GOSMALLI SUNDAL(CHANA DAL SUNDAL/KADALA PARUPPU SUNDAL)
Its Navaratri time !!!!! and time for Sundals. Each day one Sundal is prepared to know more about it please refer to the Sundal Menu in the article below.
This sundal is an all time favorite and can be made in a jiffy without the pre-planned soaking that is associated with the other Sundals(pulses). It is also distributed as Prasad in temples.
Ingredients
Kadalai Paruppu (Chana dal/ Bengal gram) - 250 grams
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Udad dal - 1 tsp
Green chillies – 3-4
Red chillies – 1-2 broken into 2 halves
Turmeric -1/4 tsp
Asafetida (Hing) - a small pinch
Freshly grated Coconut – 1-2 tbsps
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste.
Curry leaves – a sprig
Coriander leaves for garnish Method
Soak the Bengal Gram in water for 2-3 hours, rinse out well, add some turmeric powder and half a cup of water and pressure cook it for about 3-4 whistles. Don’t throw the water in which the chana dal has been boiled as it contains a lot of nutrients. Keep the boiled chana dal aside.
In a Kadhai (wok), Add oil, when it is hot, Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, Add udad dal and the red chillies, when the udad dal becomes slightly pink, add the green chillies and the curry leaves and fry well, now add in the boiled Chana dal and turmeric, asafetida and salt. Mix well. Cover the kadhai with a lid. Don’t add water, The boiled chana already has some water, so let it cook. Once all the water is soaked up Add freshly grated coconut and some coriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot with Rice and Rasam or enjoy it as it is.
I would like to send this to Festive Food Event of Navarathri hosted by Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore
I would like to send this also to LG's Festive Food Event
NAVARATHRI- SOUTH INDIAN STYLE
Navarathri is celebrated for nine days and nine nights followed by Vijayadashami on the tenth day.
This festival is celebrated from the new moon day to the ninth day of Purattasi and is considered as the most auspicious time of the Hindu Calendar. This period is one of the most celebrated time of the year.
Godessess Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are worshipped for getting courage, wealth and knowledge respectively. Although it has different names in different parts of India, it is celebrated by Hindus from all regions.
In Tamil Nadu, the first three days of the festival are dedicated to Lakshmi, the next three to Durga and the last three to Saraswati.
KAL AAJ AUR KAL (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)
This was the title of a movie made by the Great Raj Kapoor spanning 3 generations and My composition is a depiction of the Navarathri festival spanning three generations, My grandmother(KAL), my mom(AAJ) and me(TOMORROW). This is an effort on my part to illustrate, how the charm of festivals are fading off our lives? I am afraid that if our generation doesn’t take things into our hands and get serious about our traditions, we will loose our traditions and cultural values. The picture gets grimmer when we migrate to different countries and loose touch of our roots.
I feel that we don’t have as much fun as we used to have back home in Mumbai. Back then we always had the Terminal Exams (half yearly) during the Navarathri festival. The sweet co-incidence was it would always get over in time for us to enjoy the last weekend of the festival. The weekend after the exams was usually marked by full attendance. We got to enjoy the best of everything our style(traditional south indian style) plus playing the Dandiya Raas one of my favorite dances’ just after my Terminal Exams used to get over.
I consider myself as Tomorrow already, as, I don’t know how the Tomorrow after me(my daughter’s generation) is going to be. I am trying my best to go back over to the yesteryears and give my kids the knowledge and sweet memories enjoyed by my amma-amma (Grandma) who used to keep telling us of the Navarathri celebrations they used to have at Parawoor(her hometown) and keep lamenting on those wonderful days…………and the ones I enjoyed in my amma’s (mom’s) house in a sincere attempt to get them in touch with our traditions, values and the spirit of our festivals which not only emphasized on sharing happiness and the virtue of giving but also a social activity for all ages. If this (our tradition) continues no one would be lonely or suffer from stress or depression like we do in this modern age. This is one of the keys to form a happy society.
MUMBAI MEMOIRS
The Navarathri Atmosphere at Mumbai
The prices of flowers start to rise when the festival approaches. Huge mounds of Marigolds orange and yellow are piled up everywhere in the markets in Mumbai. The Toran (a string made of Mango leaves and marigolds) to decorate the entrance of your house is also available at all flower shops. Huge Pandals get erected from place to place, these pandals come alive in the late evenings. A lot of knick-knacks like earthern lamps, beautiful earthern pots called garba pots, Rangoli powders and many other items are sold at discounts on the street. Nothing can beat the shopping at Mumbai for festivals, the markets are so crowded and full of festive things. We used to go to the market to order for coconuts to be delivered to the house, buy the paaku (betel nut), vettalai(betel leaves), turmeric sticks, kumkum dabbis , blouse pieces and also gifts to be given to the ladies later during vettala paaku.
