Sri Rama Navami

What a gratifying day I had. First, Lemme tell you how the day ended.

6 pm:- oil lamps are lit and the home smelt wonderful with the aroma of agarbathi. Sat in front of the shrine on a small mat and opened my Music notebook, sruthi box by my side. Started off  singing Saint Thiagaraja’s wonderful compositions. My daughter was sitting next to me.

1. “Nee Dayaradha” in Ragam Vasantha Bhairavi set to Rupaka talam.

2. “Maakelara Vicharamo” in Ravichandrika in Aadi tala.

3.  “Ethavunara” in Kalyani-my favorite raga, followed by

4. “Maamava Raghurama” in Saaranga set to Rupaka and kept going full on

5.  “Intha soukyamanine” in Kaapi set to Aadi tala

6. “Kaalaharana Mela” in Suddha Saveri/Rupaka

7. “Seethamma Maayamma” in Vasantha

8. “Brochevaarevare Raghupathe” in Sriranjani.

9. “Ramanuku mannan mudi”- a tamil composition by Arunachalakavi in Hindolam

Was not satisfied yet. 9 doesn’t seem to be a good number. My husband got super excited and wanted to do his share of promoting my singing. He played Pancharatna kritis from his ipod, which made me sing a couple of more Thayagaraja’s Gems 

10. Sadhinchane – Ragam Aarabhi

11. Jagadananda Karaka – Ragam Naatai

Now, is there a better way to end the day?- yes, by blogging about it !

Now, lemme tell you how the day started. After showering, Kept chanting “Ram” many times and started my “Neivedhya” preparations for the day.

Sri Ramanavami commemorates the birth of Lord Rama– incarnation of Lord Vishnu . Rama was a righteous king who took a human form and was born on earth to fight Evil. He underwent all the sufferings of mankind. Ayodhya- the birth place of Ram would be bustling with joy and festivity during this season. People observe fasts, perform pooja, chant slokas, read Ramayana, sing bhajans and kritis and make special offerings to Sri Ram.

In South India, Paanagam, neer moar and Kosumalli/kosambari is offered to the God, however in NorthIndia, Sabudana kheer and kichidi are done and can be eaten as fasting food.

Paanagam: A deliciously aromatic sweet punch!

 Ingredients:  

•  Powdered Jaggery- 1/4 cup.
• Dry ginger- Sukku- 1 tsp.
• Cardamom-4.
• Water- 4 tumblers.
• Lemon juice- 1 tsp.

Method: Dissolve the jaggery in water and strain all the sediments.

Add powdered sukku, cardamom, lemon juice . Mix well, offer it to God and serve chilled!

Neer moar: Neer moar is an amazing thirst quencher and a must during the summer months in india. Just like how we see “Lemonade stands” by kids in the US, most of the street corners would have “Neer moar stands” in earthen pots to keep them chill. It’s a heavenly drink! 

Ingredients:

• Curd/yogurt 4-5 tblsp.
• Water- 3-4 glasses.
• salt to taste.
• Ginger scrapes- 1tsp.
• asafoetida a pinch.
• Green chilly cut into pieces-1
• Curry leaves-few

Mix the above ingredients, churn well and serve chilled! a hint of lemon juice can be added.

Kosumalli/Kosambari: Kosumalli is a quick salad that is made with split green gram. It is very healthy and easy to make.

Ingredients:

• Split green gram/pasiparupu- 1 cup
• Salt- to taste.
• lemon juice- 2tsp.
• Cilantro- a fistful.
• Coconut scrapes- 1tsp.
• Cucumber-few slices-optional
• Raw mango pieces-optional
• For Tempering- oil-mustard seeds, urad dhal, asafoetida, green chilly- 2 slit, curry leaves-few.

Method:

1. Soak the green gram for 1 hour after thoroughly washing it.
2. Add all the above ingredients to the soaked gram.
3. Heat oil- 1 tsp and add the ingredients mentioned in tempering. mix well, offer it to GOD and serve it in a plantain leaf.

