "

I love the fact that Indian traditions have something special to mark every occasion, be it welcoming seasons, or celebrating life in general.

Please share any other information you have about our festivals with me. Would love to know more!

Ugaadhi Subaakaankshalu

Looking forward to a very prosperous and peaceful new year. Ugaadhi is the first day of the Telugu/Kannada and Marathi calender. Kanada(Ugaadhi), Telugu (Ugaadhi) and the Marathi (Gudi Padva) - the first day of the Chaitra month (lunar-solar) calender. We make the customary uggadhi pacchadi on this day. Eating this special mixture consisting of: bitter, sweet, sour, tangy and heat/spice flavours is a way to welcome the new year and accept what is in store with grace and hope for the best.

Ugaadi pacchadi

• Neem Buds/Flowers - bitter
• Raw Mango - tangy
• Tamarind - sour
• Green Chilli/Pepper - heat
• Jaggery -sweet
• Salt

Among various dishes served for lunch, pulihora /puliodharai is my favourite

Wishing all of you a very happy new year

Pongal Nalvaazhthukkal

Thiruvadhirai Kali and Kootu

Kali is a sweet rice recipe paired with Savoury Kootu on Thirvadirai. This festival was on Jan 1st this year.

Thiruvadirai is one of the 27 stars or the "Nakshathirams" of Hindu astrological calender.One specialty about this day is the sighting of - Arudra or thiruvadirai star, considered auspicious by hindus. The festival, Thirvadirai, is celebrated in the month of Marghazi (November-December), on the day considered to be the ascent of thiruvadirai star. (Each day in the calender is associated to a specific star -one among the 27 stars in a hindu calender). People offer a rice based sweet dish to Lord Shiva - as he is associated with the Arudra star. Other star is sravanam or Thioruvonam is associated with Lord Vishnu.

As part of the ritual, I made Thiruvadirai Kali and Mixed veg kootu for the day.

Kali with roasted almonds and raisins

You need: Serves 4
Raw rice (I use brown) - 1cup
Moong dal (with the skin)- 1cup
Jaggery - 1/2cup (vary the quantity to suit your requirement)
Shredded coconut - 2tbsp
Elaichi powder - a pinch
raisins - 2tbsp
Roasted almonds - 2tbsp (coarse crushed)
Ghee - 1/2 tbsp

Process

• Dry roast the rice until it turns crisp and you sense a faint aroma..this would take a minute or so...make sure you do not roast for long..it may turn the rice tasteless
• Roast the moong dal for a minute or less.
• Coarse grind rice and moong dal (helps in cooking faster)
• Soak jaggery in a cup of water and strain it to remove sand and dirt
• Pressure cook (two whistles) - the rice and moong dal with this jaggery water, 2 cups of water and pinch of salt (you may skip the salt), elaichi powder
• Heat ghee in a kadai and add your raisins and almonds and mix it with the contents in the pressure cooker. Garnish with shredded coconut
  

Basic difference between kali and Chakkarai pongal is that we dry roast ingredients for kali and use raw rice and dal for pongal.


Kootu

It is customary to cook a five or seven vegetable kootu for thirvadhirai. Odd numbers are considered auspicious in hinduism. This festive kootu calls for root vegetables ( I used roots vegetables and more!)

You need: Serves 4

Drum sticks - 2" pieces (say ten of them)
yellow pumpkin - cubed- 1/4 cup
Winter melon - cubed - 1/4 cup

Potato- cubed - 1/4cup
Yam (Suran)- cubed - 1/4 cup
Cucumber - cubed - 1/4 cup
Cluster beans - 1" pieces - 1/4 cup or less

Fresh Peas or pre soak dry peas - 2tbsp
Curry leaves - 8-9 
Salt
Hing/asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch

To Grind

Red chilliles/green chillies - 4-5
fresh coconut - shredded- 1/2cup
Cumin seeds -2 tsps
Corainder seeds - 1tsp
tamarind pulp - 3tsps
Chana dal - 1/2 tsp

Tempering
Mustard seeds- 1/2tsp
Cumin - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 4-5
oil - 1/2tsp

Process: 

• Pressure cook all the vegetables with salt, turmeric powder and curry leaves
• Roast corainder seeds, and chana dal grind them into a fine paste with fresh coconut, tamarind pulp, cumin, chillies 
• Heat oil and temper mustard seeds, curry leaves and cumin  and your paste and vegetables and cook until all the ingredients blend evenly

Hindu Mythology associated with the festival

Ancient texts mention Arudra as being largest of the stars, even larger than the Sun. Tamil scholar Kandaswami Mudaliar said that Arudra star, if placed with in place of the Sun in our the solar system, would extend beyond the earth and touch Sevvai (Mars). The Aruda star is called Shiva Semporjyoti or Golden Red Flame due to its red brilliant appearance in the sky. Hindus believe that this radiant light denotes Lord Shiva's association to his function as one of the trinities (Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma). This day of marghazi,  Thiruvadirai star and new moon coincide, and that is when Lord shiva is said to perform his ecstatic dance, The Thandava. In Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, a magnificant abhishekam is performed for Lord Natarajar. Kali is offered to the Lord and distributed as prasadam.

Why Kali?

A devotee called Sendanar could offer only kali. He had the habit of eating only the left overs from what ever was offered to Lord Shiva and later distributed among devotees. It is believed that Lord shiva himself came down to eat the humble kali offered in Nataraja’s sanctorum. From the day of that miracle, kali is considered the special offering to Lord Nataraja on Marghazhi Thiruvadirai.

This day is also celebrated as the birth anniversary of  Saint Thiru Gnana Sambandar , in Seerkhazhi ,Tamil Nadu, India. Another Shiva bhakta, Saint Manickavachakar's birthday, also falls on this day.