Navarathri celebrated in a South Indian home
The Navarathri Mornings at home
Being a South-Indian and living in Mumbai gave me the best of both the worlds is what I could easily say, as you see a cultural integration of all communities and get to enjoy the best of everything.
Getting up early in the morning to the sounds of Venketesha Suprabhatam and then M.S. Subbalakshmi’s Lalitha Sahasranamam (1000 names of the Devi). Have a nice oil bath which is usually the practice in my home and then go to the temple. After coming from the temple, there is also pooja at home.The kalasham is kept. A small earthern/brass/copper/silver pot is taken inside which we put some rice, toor dal, Turmeric stick and a dollar coin, indicating the house should be always filled with dhan and dhanyam. A coconut smeared with turmeric powder is placed on top of it as shown in the picture. Kumkumam is applied on 3 sides of the coconut and the tail can be adorned with flowers.
The house will be fragrant with lots of flowers, incense and dhoopam. The pictures of the deities dressed in flower garlands. Amma puts a huge ma-kolam outside the house and in front of our mini temple and we tie a Toran too at the entrance of our home. All of us sit together to chant the Lalitha Sahasranamam (1000 names of the devi), followed my Mahishasuramardhini strotram and all the devi stothrams, followed by a mini bhajan session,
(Above is a picture of Lalithambaal)
Appa always insisted that I should sing the bhajans, usually devi bhajans. A grand lunch used to be prepared by my mom, while chanting simultaneously as she doesn’t have the luxury of sitting with us doing pooja, since she has to finish cooking.
The Navarathri Lunch Menu
The Navarathri menu is pretty special,
Payasam (Pal Payasam)
Dal vadai (only paruppu vadai is prepared), usually ulundhu vadai (popularly known as medhu vadai (doughnut vadai) is not prepared for festivals since ulundhu vadai is made during shraddhams)
Hot Rice
Steamed Toor dal (Paruppu)
Ghee
Sambhar
Rasam
Aviyal
Thuvaran (dry vegetable) usually cabbage or beans with coconut is made.
Thayir Pachadi (Yogurt with cucumbers or tomatoes)
Chips (Banana, Chenai Chips) or Vadaams
Pappadams
Chundal / Sundal is usually prepared in the evening.
Sundal Menu
The types of sundal to be prepared on each of the navarathri days is given below:
•Day1: Moong dal (Green gram )
•Day2: Sweet Puttu /Red beans (can be made sweet or spicy)
•Day3: Peanut
•Day4: Kabuli Chana
•Day5: Bengal Gram dal (Chana da)l (kadalai paruppu) Yellow split
•Day6: Black eyed beans (Lobia) (can make it sweet or spicy)
•Day7: White peas /Green peas (pattaani)
•Day8: Field beans(mochai) /Karamani Chundal
•Day9: Konda kadalai (channa dal)
•Day10: Payasam / Chakara Pongal
Navarathri Evenings
At home
Evenings are a time when the ladies visit each other for Vettala Paaku. The ladies usually get dressed for the occasion, girls in pattu-paavadais, teenage girls in Daavanis and married ladies in their Kanjeevaram sarees or their best traditional clothes. Vettala Paaku used to be given everyday during the evenings after lighting the evening lamp in yesteryears, butnowadays since women are working and busy, they stipulate one evening during the Navarathri festival and on that day they prepare everything, call all the people they know and offer vettala paaku. There is no harm in doing that as long as people don’t stop this practice altogether. The token gifts that used to be given in the yesteryears have been replaced with special gifts given in bags. Every year, women like to offer a different gift. It’s almost become like a competition where women vie against each other to be the best as far as choosing the most thoughtful and useful gift is concerned. The Navaratri evenings were also fun as we
(the group of invited ladies) used to have mini bhajan/sthotra chanting sessions on weekends or marked days like Tuesdays or Fridays which are considered auspicious days for the Devi.
In the colony(a group of apartments forming a society)
Every year, in our colony, the residents have the Navarathri celebrations. All the people living in the colony contribute towards the celebrations. A huge pandal is erected in the centre of the ground. On Day 1 of the Navarathri celebrations, the pujari does the staapana of the idol of Goddess Durga and lighting of the akhand jyot (the lamp which cannot be let to extinguish). Residents take turns to ensure that the akhand jyot doesn’t get extinguished. Every morning and evening aarti is conducted with great devotion. After the aarti and Prasad distribution in the night, all the residents would dance garba, followed by daandia raas for the goddess.