Sevai- Flavored Rice Noodles

Feels good to be back to blogging again. Thanks to my blogger friends for the motivation.

“Sevai” is a tiffin dish that can be done in a jiffy these days. I remember my mom making this for sunday evening tiffin. It’s quiet a project as it was done in a more elaborate fashion, from scratch. She would wash the rice, soak it for few minutes and dry it in a towel and powder it finely. Then cook it in a pan with , salt and few drops of oil  and make rice balls and steam the balls in cooker. The steamed rice balls are then pressed in a machine called “sevai nazhi” to extract noodles and then seasoned with a variety of flavors and enjoyed as an evening meal on the weekends when the whole family is together. She would certainly ask my help to hold the sevai nazhi while she can turn the handle to get the noodles out of the nazhi. You can season them in a variety of flavors like Coconut , Lemon, jaggery-sweet sevai, Pepper-cumin(Milagu Jeera), Tomato, Chakarai(Cane sugar) sevai.

With the fast paced life style we have these days, it would be hard to do that.  Further,this dish can be done in a microwave to save time. Rice noodles are available to buy from chinese or Indian grocers and can be used for this. Although I would still vote for the taste  and texture of the sevai done by conventional method, I am pretty used to using ready-made rice noodles for this preparation. This is a an exciting lunch option for kids, as they always love to eat noodles that are colorful and fun

Done in a Microwave including the seasoning:

Steps:

1. Take water in a microwave container and heat it until the water boils.
2. Remove the container from the microwave carefully and soak the rice noodles for 5 minutes and drain all the excess water.
3. Season with a variety of flavoring and mix well.
4. Enjoy with chutney or by itself.

Coconut sevai(Thengai sevai):

Ingredients:                                 

1. Oil- 2tsp.
2. Mustard seeds-1 tsp
3. Urad dhal-1 tblsp
4. Dry Red chillies-2
5. Curry leaves 5
6. Cashew nuts-3
7. Ground nut(optional)-5
8. asafoetida 1tsp.
9. Salt to taste
10. Shredded coconuts- 11/2 cup.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a microwave safe dish with ingredients 2-8 and microwave for 2 minutes with the lid closed halfway through.
2. Then add shredded coconut and saute for 1 min in microwave.
3. Add  the microwaved contents to drained sevai , add salt and mix well. 

Lemon Sevai (Elumichai sevai):

Ingredients:

Oil- 2tsp.

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Urad dhal-1 tblsp

Channa dhal- 1tblsp.

Green chillies-2

Curry leaves- 5

Cashew nuts-3

Ground nut(optional)-5

Asafoetida- 1tsp.

Turmeric powder-1 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Lemon juice juice from 1 lemon.

Method:

1. Same as mentioned for coconut sevai. Add ingredients 1-10 and heat it in microwave for 2 minutes
2. Add  seasonings,salt and lemon juice, at last and mix the sevai well.

Vella Sevai(Sweet jaggery sevai):

This is my favorite.

Ingredients:

1. Jaggery- 1 cup
2. Shredded coconut- 1/2 cup.
3. Ghee- 2 tsp.
4. Cardamom powder- 1tblsp.
5. Cashews-5
6. Raisins-5

Method:

1. Add the jaggery and coconut in a microwave pan and mix for 2-3 minutes until it blends well.
2. In another microwave dish, add ghee and cashews and raisins and heat it for a minute .
3. Mix jaggery coconut blend to ghee toasted cashew and raisin and give it a gentle toss.

 Sending this for MEC event hosted by Lata Raja of Flavours and Tastes http://lata-raja.blogspot.com/

Microwave Easy cooking(MEC) event initiated by Srivalli of  http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/

 Checkout this link

Jeera Poli ( A sweet poori made from all purpose flour)

Hmmmm. Now what should I say. This is one of the most delectable sweets I’ve had. A sweet version of poori’s made with all-purpose flour, dipped in sugar syrup with cardamom and topped with crunchy titbits of almonds, cashews and pistachios. Yummylicious! huh?  Well, made this on my mom’s b’day and it was a huge hit. “Jeera” simply means sugar syrup. This is something you can do as part of your Diwali sweets or just on a sunday evening to treat your family with a sweet surprise. It is very easy to make, and sure would be enjoyed by everyone in your family.

