Festival Recipes - Karthigai Deepam

The Karthigai Deepam festival is celebrated in the Tamil Month of Karthigai [November - December], which coincides with Krithikai star. It begins on Uttradam day with flag hoisting and goes on for nine days.

Karthigai Deepam Festival

Unlike many other Hindu festivals, Karthigai is basically a Tamil festival and is virtually unknown in most other parts of the country. One of the earliest references to the festival is found in the Ahananuru, a book of poems, which dates back to the Sangam Age [200 B.C. to 300 A.D]. The Ahananuru clearly states that Karthigai is celebrated on the full moon day (pournami) of the Tamil month of Karthigai. It was one of the most important festivals [peruvizha] of the ancient Tamils. Avaiyyar, the renowned poetess of those times, refers to the festival in her songs.

Legend related to Thiruvanamalai: The Shivalinga in the temple here is the agni lingam. It is celebrated in a special manner in Thiruvanamalai, as Karthigai deepam is considered as main event and festival there.

It was in this month that Lord Siva created Lord Muruga from his Divine Light. Lord Muruga took the form of six babies in a lake called “Saravana Poigai."

Rows of [Mud lamps] Agal vilakkus in front of every house... this is the beautiful image that  comes to mind when we think of Karthigai Deepam.

Let the light of Karthigai Deepam illuminate the darkness of ignorance and unhappiness and bring in enlightenment to our lives with joy and prosperity.

As is known, no South-Indian festival is without mouth-watering delicacies...Here are some of the important Neyvedhyam items for this important festival:

The items are Nel/Aval Pori and Appam.  Pori [puffed rice] is of two kinds - Nel Pori and Aval Pori.  However the preparation for both these items are similar.  I give below the recipe:

Karthigai Pori 

Ingredients:

Aval Pori [ Puffed Rice Flakes] - 6 Cups

Jaggery [Powered] 1/2 Cups

Coconut[ cut into small piece]s - 1 Cup

Cardamom Powder - 1 teaspoon

Dry Ginger Powder[ known as Sukku podi] - 1/2 teaspoon

Preparation:

1.  Clean the Pori since it will have husks sticking to it and also you will find some small stones.

2.  Melt the jaggery in just enough water so as to cover it.  Strain the jaggery to remove of the impurities.  

3.  Then boil the jaggery enough so as to get a thick consistency.  This is the most tricky part of the preparation as otherwise, if the jaggery is not consistent, the pori will sink in the jaggery and become soggy and spoil the preparation.  As you boil the jaggery syrup, keep a bowl of water near by.  As the jaggery thickens, drop a few drops into the water.  Remove the jaggery from the water with your hands. Initially it will be as a soft ball.  It will be in the form of jelly consistency.  Boil the syrup for some more time  and again, drop a few drops of it into the water.  When the consistency forms into a hard ball, then the right consistency has been done.  If you throw the ball on a hard surface, it should make a "thud" noise.  This is what is known as  "kallu padam".
4.  Then remove the syrup from the stove quickly.
5.  You may now add the coconut pieces and cardamom powder to the pori and mix continuously so that the pori gets coated with the jaggery evenly.  
6.  Allow this to cool a bit and then make small balls of pori.  In case you are not able to make balls, you can leave it as it is.  


Aval Pori is prepared the same way.  You may clean the Aval from all the dirt, and then follow the same method as for the Nel Pori.

This is a very tasty dish which all the family members are sure to enjoy!


2.  Karthigai Appam

Vella Appam

Ingredients:


Rice Flour - 1 Cup
Jaggery - 3/4 Cup
Ripe Banana - 1 
Coconut cut into small pieces - 2 teaspoons
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil for deep frying.


Method:


1.  Add half cup of water to jaggery and mix well till it gets dissolved in water.  Then strain it from impurities.
2.  Then mash the banana into a fine paste and add this to the rice flour.  You may then add the coconut pieces and cardamom powder also into the rice flour and mix well to form a smooth paste.  Add Jaggery water and stir well and make a thick batter.  
3.  In a kadai, pour oil and when it is hot, take a spoon of batter and gently pour it in the hot oil.  Fry till it is golden brown in colour and remove from kadai.


PS: You can make this Appam with Wheat or even Maida flour.  You could also use sugar instead of jaggery.  Instead of deep frying, you can make use of the Kuzhi Panniyaram plate and make this Appam.  


2 Method:  


Though making dough for this Appam is different with many people, preparing the traditional way of making batter by soaking urad dhal and grinding along with jaggery and coconut is no doubt very tasty too.  A bit strenuous though....My mother always used to prepare Appam in this way and the recipe is given below:


Ingredients:


Raw Rice - 1 Cup
Jaggery - 1 Cup
Coconut [cut into small pieces] - 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder - 1 tablespoon
Ghee for frying the Appams 
Gingely Oil - 1 tablespoon.