We live in a cosmopolitan neighborhood, One particular year, the committee of residents who organize events in our society decided that we should have a Unity in Diversity theme and to emphasize that each day the aarti was conducted by the different communities of people residing in our society. So we had the Maharashtrian Aarti, Gujarati aarti (ours is a predominatly Gujarati neighborhood- so every year we used to have the traditional Gujarati Aarti ), south Indian aarti and so on and so forth. It was a really good experience as we got to get a glimpse of the aartis performed by different communities for the Goddess. Since I am a south – Indian, we formed a group and decided to chant the “Mahishasuramardhini stothram”. We started practicing every day in the evenings till we all perfected the art of singing in unison. The day it was the turn of the South Indians, all of us came together and recited the stothram and believe me it was the first time this had happened in our building, almost everybody i.e. the south-indians and the non-south Indians, some of whom had never heard it before were so impressed with the stotram, due to its alliteration and the very catchy rhythm that they wanted copies of the Stotra and wanted to learn it from us. India is a country with so many states and every state has its own way of celebrating festivals and what bonds each one of us is the fact that we are all human beings living close to each other. No matter what language we speak and which state we belong to, we are all one in the eyes of God (Our creator)
Navarathri in the yesteryears as told to me by my grandma. (Kal – Yesterday)
Shimmering lamps and fragrant flowers touch up homes in cities and towns commanding unflattering reverence. The ladies usually get dressed for the occasion, girls in pattu-paavadais, teenage girls in Daavanis and married ladies in their Kanjeevaram sarees.
If the interiors of a home bristle with women singing hymns and songs, children attired as various gods and goddesses prancing around add to the joyful cacophony. The air, thick with the fragrance of agarbatti and flowers, makes the entry to the house equally attractive. Traditional designs or rangolis made with various colored powders and flower petals are always an enticing sight.
While the impressive arrangement of artifacts at Golu (kolu) sets the tone of the festival, what takes the cake is the delicious concoction called `sundal', made from chickpeas, bean sprouts and coconut. Housewives get busy making and exchanging sundal and special sweets for the occasion.
This festival of nine nights epitomizes the social and cultural aspirations of people. It coincides with the rainy season, associated with sowing and sprouting of seeds — a sign of prosperity and abundance. The feminine equivalent of Hindu Holy Trinity — Durga embodying Shakti, Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and Saraswathi the goddess of learning and arts are invoked as part of the religious celebration.
Each day of the function starts with reciting the stothrams (prayer songs) on Godesses such as Lalitha Sahasranamam, Devi Bhagawatham etc. In the evening, they light the Kuthuvilakku and offer flowers, fruits etc. to the golu. They invite the neighbors, friends and relatives to receive thamboolam(vettalai paaku). Every day, a different kolam is drawn in front of the golu. The Devi Mahatmiyam and other texts invoking the Goddess who vanquished demons are recited.
In the end, they do the "mangala aarathi" (In a plate they mix some turmeric powder, and kumkum with water, and show to the Gods and finally pour it outside the house.) They assemble at every house daily to exercise their vocal chords. ‘Navavaranam’, (sung in praise of Devi) which is a rigorous musical exercise, is rendered most often by the congregation.
The house is charged with the energy of bhakti(devotion) and divinity. The women, after singing to their hearts’ content, are given hot milk (to soothe their throat) and snacks.
Vettrilai pakku(Shen Tamil)/Vettalai paaku(colloquial tamil) (betel leaves) is usually accompanied by many other items that women use to adorn themselves as mentioned below.
Each day, a type of sundal is prepared as offering to God. In the evening, people invite the neighbours and offer Thamboolam (vettala paaku) with the sundal, clothes, coconut or some token gifts.