Ingredients:

• Maida or all purpose flour- 1cup.(for 15 polis)
• Oil for deep frying-2 cups.
• Cane sugar- 1cup.
• Cardomeom powder( Elaichi)- 1tsp.
• Orange or yellow food color- a pinch
• Almonds, cashews and pistachios- coarsely powdered- 3tsp.

Method:

1. Mix maida with a little water and few drops of oil and knead into a dough.
2. Keep it aside for 30 minutes.
3. For Jeera(Sugar syrup): Add little watar to sugar in a pan and heat it till it forms 1 string consistency.
4. Add cardomom powder and food color to the sugar syrup.
5. Make small rounds, ( small lemon sized) in the dough and roll them flat  like pooris with a rolling pin.
6. Dab it with maida, just so they dont stick.
7. Deep fry in hot oil one by one, till golden brown.
8. Soak the warm pooris in warm sugar syrup and arrange them in a platter.
9. Garnish with crunchy titbits of cashew, Almond and pistachios.
10. They can be served as rounds or can be folded into halves.

Tip:

• The pooris have to be crunchy. So don’t soak for too long in the sugar syrup.
• While making sugar syrup, make sure, it doesn’t cross the 1 string consistency, otherwise the sugar may crystallize on top of polis.
• 2 tsp of Whole whea flour can be added to all purpose flour if you want the dough to be firm and easy to handle.

Sending this entry to Sireesha’s sweet series event at http://momrecipies.blogspot.com/2009/10/event-announcement-sweet-series.html

                               

Poori’s with Potato Masal and Chole( A wholesome whole wheat bread with matching sides)

Poori’s are wholesome whole wheat bread, that is an absolute favorite for both children and adults. In south india, its customary to serve poori (puri) with madras masal, which is a potato based side to go with them. However in North India, Poori’s are served with chole or channa- a garbanzo bean side dish. Both of them taste very good. Though, I personally like the potato masal very much, I make masal and chole together to break the monotony and to make the dish a bit more interesting and grand. My daughter loves the poori’s. She simply enjoys it with sugar and ghee.

Poori’s 

 

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour (atta)- 2 cups ( will  get about 15 poori’s).
• Salt- a pinch.
• Water-just enough to knead the dough.
• Oil- 1/2 tsp- to knead.
• Oil- for deep-frying.

Method:

1. Mix wheat flour, salt, water and knead them into a dough.
2. Add 1/2 tsp oil, so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands.
3. let the dough sit for 1 hour.
4. Make the dough into lemon sized small balls.
5. Flatten them with a rolling-pin and table.
6. Dab the rounds with atta(whole wheat flour), while pressing, so the rounds are not sticking to the rolling table.
7. Gently slide the rounds in hot oil and deep fry them in medium heat.
8. When one side gets cooked, topple it to the other side and gently give it a press to get fluffy poori’s.
9. Absord excess oil with a  paper towel.
10. Serve hot with madras-potato masal or chole.

Tip: Add water little by little while kneading, so you dont make the dough loose.

Potato(Aalo) Masal    

Ingredients:

• Potatoes-3 big.
• Onions- 1 big.
• Green chillies-2.
• Oil- 2 tsp.
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• Channa dhal-1/2 tsp.
• Tomato-1 (optional).
• Peas- 1/4 cup-(optional).
• Turmeric- 1/2 tsp.
• Salt-to taste.
• Curry leaves- an arc.
• Gram flour- 2 tsp.

Method:

1. Pressure cook potatoes, peel the skin and smash them.
2. Chop onions and tomatoes(optional).
3. Slit green chilies.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once it splatters, add urad dhal, channa dhal, curry leaves, green chillies, Chopped onions and saute them.
5. At this point tomatoes and peas can be added optionally and allow it to cook for few minutes.
6. Add salt, turmeric and mashed potatoes.
7. Add gram flour to 1/2 cup of water and add it to the pan.
8. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and turn the heat off.
9. Serve with hot poori’s.