Preparation:


1. Soak the rice for 2 to 3 hours and strain to remove the water.  Grind to a fine powder in the mixer.  You should sieve to remove any large particles.  You can grind once again to get a finer powder. 
 2.  Make a jaggery syrup to jelly consistency.  Remove from the stove. 
3.   Add cardamom powder and coconut pieces and add the ground rice flour while mixing the dough continuously.  Keep the dough covered for a few hours. 
4.   Heat the kuzhi-panniyaram kadai and add a tablespoon of oil  and top it with some ghee.  5.  When the ghee gets hot, put spoonfuls of dough into each depression /kuzhi.  Allow the appams to cook well on one side and gently turn them with a spoon or skewer. 
6.   When they are done on both the sides[turn into golden brown in colour], remove them carefully from the kuzhi.  Repeat the same with the remaining dough.


This is a very tasty dish, relished by one and all!


Happy Karthigai Deepam to all of you.

Breakfast Recipes - Uttapa\ Dosa \ Appam Recipes

Dosa is a thin crispy rice crepes made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils mixed together.Dosa is believed to have its origin in Udupi of Karnataka state.It is a frequently used breakfast dish in most South Indian homes.Various variery of dosa is prepared now a days.Its prepared using rice and urad dal as its major contents.. Dosa tastes good when served with traditional side-dishes like sambhar, chutney /pickle.


MOONG DAL DOSA

Thin, crisp dosas made of moong dal and rice.

Ingredients


*1 cup split green gram (green moong dal)
*1 cup parboiled rice
*salt to taste
*oil for cooking

Method

1. Wash and soak the moong dal and rice in water for at least 3 hours.
2. Grind to a fine paste using a little water.
3. Cover and allow to ferment for at least 8 hours.
4. Add the salt and adjust the consistency of the batter by adding water if required. The batter should be of dropping consistency.
5. Heat and grease a non-stick tava with oil.
6. Pour a ladle full of the batter on the tava and spread it using a circular motion.
7. Pour a little oil on the sides and cook.
8. When the lower sides is golden brown, fold over.
9. Repeat with the remaining batter.
10. Serve immediately with chutney.

[Cooking Time : 25 min.

Fermenting Time : 8 hours.
Preparation Time : 10 min.
Soaking Time : 3 hours.
Makes 10 to 12 dosas.
Calorie per Dosa =  approx :79 ]


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PAPER DOSA ROAST

A thin crisp dosa [Roast], much liked by the whole family, especially children.

Ingredients


*1/2 cup raw rice
*3/4 cup split black gram (urad dal)
*1/2 cup rice flour
*salt to taste
*oil for cooking


Method


1. Wash and soak the raw rice and urad dal for about 4 hours.
2. Drain, add the rice flour and salt and grind to a smooth paste using enough water to get a batter of coating consistency.
3. Heat a non-stick tava and grease it lightly with oil. When hot, pour a ladle full of the batter and spread it using circular motion to make a paper thin dosa.
4. Cook on one side, pouring a little oil along the edges while cooking. When crisp, make a roll and serve hot.
5. Repeat with the remaining batter.
6. Serve hot with a chutney of your choice and sambhar.

[Cooking Time : 15 min.

Fermenting Time : 10 to 12 hours.
Preparation Time : 10 min.
Soaking Time : 4 hours.
Makes 10 to 12 dosas.
Calories per Dosa: approx.465
Recipe Type: Veg]

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Pesarattu Dosa

Pesarattu is a speciality dosa of Andhra Pradesh, very tasety.

Ingredients:

 *1 cup Moong Dal

* 1 Onion (finely chopped)
* 1/4 tsp Ginger( finely chopped)
* Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
* 1-2 Green Chillies
* Salt as per taste

Method
 
1. Soak the moong dal for about 4 hours in water taken in a bowl.
2. Wash them and grind to make smooth paste along with the chillies and ginger.
3. Add the chopped onions, chopped coriander leaves and salt to the above prepared paste.
4. Heat a flat griddle on high flame.
5. Pour the batter on it and spread the batter on the pan moving from center to the corners. 6. Give it the shape of round pancake.
7.Sprinkle little oil on its sides and cook it for 2-3 minutes.
8. Turn over and cook again.
9. Serve it hot with coconut chutney.

[Serves: 2-3
Calories Per Serving: 220

Preparation Time: 10 Min
Cooking Time: 2-3 Min
Recipe Type: Veg. ]

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Rava Dosa Recipe

Rava Dosa is popular South Indian recipe.
 