VETTALA PAAKU
There was a time when people used to visit their friends and relatives and call them for vettala-paaku and now is the time when people just call them over the phone. Of course the charm of all the festivals are slowly fading away, as nowadays people decide upon a date and call all the people on that date for vettala paaku. It’s no more like how it used to be in the yesteryears. But living in India and living abroad does make a difference in the festive ambience. Thanks, to my mother I am still aware of our rituals, our rich tradition and culture. With 2 kids she always strived hard to do everything and celebrated all festivals with gaiety and fervor. My grandmother had told her, “Celebrating festivals reaps good things/happenings/events, it spreads positive energy and brings about cheer. My grandma used to say the only people in whose house there has been a death, don’t celebrate festivals, so naranjya veetula (full house – meaning endowed with happiness & prosperity) where there hasn’t been any tragedy we shouldn’t act like we are mourning or be lazy to celebrate”. So my amma religiously celebrates all the festivals, but credit also goes to my appa who is equally enthusiastic and gives her his full co-operation and support helping her in everything, sincerely conducting the poojas and making the atmosphere so pious and festive. As of todays generation, you even call them, they don't have time to come for vettala paaku and hardly there are people left who call people of vettala paaku, time constraints and deadlines have made people anti-social and people dont want to visit each other for vettala paaku thinking of social obligations.
What constitutes the Vettala Paaku
Vettalai – Betel Leaves
Paaku – Betel
Nut
Manjal - Turmeric
Kumkumam – Bindi or the traditional ku
mkum powder
Manja Cheradu (Yellow thread)
Flowers
Fruit
Coconut
Coin
Blouse piece
Soap
comb
mirror,
bangles,
A gift – something in plastic or steel as per the convenience, financial status and likes of the person.
Out of these, Vettalai, Paaku, Manjal Kumkumam are the most important, the rest are upto one's own convenience and budget.
GOLU
Golu is one of the cutest part of Navarathri, this is what interests the young children to visit houses with their mothers for vettala paaku. Golu means placing idols of Gods and dolls on a wooden staircase. Not everyone keeps Golu at home. It depends on family lineage. We don’t have the practice of keeping Golu at home, but as a kid I used to love to see the Golu at other homes during Navarathri. Early on Golu was meant to display stories of our Gods. Stories from the Ramayanam, Mahabharatham and Shiva puranam were displayed using dolls and idols of Gods, but as we have started to emancipate as a society modern themes have started entering our golus. Traditionally dolls and idols of Gods are arranged in steps like a staircase. On the top most step idols of Gods are placed followed by the other dolls on other steps. People decorate the steps with garlands of fresh flowers, nowadays people also decorate with art papers, festoons, balloons, lights etc. This is also an opportunity for women to exhibit the arts and crafts made by them on the steps. Though all family members get involved in the festivity, golu is traditionally a women's festival.
9th day
Saraswathi Pooja
Goddess Saraswathi is the wife of Lord Brahma(Creator of the Universe). Goddess Sarawathi is usually seen with books and musical instruments. My amma will make us read from our books
first before wrapping them neatly in an unused cloth(usually
silk) and then praying to Goddess Sarawathi to bless us with knowledge. On this day people make young children to learn to write. They usually teach the children to write”Om” followed by alphabets on sand.
Ayudha Poojai (Praying to the tools/equipments) is also done on this day. People pray to their tools on this day.
A musical concert of reputed classical singers is held every evening for nine days at Navarathri Mandapam of ShreePadmanabhaswamyTemple in Trivandrum.
Period: October/December every year.
10th day
VIJAYADASHAMI (DASSERA)
This day is the last day of this festival. Dassera or Vijayadashmi is considered as the second biggest festival after Deepavali. This is a special day for attaining victory in anything and everything. Vijayam means victory. Therefore, this day is celebrated as an auspicious day for starting any new work. People start new activities like learning music, dance etc on this day. Those who play musical instruments or learn music, usually visit their Gurus with Thamboolam(Vettala, Paaku, Poo(Flowers), Pazham(Banana), Prostrate before their Guru, seeking his/her blessings and take atleast one lesson with their
Guru on that day marking sweet beginnings to their journey of learning. Those who keep Golu will change the position of one doll in the golu, marking the end and the next day the golu is removed. The entrance of the house is decorated
with a Thoranam made with Mango leaves and Marigolds.(You can see the entrance of my home decorated with Thoranam prepared by my husband)
You can also see a picture of the Maa-Kolam I drew outside my house on Dasera day.
MUSIC AND DANCE
The musical soirees during the Navarathri festival is a feast for the eye and intellect. Many temples organize music concerts in the evenings. Eminent musicians perform in the presence of the deity. Since religion and culture are interlinked, we have a delightful fusion of golu at home and kutcheri in the temples.
Kummi
Kummi is one of the most important and ancient forms of village dances of Tamilnadu. It originated when there were no musical instruments, with the participants clapping their hands to keep time. This is performed by women; many varieties of Kummi, such as, Poonthatti Kummi, Deepa Kummi, Kulavai Kummi, Kadir Kummi, Mulaipari Kummi etc are known. The women stand in a circle and dance clapping their hands rhythmically. This dance is usually performed during temple festivals, Pongal, the harvest festival, family functions like the one to celebrate the coming of age (onset of puberty) of the girl-child etc. The first line of the song is sung by the leading lady, which the others repeat.