Chole:

Ingredients:

• White Garbanzo beans-1 tin cooked.
• Oil- 2 tsp.
• Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1/2 tsp.
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp.
• Onion paste-  from 1 big red onion.
• Tomato puree- from 2 tomatoes.
• Salt-to taste.
• Chole or Channa masala- 1 tsp.
• Dhania powder- 1/2 tsp.
• Curd-2 tsp (optional).
• Coriander leaves and onion rings for garnish.
• Red chilly powder-1/4 tsp.

Method:

1. Soak the Garbanzo for 8-10 hours and pressure cook till one whistle or use the ready made, pre-cooked tinned Garbanzos-but wash them well before use.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera, ginger garlic paste, onion paste and saute.
3. Add tomato puree, salt, chole masala, red chilly powder, dhania powder and cook till oil separates.
4. Add 2 tsp of curd at last and mix well.
5. Garnish with cilantro.

 Note:

Another interesting variation in North india is “Chole Batura”. Batura is a large poori, which is also served with chole. But the preparation method is different.

Sending this to Cooking for kids-Wheat hosted by sireesha at http://kidzdelight.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-cooking-for-kids-event-wheat.html, authored by Sharmi of neivedhyam at  http://www.neivedyam.com/2008/12/announcing-cooking-for-kids-event.html

Badam-Kaju Cake/Burfi (A sweet indulgence with Almonds and Cashews)

This is really an indulgence. My daughter goes nuts for this badam cashew cake / burfi. She can literally gobble 5 or 6 at a time. She calles it square sweet. But strangely she doesn’t like candies or chocolates. My mom always does this for her. Since mom is here, I wanted to learn this straight from her. Tried this on my hubby’s birthday and it came out pretty good.

Ingredients: ( for 50 squares)

• Plain Almonds- 11/2 cups.
• Plain Cashew- 1/4 cup.
• Water-1/2 cup.
• Cane sugar- 41/4 cups.
• Ghee- 1cup- divided.

Method:

1. Wash and soak the Almonds (Badam) in warm water for 1/2 hour.
2. Wash and soak the Cashews (Kaju) in warm water separately.
3. Peel the skin from almonds and drain the water.
4. Grind the almonds and cashew in a  blender  to a  smooth paste, with 1/2 cup of fresh water.
5. This should give approximately 2 cups of paste.
6. To 2 cups of paste add 41/4 cup of cane sugar in a  nonstick pan and turn the heat on.
7. Allow it to cook while constantly stirring it.
8. Ghee can be added slowly, while the paste is cooking.
9. In about 20-25 minutes, simmer the heat and add the remaining ghee and carefully observe for consistency.
10. There is a thin line between halwa and cake. When the corners don’t stick to the pan anymore and when you feel it’s crossing the  halwa stage(loose setting) and starting to get more dense, it’s almost done and you can turn the heat off.
11. When you cook more than this, it can turn very hard or get charred.
12. Quickly have a  tray ready( greased with ghee) and pour the contents and cut them into little squares, when it’s still warm.
13. Store it in a container,w hen it completely cools off.

Tip:

1. Since almond itself has a strong flavor to it, it is not required to add cardamom or any other flavoring.
2. The consistency is really important. With practice, you will know, the difference between halwa consistency and burfi consistency.
3. Make sure you buy plain versions of Almonds and Cashews (Do not buy salted or roasted).

Jack-o-Lantern-Pumpkin Carving For Halloween

Every year during Halloween, I used to admire all those carved pumpkins adoring the doorsteps of neighbours and last year I decided to carve my own and found that was really easy and quick. Although, my pumpkin is nothing fancy, it’s a pretty basic design, I came across this event “Show your Pumpgrin” in http://chefinyou.com/ and thought I should send in my entry. My daughter and I had fun making this Jack-o-Lantern and we took it to the Pumpkin fest event in Boston.

