Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi!

Jai Ganesh!















I forgot Gowry Vrat totally and by the time my MIL called me to tell me about Gowri Pooja,I had finished my 'Pet pooja' eating the prawn biriyani!! Felt so bad and guilty...my husband consoled that it is all in the mind...prawns are also vegetables, if u imagine them to be so!!

I may not be very religious,in the narrow sense of the term as it is used now a days...but I'm devout...I think that devoutness was instilled by my childhood reading habit...All those amarchitra katha and snehasena I read brought me close to God...I love festivals,the lores,the colour and the rituals...

I think I started taking more interest in these poojas ever since I moved to Andhra....for back home in Kerala...Bhakthi or Devotion meant only the evening chanting,'sandhyanaamam chollal' as kids,'Rama,rama,rama....'which we did almost mechanically,but with all the innocence....there ws nothing asked from God...we just praised his Glory...

As I grew up my prayer got reduced to just a whisper as I lit the lamp...something by rote..."show me the right path...take care of my parents,my brother...."it ws so mechanically done that often I never even realised as to what I asked God!But when necessities,griefs,trials and tribulations started taking the toll...I knew every word of my prayer...it became...'karuna cheyyan thamasamenthey kanna...."(Krishna,why dont u show me u'r compassion,why so late?!!)Prayer became more a big list of petitions or supermarket wish lists!!My Lord might have had a tough time...bt he granted one by one...after so much of tears were shed! Saddist Kannan...no...no he is chwee...t!!I was always more attached to Kannan before I moved to Andhra where I embraced a multitude of Gods...I learnt the meaning of Mantras,rituals,vrats etc...No matter what,devotion for me has always been a very cleansing process...It made me humbler,more compassionate,more patient and taught me not to take this life for granted.....it took me to the earthy realities of life....

Ganesh chathurthi is not just another festival...it is the celebration of our thankfulness to that great Lord who takes us forward thro' all the trials and tribulations of life...For most of us it is a celebration with a great spread of wonderful food!Arey! dont mistake that I cooked all these for Ganesha yesterday! Poor Ganesha had only Kadumpayasam,pongalapayasam,Elayada,Honey&Sugar candy.The rest was all done earlier...but is usually associated with festivals in most parts of South India,except of course, Kerala.So thought I'll celebrate Ganesha with a spread of food!
Kadum Payasam,Chakkayada & Pongalapayasam 















Chakkayada is all about making ada filled with a jackfruit,coconut.Pl check out this link for the recipe:

Chakkavaratty

mixture.Venpongal
















Initially I had thought of not posting the recipes for most of these items are quite common for most of us....Bt now this is for that anonymous friend who had asked me for the recipes and for all those who still need it.

Venpongal recipe:

Ingredients

Raw Rice-1 cup
Split Moong dal-1/2 cup(people have different ratio,this is what I prefer)
Water-2 1/2 cup or slightly more.
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Ginger-25g(I like it a bit strong!)
Green chilli-4(pounded)
Pepper corns-1tsp(I prefer to pound them slightly)
Butter/Ghee-2 tbsp
Cashews-25g
Mustard-1 tsp
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Dry Red chilli-2(broken)
Salt-as rqd

Method

Pressure cook washed rice and moongdal along with turmeric powder, ginger and green chilli.Once it is cooked well, mushy(You can have it grainy if u like it that way!)add butter,mix well and then remove from the fire.Heat butter in a small wok.Add mustard,curry leaves,dry red chilli,cashews and crushed pepper corns.Saute it for a minute or two.Now add this seasoning to the cooked pongal.Mix everything well.Serve with a chutney or mango pickle!

MamidikaayaPuliogara/MavinkaayAnnam/MangoRice
with fried paneer!
 
 















Raw Rice-1 cup
Raw Mango-1 medium-(depends on the tanginess that u require-grate/scrape the flesh)
Water-2 cups or slightly more.
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Ginger-25g(I like it a bit strong!)
Green chilli-4(pounded)
Shallots-100g-chopped(alternatively u can use one small onion)
Butter/Ghee/oil-2 tbsp(or as rqd)
Mustard-1 tsp
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Dry Red chilli-2(broken)
Cashews-10g(optional)
Ground nuts-10g
Salt-as rqd
Roasted paneer-50g(not added traditionally,I added for a taty bite!)
Coriander leaves-a small bunch
Method
Cook rice and leave it to cool(Neither too mushy nor too grainy).Now heat oil/ghee in a wok.Add mustard seeds,dry red chilli,curry leaves,shallots,ginger,green chilli,turmeric powder,nuts and saute it for a couple of minutes till onions become transluscent and and raw mango lose its rawness..People advise you not to saute mango too much that it will lose its flavour...well,it is individual choice,I like it fried a little more...Finally add the roasted paneer cubes(u get it in the Indian grocery shops).Mix everything well.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with some hot n spicy chilli bajji/khara boondhi/pickle/chutney/papad/vaddiyalu etc.
Kara Boondhi/Mixture
 
  














I had made some

chilli bajjis

to go with the mango rice and had some left over batter,and it became my kaara boondhi.So here goes the recipe for it.

Ingredients

Gram flour/besan/kadalamavu-100g
Rice flour-50g
Asafoetida/Hing/Kaayam-a pinch
Chilli powder-3 tsp(or as rqd)
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin powder-3/4 tsp
Baking soda-a pinch
Salt-as rqd
Water-as rqd
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Roasted Ground nuts-50g
Roasted cashews-25g(optional)
RoastedCopra-25g(optional)

Method:
Mix both the flour,cumin powder,1 1/2 tsp chillipowder,turmeric powder,asafoetida,baking soda and salt with water to a medium thick batter.Now heat oil in a big wok.When the oil is very hot pour the batter thro' a perforated ladle(shown in the fig) and shake slightly to make small layer of the batter over the oil.Now stir the batter in the oil with a fork or spoon sligtly,just like u scramble egg.Keep stirring and fry the batter till you get golden granules.You can also use a chakli maker or a shev maker(idiappam maker) to get the thinner, noodle like ones(usually found in mixture,not in boondhi)similarly.Now using perforated spatula sieve them out of the oil and transfer it to kitchen towels,to remove the excess oil.Once the whole batter is done,heat 1 tbsp oil in a small wok and prepare the seasoning.Add curry leaves,nuts,copra,and chilli powder.Add this seasoning to the mixture or boondhi.Your kaaraboondhi/mixture is ready.Add some sugar,it becomes bombay mixture very popular in our place!

Modakam

As per tradition Modakam/Modak has to be steam cooked,(has lot of reasons too!!)but sometimes we strike a 'deal' with vinayaka and settle on fried modakams...something that we too like!! ;)