People dance around the deity clapping rhythmically. At every step they gracefully bend sideways, the arms coming together in sweeping gestures, up and down, left and right, each movement ending in clap.
Kai Silambu Attam
This dance is performed in temples during Amman festivals or Navaratri festival. The dancers wear ankle-bells and hold anklets or silambu in their hands, which make noise when shaken. They perform various stepping styles jumps. The dance is in praise of all female deities, the most preferred being the powerful angry goddess - Kali or Durga.
Kolaattam
Kolaattam is an ancient village art. This is mentioned in Kanchipuram as 'Cheivaikiyar Kolattam', which proves its antiquity. This is performed by women only, with two sticks held in each hand, beaten to make a rhythmic noise. Pinnal Kolaattam is danced with ropes which the women hold in their hands, the other of which are tied to a tall pole. With planned steps, the women skip over each other, which forms intricate lace-like patterns in the ropes. As coloured ropes are used, this lace looks extremely attractive. Again, they unravel this lace reversing the dance steps. This is performed for ten days, starting with the Amavasi or Newmoon night after Deepavali.
Originated as devotional Garba dances, which were performed in Durga's honor, this dance form is actually the staging of a mock-fight between the Goddess and Mahishasura, the mighty demon-king, and is nicknamed "The Sword Dance". The sticks of the dance represent the sword of Durga.
What further adds colour and music to the Navarathri festival these days is the vibrant `Dandiya Ras'. The event has crossed geographical and cultural barriers to become a universal mode of celebration. In Tamil Nadu, it has a different form called `kolattam'. With the small wooden sticks having bells at the end in their hands, men and women dance to the vibrant rhythm of music. So popular are dandiya nights during Navarathri in any city that people don't hesitate to join in the elation.
To get a feel of the festival season, which is not just a religious occasion but highlights art as divinity, celebrates music as an obeisance to creativity and enjoys dance as a mass entertainment. People are out there, everywhere in temples, in neighbour's homes, at market places, on the streets to partake in the glitter and glow of the season. As usual discount sales are screaming out, as these are auspicious occasions to make purchases. It is a treat indeed to see women and children dazzling in their silk dress materials wearing gold ornaments and jasmine flowers tucked in their heads spreading an ethereal fragrance.
CONCLUSION
This is a festival that symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. It is a festival of music, dance, of giving, of sharing, of good food, wearing good clothes, meeting people. Underlying everything is the universal message of peace, harmony and bonhomie.
Samba Rava is broken wheat and as all know wheat is considered healthier than rice, it is less fattening and less in sugars. This uppuma is very good for people suffering from diabetes.
This is a very nutritious uppuma, adding vegetables with different colors makes the dish look very colorful and appealing to kids. I have added vegetables as per my choice but diabetics must follow the nutritional advice given by their doctors while adding the vegetables to this recipe. Not adding any particular vegetable doesn’t alter the taste of this dish.
Ingredients
Samba Rava (Broken Wheat Rava) – 2 cups
Onions – 1
Potato – 1
Tomato - 1
French Beans - 1 tbsp chopped
Carrots – 1 tbsp chopped
Green Peas – 1 ½ tbsp
Green chillies – 2
Ginger – a small piece
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Chana dal (Bengal Gram) – 1tsp
Curry leaves – A sprig
Asafetida (hing) - a pinch
Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Salt to taste
Ghee (Clarified butter) – 1 tsp
Method
Now chop the onions and tomatoes. Peel the potatoes and carrots and chop them into squares. Cut off the top and bottom of the French beans and chop into pieces, Rinse the green peas, Chop the chilly into 2 pieces don’t chop it too finely else it will be very spicy for kids. Chop a small piece of Ginger. Now in a kadhai(wok), put 1 tbsp oil, add the mustard seeds, when it begins to crackle add the cumin seeds and the Bengal Gram, once the Bengal gram starts to turn light pink add the curry leaves and ginger and chilly, sauté for about a minute then add the onions and sauté till transparent, now add the tomatoes and sauté for a minute, after which you can add all the remaining vegetables, then add the salt, asafetida and turmeric and let it fry till you see the green peas turn light green in color, At this point add in about 3 cups of water, cover and let the vegetables cook, check for salt, if you find it less then add at this point. After 5 minutes open and check, if the vegetables are done, reduce the flame to sim, then slowly add in the Rava. Add the rava slowly with the left hand and with the right hand keep stirring so that it doesn’t form any lumps. Keep stirring. Soon you will notice that the Rava is absorbing the water. When the water content begins to reduce lower the flame and cook under cover for 5 minutes. Open Add a spoon of ghee, mix well and close the wok with a lid, let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then open the lid and serve hot. The samba rava gives a very good texture to the otherwise routine uppuma that we are used to eating. What more it is nutritious as its got lots of vegetables and samba rava is healthier than the Normal rava (Semolina) that we use.