Materials Needed:             

• Pumpkin-round one.
• Marker pen.
• knife.
• Votive candle.
• Spoon to scoop the interior.
• A design template.

Method:

All I did was, type in google- How to carve a pumpkin and found on e how, easy step by step method to carve a pumpkin.

I followed these steps and walla, a beautiful Jack-o-Lantern it turned out to be….

http://www.ehow.com/how_3983_carve-pumpkin.html   

The steps in e how are as follows

Step 1

Select a fresh pumpkin in a shape that pleases you. Some folks prefer their pumpkins low and round, while others like them tall and oval-shaped.

Step 2

Draw a circle or hexagon on top of the pumpkin in preparation for making an opening large enough for your hand to reach through.

Step 3

Cut through the stem end of the pumpkin along your outline with a sharp knife or pumpkin-carving tool. Use a back-and-forth slicing motion to cut through the thick, tough skin.

Step 4

Remove the stem end, which will act as a cap, making sure you scrape off any seeds or pulp.

Step 5

Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from inside the pumpkin. Hold the spoon by its bowl to get extra leverage while scooping.

Step 6

Draw a pattern for the face on the clean pumpkin with a felt-tip pen, or scribe the lines into the skin using a pencil. Be sure to make the eyes, nose and mouth large enough; you’ll have a hard time cutting out tiny features when you’re using a big knife blade to saw through tough skin.

Step 7

Follow your pattern as you cut all the way through the pumpkin.

Step 8

Push the cut-out features gently from the inside of the pumpkin and discard the pieces.

Step 9

Place a votive candle inside the pumpkin to create an eerie glow.

 Here’s the link for the event-http://chefinyou.com/2009/10/show-me-your-pumpgrins/

Banana-Rava Halwa ( A sweet Confection with Banana,Semolina and pure Ghee)

Banana-Rava Halwa

Semolina is the purified middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta; also, the coarse middlings are used for breakfast cereals and puddings. The term “Semolina” derives from the Italian word “Semola. Semolina, made from durum wheat, is known in North India as Sooji; in South India, Ravey in Kannada, Rava/Ravam/Ravai in Telugu/Tamil, In Tamilnadu, the Semolina is also made of rice. In Turkey, semolina is known as irmik. (Source-Wiki)

I happened to read “Sundara Gaandam from Valmiki Ramayana” for 5 days over the last month. My mom brought the book from India and was reading it. She suggested it’s very good to read Ramayana, especially Sundara Gaandam. Also my cousin Divya had  sent me a beautiful handmade painting of Ram and Sita, done by her, as a present. Lot of good vibes. So, read Sundara gaandam in 5 days( about 30-45 min each day), and finished it on the the 5th day by reading Ramar Pattabhishekam( taking the throne) and Neivedhyam. I offered Banana-Rava halwa, which is done during Satyanaraya pooja-vrath.

There are several protocols on how to read them in  3 days, 5 days 9 days etc. It was such a beautiful feeling to read how Sri Hanuman flew to Lanka as a messenger of Rama, in search of Sita, who was abducted by Ravana. Sundara Gaandam describes, how Hanuman meets Sita and convinces her that Rama is on his way to rescue her and how he conveys the message and carries the souvenir from Rama to Sita and vice versa. I would read it in the morning and in the night tell the story to my daughter. She loves listening to Ramayana. It is believed, by listening or reading Sundara Gandam, one receives the blessings of Sri Ram and Hanuman.

Ramayana is equivalent to Vedas. The word “Ra ma”is derived from the middle letter of “Om Namo Narayana” and “Namashivaya”, incorporating both Vishnu and Shiva to give Rama. While I was reading Ramayana, came across something interesting. After the pattabhishekam, Rama once asked Sita, if she liked him or his story(The Ramayana). Sita replied that she actually liked his story more than him, the reason being, Sita was leading a miserable life in Lanka after being abducted by Ravana and was starving, feeling weak, tired and had no clue why Rama did not rescue her so far. She even had suicidal thoughts and that is exactly when she heard Hanuman telling Rama’s story from a tree above. She immediately left her suicidal thoughts behind and felt happy that her husband Rama would save her. That is why she liked Rama’s story more than him.