Ingredients:
 
* 2 cups Semolina (Rawa / Sooji)
* 1 cup Rice Flour
* 2 cups Butter Milk (Mattha)
* 1 Onion (chopped)
* 2 green chilies (chopped)
* 10-12 Curry Leaves (chopped)
* ¼ cup Coconut (Scraped)
* 8-10 Cashew Nuts (Kaju)
* A pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)
* ¼ tbsp Sodium-bi-carbonate
* Salt to taste
* 4 tbsp Oil




Method
 
1.  Mix semolina, rice flour, green chilies, onion, curry leaves, a pinch of hing, sodium bi- carbonate, and salt in a vessel.
2.  Add buttermilk to the above and make a batter of medium consistency.
3.   Now add finely chopped coconut and cashew nut to the batter.
4.  Leave the batter for at least 1 hour.
5.  Grease a non-stick griddle with oil. Pour a large spoon of batter over it. Spread the batter by swirling the griddle.
6.  Pour 1 tbsp of oil on and around the dosa.
7.  Cook till it gets crisp and golden in color.
8.  Roll it in a cylindrical form and remove it from the flame.
9.  Rava Dosa is ready to eat. Serve it with coconut chutney.

  [ Serves: 15 Dosas
   Recipe Type: Veg
   Calorie per Dosa: approx.75 ]
 
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Appam

Appam is a popular breakfast recipe of Kerala and it has become a favourite Breakfast item of the South.

Ingredients:

* 2 cup Cooked Rice

* 2 cup Raw Rice
* 1/2 cup Urad Dal
* 3/4 tsp Gram Dal
*Milk from 1 big Coconut
* 2-1/2 cup Water
* 6 tsp Sugar
*1/2 tsp cooking Soda
* Oil or Ghee as required
*Salt to taste

Method


1.  Soak the rice and dal together for about 3 hours.
2.  Grind them to a thick smooth paste. 
3.  Allow it to ferment for about 18 to 20 hrs.
4.  The next day, grind the gratings of the coconut so as to get about 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk.
5.  Add the cooking soda, sugar to the coconut milk, mix well and pour it on to the grinded paste.  Mix well.
6.  Heat the small non-stick Appam pan.  Pour approximately half a cup of batter and quickly but gently swirl the pan around such that only a thin layer of the batter covers the sides and a thick layer collects at the bottom.
7.  Cover with a lid and cook each appam on medium heat for about 3 minutes or till the edges have become golden crisp and the centre is soft and spongy. Another sign of doneness would be when the edges start coming off the appam pan.

8. Appam is ready. Serve them hot with onion chutney or coconut chutney.

[ Serves 45 medium-sized Appams
   Recipe Type: Veg
   Calories per Appam = approx. 95 ]
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Adai
 
Adai, like Dosa,  is a crispy South Indian recipe. Here is my recipe for a mouth-watering, tasty Adai.
 
 
 

 
 
 
Ingredients
 
Idly rice / any rice - 2 1/2 cup

Thoor dhal  - 1/2 cup
Channa dhal  - 1/4 cup
Urad dhal  - 1/4 cup
Moong Dhal - 1/4 cup
Ginger - A small piece
Dry red chilli - 5
Asafoetida - a pinch
turmeric powder - a pinch
salt - 2 tsp
Oil as required.

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp
urad dhal - 1 tbsp
channa dhal - 1 tbsp
onion - 1/2 cup
curry leaf - 1 brig


Method:


1.  Wash and soak the rice , thoor dhal, channa dhal, urad dhal for 3 hours.  I normally soak it by 12 Noon and make it for dinner.
[If you plan to make Adai for a special breakfast, then soak the rice overnight and soak the dhals for just 2 hours in the norning]
2.  Make sure while making Adai , the dhals should not ferment. Moreover do not use fermented left over batter, as it is believed to be hazardous
3.  After 3 hours grind soaked items along with red chilli, ginger, asafoetida, turmeric and salt and make it like coarse dosa batter .
4.  Heat a pan with oil and add urad dhal and channa dhal.
5.  Let them get red in color, then add the chopped onion , curry leaves and fry till the onion becomes transparent.
6.  Then add this tempering to Adai dosa batter.
7.  Heat a dosa pan and coat it with a little oil.
[Thick traditional dosa tawas make crispy adais than the non stick tawas]
8.  Then pour a ladle of batter and make thick dosas.
9.  Make a hole in the center/sides of the Adai and add 1 tsp oil or ghee around the Adai and in the center/side holes.
10.  Flip it. Wait to get adai cooked well on both sides. Like wise make as many as required.
11.  Adai dosai is ready! Serve Adai hot with coconut chutney or aviyal or onion chutney or pickle.
Donot prepare it in batches before serving. Because cold Adai does not taste great.
12.  The taste will be more enhanced if we add a handful of drumstick leaves to the batter before making adai.

[ Serves: approx. 25 Adais
   Recipe Type: Veg
   Calories per Adai = approx.104 ] 
 
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