Tip : You can add in Cashew nuts or peanuts while seasoning, if you want
I would like to send this recipe for Priyanka’s Festive Food Event –“Onam”. I would like to send one of the best and most liked desserts of Kerala “Pal Payasam”
PAL PAYASAM(MILK RICE PUDDING)
Kerala’s “most” famous sweet dish (dessert) can easily be the traditional Pal Payasam. If you go for a traditional Kerala-Iyer wedding, you won’t fail to notice that the Pal payasam is not only served at the beginning of the meal on the plantain leaf but also during the course of the meal in massive quantities. It is served in the beginning, as we believe that every meal must start with a sweet marking sweet beginnings, It will be served again during the course by friendly “massive serving” (they always serve a lot of payasam and keep coming back to serve you more) traditional waiters clad in their white veshtis(mundus) (The veshti is a long white/off-white(cream) cloth worn around the waist and reaching below the ankles, but in Kerala, it is usually folded half way up and tucked into the waist belt fold revealing the knees to aid in easy movements while serving) and Angavastrams(a white shawl on the shoulder) serving the Pal Payasam after the rasam course and before the yogurt course which usually marks the last course of the meal, normally the payasam is served. The waiters(or sometimes relatives) who wait upon the guests to ensure that everything is served liberally and the guests are happy and satisfied usually pour the payasam from huge ladles onto the banana leaf. The guests usually relish this delicacy by trying their best not to allow it to cascade out of the banana leaf, it would be a scoop (pushing it with your palm) and a lick action….first the payasam must be deftly scooped with the hand and then licked or slurped out of it….and I have seen people enjoying it so much, although I prefer mine in a kinnam (a small bowl) as I don’t like the sweet to mix with the salted remnants of the sambhar or rasam after which course the payasam is usually served. Nor do I like the sweet remnants of the payasam stuck to my elai (plantain leaf) which will spoil the taste of my thair chadam (curd rice / yogurt rice). But I know people who would swear by how it tastes when eaten right out of a banana leaf….so slurpy and so yummy, tickling and tantalizing your taste buds.
All payasams are generally made in the Urali (a traditionally used wide mouthed flat & thick bottomed pan) and they are stirred and stirred until they get a faint pink color.
PAL PAYASAM Ingredients:
Milk – 1 and ½ litre
Rice - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom Powder – a teaspoon Cashewnuts - 1 tbsp broken into slivers
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method:
Boil the one litre milk in a vessel and once boiled remove from fire.
Take the half litre milk in separate vessel. Add washed rice to the boiling milk and cook for 5 to 10 minutes stirring once in a while. If the rice gets cooked in the milk slowly, the payasam tastes better , you must cook the rice till it is soft and mashed well,
but if you want to quicken your cooking time,
Add your washed rice and half litre milk in the cooker and cook upto 2 whistles(or as per your normal rice cooking time). Once this rice is cooked.
Take an Urali, add the rest of the milk i.e the boiled one litre milk and the cooked rice and milk and keep stirring constantly.
Add sugar and stir till it is dissolved. Keep stirring on a low flame till the Payasam gets a faint pink colour. Once done, remove from fire.
In a small pan. take some ghee, fry the cashewnuts, raisins and cardamom powder and pour on top of the Payasam.
Your Pal Payasam is ready.
This is a Quick recipe, as using condensed milk reduces the cooking time of the Payasam.
Ingredients Milk -1 Litre (since we are using condensed milk, we can reduce the quantity of milk)
Condensed Milk ½ Cup Rice -1 Cup
Sugar - 1 Cup
Cardamom Powder – a teaspoon
Cashew nuts 1 tbsp broken into slivers
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method Cook rice in pressure cooker till 1 whistle. In an Urali, Take the milk, add the cooked rice and sugar and stir till the sugar is dissolved. Add the condensed milk. Keep stirring on a low flame till the Paysam gets a faint pink colour. Once done remove from fire.
In a small pan take some ghee, fry the cashewnuts, raisins and cardamom powder and pour on top of the Payasam. Your Pal Payasam is ready.