Banana-Rava Halwa

Ingredients:

• Banana-finely chopped-1 (medium size).
• Rava or sooji- 1cup.
• Milk-1cup.
• Water-1/2cup.
• Ghee- 2tblsp.
• Sugar-1/2 cup.
• Cardamom powder-little.
• Yellow food color-a pinch-optional.
• Raisins and nuts to decorate-optional.

Method:

1. In a pan, fry rava in ghee until a nice aroma comes and rava starts to turn light brown.
2. Add  warmwater, warm milk and chopped banana pieces to the pan and cook.
3. When banana and rava are cooked, add sugar and ghee, cardomom and food color.
4. When mixture leaves the sides, remove from fire.

Tip: Select a firm, ripe banana for this halwa preparation. Do not use under ripe, over ripe ones. Nendhram pazham can be used for the same.

Presentation Tip:Tried in a dark background. Felt like it was too busy. So tried photographing against a more neutral background and the dish looked much better and the attention went to the dish instead of the background.

Garnish: Since the halwa was of the play dough consistency, I was able to mould it to a well. Filled with ghee(obviously only for garnishing purpose) and decorated with almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins and banana rounds.

Banana sooji halwa

Sending this to Innovative Inlaws- Nithya and Pavithra http://innovativein-laws.blogspot.com/ , garnish the dish event.

Sundal Varieties ( “No Fat high protein” Legumes, seasoned with spices)

 

 In my previous posts, I wrote about  Navarathri and Saraswathi poojai-Vijayadashami and mentioned about sundals, but didn’t have a chance to write how each variety is made. When I came across the event  “My Legume Love Affair”- 15th helping in  Sia’s Monsoon spice, couldn’t resist a post dedicated to sundals. So, here it is…………

During Navrathri we make sundals with legumes every day for 10 days and offer it to Goddess Devi and partake. Also, this can be a great protein packed evening-after school snack/tiffin for kids. It’s great for pregnant women. Also great for weight watchers diet, as it is low or no fat and high in protein content. Almost 15 types of sundals can be made with different legumes using different methods.

Method: 1 ( This method can be used for Green chana, White chana and Black chana-Garbanzo beans. It is called Podi thoovina sundal)

Chana Sundal

Ingredients:

• Black or Green or White chana (Garbanzo)- 1cup.
• Salt-to taste.
• Turmeric powder- a pinch.
• Lemon juice- few drops.

For Seasoning:

• Oil- 1tsp.
• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• Curry leaves- 1 arc.
• Green chilly-1(optional)
• Asafoetida- a pinch.

For Masala powder: Dry roast the below and powder them.

• Dhania or coriander seeds- 1tsp.
• Dry Red chillies- 2.
• Channa Dhal-1tsp.
• Urad dhal-1tsp.
• Coconut scrapes- 2tsp.

Method:

1. Soak the chana in water for 10-12 hours.
2. Add salt and pressure cook till 1 whistle, so that it doesn’t over cook.
3. Keep oil in a pan and add the above mentioned seasoning one by one, in the order mentioned above and turmeric.
4. Add the cooked chana to the pan, after draining excess water.
5. Add the masala powder and give it a toss.
6. Squeeze lemon juice.

Method 2 ( This method can be used for Chana dhal(Kadala parupu- split chickpeas), Split Moong Dhal (Payatham parupu) and Kidney beans( Rajma) and Black eye peas(karamani)

 Ingredients:

• Legume of interest- 1cup.
• Salt-to taste.
• Turmeric powder- a pinch.
• Coconut scrapes- 2tsp.

For Seasoning:

• Oil- 1tsp.
• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• Curry leaves- 1 arc.
• Red chillies-3.
• Asafoetida- a pinch.

Method:

Rajma soaked in water for 10-12 hours. Karamani soaked for 1 hour. Need not soak chana dhal and moong dhal as they cook directly.