Tip : Since condensed Milk is already sweet, the sugar can be reduced to ½ a cup, as many people don’t like very sweet Payasam. Also after adding the condensed milk, if you feel more sweet is required u can always add sugar and stir till it dissolves. I always recommend the taste and cook method.
TAG
Priti of Indian Khanna has tagged me '7 Facts about me'. Thanks dear for tagging me. We come to know a lot about our fellow bloggers through these tags.
Here are the rules
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
I am a people’s person. I love to have a lot of people around me always.
I love my family.
I am traditional as well as modern. I love to wear a saree and adorn jewelry and at the same time love to wear western clothes.
I will rush to help people no matter what
I am addicted to 2 cups of tea a day and badly addicted to the internet.
I love reading romance, Enid Blyton fairy tales until now and comics(there’s a kid in me still).
I like listening to music whether it be Kenny G, The Cure or Fusion Bhajans or M.S. Subbulakshmi.
I would love pass along this tag to Usha, EC, Sireesha, Sagari, Raaji, Sowmya and Kitchen Flavours
I am packing some of my birthday cake for Hima who is hosting a Sunday Snacks Event on her blog with the theme “Bake It”
TUTTI FRUITY CAKE (EGGLESS)
September 6th was my birthday and since we have turned partial vegans recently and would like to avoid eggs, I thought why not bake an eggless cake at home. Iam not too fond of chocolate cakes so I thought I will bake a vanilla cake but I wanted it to be rich, I didn’t want nuts also….heck, why not its my birthday cake and I will add in the ingredients I like whether or not traditionally it is part of the recipe or not. I guess I must be part of the Daring Bakers. The best part is I don’t even have a conventional oven used for baking. I do all my baking in the microwave oven. I truly am a daring baker aren’t I? But the cake turned out to be a dream. Just perfect….ofcourse as everyone knows you wont get the brown crust when you bake a cake in the microwave oven. Here’s a picture of my spongy, soft rich Tutti Fruity Cake. I decided to name it so because I have added Tutti Fruity the red, orange and green raisin like things that you see in the fruit cakes available in the market. I love these, they add a wonderful array of colors to the cake. I have decided Iam going to call this Tutti Fruity Cake. Here is an Original recipe.
Ingredients Self raising flour- 1 ½ cup
Tutti Fruiti – 2 tbsps
Ripe Bananas- 2 Mashed
Butter-1tbsp
Granulated sugar-1/2cup
Oil- 1/2 cup
Milk- 1/2 cup
Vanilla Powder – 1 tsp or Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Little Maragarine or Butter for greasing the glass container
Method In a bowl, mix together sugar and butter till it is creamy. Add in the Tutti Fruiti and 2 mashed bananas, mix well, Add oil and milk and mix well. Add the Baking powder, Vanilla powder or essence and the self raising flour
Mix well. Ensure that there are no lumps. It should be a uniform mixture. It will become like a batter. Remember use the same bowl or cup for all the measurements else the recipe won’t work. Don’t mix the cake batter too much else the cake will become hard, just a light mix till it comes to the batter consistency is okay.
Now take a round/ square/ oval glass container in which you can bake the cake. Grease this container well. Pour the batter into this container and keep on medium-high in the microwave for 10-12 minutes. Put a knife into the cake and check….If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done, but if it comes out sticky you need to cook it for some more time. Once the cake is done. Remove it from the microwave oven and allow it to cool and then cut it into pieces and serve.
Starting from today is Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi in the south. Its the birthday of our darling God Ganapati. Elephants are one of the most loved animals in India and all over the world. And our Lord Ganesha is half elephant and half human, so you can imagine how loved he is. Kids love this God. Lord Ganesha loves Bananas, coconuts and sweets. I was surprised to see a very big idol of Lord Ganesha at the World Trade Centre in Bangkok in Thailand and he was worshipped by the Thais with equal fervor, so is the charm of our darling Lord Ganesha.
Story of Lord Ganesha
Lord Ganesha was created by Goddess Parvati. This is a very interesting story.
According to the legend, Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of resolution, was away at a war. His wife Parvati, wanted to bathe and having no-one to guard the door to her house, conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her. Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door and instructed him not to let anyone enter.
In the meantime, Lord Shiva returned from the battle but as Ganesha did not know him, he stopped Shiva from entering Parvati's chamber. Shiva, enraged by Ganesh’s impudence, drew his sword and cut off Ganesha's head. Pavarti emerged to find Ganesha decapitated and flew into a rage. She took on the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened destruction to the three worlds of Heaven, Earth and the subterranean earth.
Seeing her in this mood, the other Gods were afraid and Shiva, in an attempt to pacify Parvati, sent out his ganas, or hordes, to bring the head of the first living being with his head towards the north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom). The first living thing they came across was an elephant. So they brought the head of this elephant and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati's son and breathed life into him. Parvati was overjoyed and embraced her son, the elephant-headed boy whom Shiva named Ganesha, the lord of his ganas. (Info courtesy – Wikipedia)
Although Lord Ganesha has been worshipped from time immemorial it was Lok Manya Bal Gangadhar Tilak who was responsible for making Ganesh utsav into a public celebration in Maharashtra for the unity of the people.
Lord Ganesha loves sweets. In South India, the main sweet-dish during the festival is modakam which is Ganesha's favorite sweet. Modakam is a steam cooked dumpling made from rice flour, stuffed with coconut and jaggery. In Maharashtra also they make the modakam the same way and it is called “Ukdiche Modak”, it is either steam cooked or deep fried.
I made Puran Poli today. Puran Poli is one of the most liked dishes of Maharashtra. I find this one of the most tedious and laborious sweet to make. Puran Poli is Yo’s favorite sweet, Yo’s mami (Mother’s brother’s wife) dishes out one of the most fantastic Puran Poli’s in this world, the Puran poli literally melts in your mouth and so does Yo’s Kaku (Father’s brother’s wife). Puran poli is such an elaborate affair in Yo’s home that I probably got a phobia to try making it. I attempted it twice after my marriage and both times it failed, so I had totally given up on it. Yo told me, “Its such a waste of money, materials and efforts and don’t try it at home…..how typically male…..ha ha ha….This time I said I will patiently follow the recipe and see if it works…..and yipppeeeeeeeeeee it did….I was so proud that I asked Yogesh to call his home at Pune and tell my in-laws that finally I made the elusive Puran Polis.
Ingredients
Bengal gram (chana dal) - 2 cups,
Jaggery - 2 cups
Refined flour (Maida) -2 cups
Oil - 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Cardamom powder -1 tsp
Nutmeg powder 1/4th tsp
Dry ginger powder(soonth) -1/4th tsp
Ghee as required
Method
Grate the jaggery, keep aside. Soak the Bengal gram for about 2-3 hours. Then add water enough to immerse the dal completely and a bit on top. Cook chana dal in a pressure cooker for 5 whistles till it turns soft. Drain out excess water until the dal is absolutely dry. You can retain this water to make Katachi Amti (I will blog this recipe later). Mash the chana dal into a paste. In a wok, Add one tablespoon of ghee, then add the cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and dry ginger powder(soonth), Now add the grated jaggery, when the grated jaggery melts, add the chana dal paste and blend both well, and cook further. You will notice that the mix has become watery, which scared me out of my wits, thinking that this attempt is going to fail too. So I urgently called my mother-in-law in Pune and asked her what to do, she said don’t worry, it is like that, “ Don’t cook for too long in the wok, the chana dal paste will harden and you don’t want it to get hard. She said, immediately switch off the gas and wait for the mix to cool down, then put it in the mixie /blender and blend twice till you see it is completely mixed up, this mix, we must add in the wok and cook it on a low flame till it comes to a dough like consistency, which happens very soon, like in 2-3 minutes time. Once you see it has come to a dough like consistency put off the gas and Allow the mix to cool so you can make balls out of the mixture. Make 20 balls out of it and keep aside
Mix refined flour, turmeric powder, a pinch of salt, oil and water and knead the dough.
The dough will be very soft and sticky dough. Keep this aside for about half an hour till it sets. Then knead again, by punching it and folding it. You can remove all your frustrations on the dough…Imagine the joys of cooking….
Knead well and divide the dough into 20 equal portions.
With greased palms, take one portion of the dough and flatten it into a disc of the size of the palm. Place a ball of "chana jaggery" paste in the centre and fold the disc from all sides to cover the paste completely.
On a well-floured board, gently roll out each poli with the help of a rolling pin into a 6 inches disc. This can get tricky as the paste does try to slide out. Use a little flour if that happens.
Roast each poli on a hot, dry girdle.Add a teaspoon of ghee around the poli , once you see some spots on the backside flip over, you will see your Puran polis puff up. Once done, Remove on a plate. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee or a bowl of warm milk.
Serve hot with Rice and Rasam or enjoy it as it is.
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Serve hot with Rice and Rasam or enjoy it as it is.
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