Pressure cook till 1whistle, with just enough water.

Keep oil in a pan and add the above mentioned seasoning one by one, in the order mentioned above and turmeric.

Add the cooked legume to the pan, after draining excess water and cook 5 minutes.

Garnish with coconut scrapes.

Method 3 ( Green patani-vatana, White patani, Groundnut-peanuts, Chora can be done in this method)

  Ingredients and Seasoning and Preparation method:

• Same as mentioned in Method 2.
• Instead of red chillies, green chillies are used here.
• Lemon juice can be used in this variety.
• Groundnuts need not be soaked, directly cooked.
• Chora and vatana can be soaked, but cooked carefully, as they become soft easily.
• In green vatana sundal, cut mango pieces can be added to make Thengai-maangai-patani sundal.

Method 4: (Sweet version can be made with green gram(Paasi payaru) and Red Karamani (which is hard to find in the US)

The idea is pretty much the same except that Jaggery(vellam), coconut, cardamom and ghee are used. Avoid seasonings mentioned above.

Method 5: ( Green gram Masala Sundal with onions)

If it is not used as neivedhyam, just prepared as a snack, green gram can be soaked, and allowed to sprout and method 3 can be used. But can saute chopped onions, tomatoes and a pinch of garam masala can be added.

Tip:

Asafoetida or Hing can be added to all the sundals, as legumes may cause gas to form in the stomach. Gas formation can be further avoided by letting the legumes sit in hot water for few minutes and draining the water. Then they can be soaked and cooked.

 Revealing my Legume love affair to the world by sending this to Sia’s Monsoon Spice , who is hosting the event for Susan of  The Well Seasoned Cook.

Saraswathi Poojai-Vijayadashami

Saraswathi Pooja

Saraswathi pooja is celebrated on the 9th day of the Navrathri, followed by Vijayadashami on the 10th day. Saraswathi, the goddess of Education, learning and Fine Arts is worshipped on this day. Books, which indirectly represent the Goddess Saraswathi is worshipped. Books are kept on a stand and Vasthram( a cloth) is used to decorate the books and  Swarna(Gold) is used to adorn the setup. Musical instruments like Veena, Mridangam and other instruments can be kept in the poojai. Then the saraswathi poojai is performed after the Vigneshwara pooja. The same day Ayudha poojai is celebrated. Along with books, Ayudham(Tools) can also be placed for ayudha poojai. Ayudha pooja is basically worshipping tools. Ayudha poojai is also applicable to Vahana(Vehicle). Vehicles like Cars, Scooters and even bicycles are included in the poojai, as they play an important role in our day-to-day lives to transport us from place to place and to keep us safe while travelling. Vehicles are washed, dried and chandan and kumkum are applied and  decorated with flower garlands and we can also do deeparathana for the vehicles  and a coconut is broken to ward off evil.

I remember, when I was in school, I used to keep at least one book from all the subjects and I would keep Math books on top, For Goddess Saraswathi to give more of her blessings to Math. I used to keep my sruthi box, my bharatnatyam salangai, pen, progress report and anything you could think of that is related to studies. The hilarious part of this whole thing is my dad would say, the next day Vijayadashami, after the punarpooja for books, we should read  few chapters from all the books kept in the poojai to reap the benefits. I would get away by reading  just one line( he he) from each book and still have a satisfaction that Goddess Saraswathi would give me good knowledge. Funny days! Well, now in the US, I keep all my daughter’s story books, color pencils and cook books ofcourse! Vijayadashami day is very auspicious to start anything new. Little kid’s Aksharabyasam( learning to write) and starting Music, Dance or any other learning venture can  be done that day. The students who have already begun their learning can take blessing from their respective Guru’s on Vijayadashami day.

Neivedhyam for Saraswathi pooja

Coming to the best part of any poojai-the food. Parupu vadai, Black channa sundal, jaggery-milk payasm, rice and cooked thoor dhal are offered. If the pooja falls on a weekday(we dont have holiday for the pooja in the US), I would do just a little bit of everything for neivedhyam and focus on the pooja part.

Black Chana Sundal:

 Ingredients:

• Black chana- 1cup.
• Salt-to taste.
• Turmeric powder- a pinch.
• Lemon juice- few drops.

For Seasoning:

• oil- 1tsp.
• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• curry leaves- 1 arc.
• Green chilly-1(optional)
• Asafoetida- a pinch.

For Masala powder: Dry roast the below and powder them.

• Dhania or coriander seeds- 1tsp.
• Dry Red chillies- 2.
• Channa Dhal-1tsp.
• Urad dhal-1tsp.
• Coconut scrapes- 2tsp.

Method:

1. Soak the black chana in water for 10-12 hours.
2. Add salt and pressure cook till 1 whistle, so that it doesn’t over cook.
3. Keep oil in a pan and add the above mentioned seasoning one by one, in the order mentioned above and turmeric.
4. Add the cooked chana to the pan, after draining excess water.
5. Add the masala powder and give it a toss.
6. Squeeze lemon juice.

Sending this to Shanti’s thaligai- Dussehra, dhanteras, deepavali event.

Navarathri(Nine nights for Goddess Devi)

The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; Nava meaning Nine and Ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi i.e. female divinity are worshipped. They are Durga, Badrakali, Amba (Jagadamba), Annapurna, Sarvamangala, Bairavi, Chandi, Lalitha, Bhavani, Mookambika. Navarathri  is also called “Dussehra”. The 9th day is celebrated as Saraswathi Poojai ( for Vani or  Saraswathi, the Goddess of knowledge and arts) and 10th day Vijayadashami. The festival is celebrated for nine nights once every year during the beginning of October, although as the dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar. 

Kids look forward for this most colorful time of the year,  where kalash and beautiful dolls are arranged and adorned in steps and everyday, you get treated with yummy sundals. As a kid, I would eagerly wait for Navrathri, so I could help my mom unpack the dolls from attic and arrange them in a  nice way. The dolls would range from idols of God and Goddess, chettiar bommai(Grocer), wax fruits and fun stuff like marriage party, cricket field set etc. I would also add my doll house and we used to have these lovely (muthu bommai), dolls hand made by my mom with baeds.( The concept is very similar to  how the birth of Jesus would be displayed in figurines, during christmas here in the US). 

The best part is not just adding new dolls each year to the old collection, but also a great opprtunity for the kids to learn Hindu culture, traditions and values. My dad and I would decorate with serial lights and focus lamp and mom would delegate me to make interesting kolam(rangoli) with sabudana, chumki and color powders. My brother and I would make a park with ragi seeds or mustard seeds and make a  jungle or park with that. When I was little, my mom would stich mattai(Hair decorations with flowers) and adorn me. All 9 nights, she would dress me up in different costumes. Typically, all the neighbours are invited to witness the kolu and receive tamboolam. People can sing songs- Kritis and Bhajans. Some recite devi slokas, Devimahatmiyam etc. The aaru padi veedu of Lord Muruga or Karthikeya is the latest addition to my mom’s collection( Palani, Thiruparankundram, Pazhamudhirsolai, Swamimalai, Thiruchendur, Thirutani).

The above mentioned way is how we used to celebrate Navarathri in South India(Tamil Nadu). However, living in the US, we got adapted and actually started loving how people in North India and in Gujarat celebrate navrathri. Punjabi’s do “Jaagran” and Gujarati’s do “Garba“( gummi-in tamil) and “Dandiya“( Kolattam-in tamil) and Durga pooja and arti. Every year, I make sure I take my daughter to dandiya-Garba and also show her the south indian kolu(display of dolls). It’s a lot of fun to play the garba and dandiya.

All the 10 days, I would make 10 varieties of sundals( Legumes or Lentils cooked and spiced) and offer it to Devi and consume as prasad. It is a protein rich healthy snack. I typically invite some friends home and offer them the prasad and tamboolam.

Sundals-prasad

 

Tamboolam