Patolis for Gowri / Gauri puja

Gowri / Gauri puja is celebrated by Konkanis and Kannadigas a day before Ganesh Chaturthi. Some families keep an idol of Gowri, others worship a printed picture. Among Konkanis, this day is also called 'Vayana puja'. Young girls and married women keep decorated coconuts and offer it to the Goddess. Then these coconuts are usually given to women older than you and you seek their blessings. Ma gifted me this silver Gauri that needs to be placed over a coconut. I have been using this for my puja for the last couple of years now.



I used to help my grandfather a lot with all the preparations for the puja, and the cooking was all done by Ma. We had the whole family come over, help with the cooking, especially for Ganesh Chaturthi and really enjoy the elaborate spread
Being in a place that is not so familiar with this puja, I have started celebrating it and call some friends over. The food cooked on this day is pretty simple, compared to the spread for Ganesh Chaturthi.
The main dish cooked for this puja is Patoli (paa-toh-lee). Its steamed in turmeric leaves and has a wonderful aroma. This dish is a favourite with my friends here, since its so new and different for them.



My dear Ma couriers the leaves across every year, since I haven't found any turmeric leaves here. I wrap it in a damp cloth and refrigerate it till I use it. Even if the leaves, turn a little yellow, they work beautifully and still have that distinct aroma.

Have a wonderful Gauri puja and Ganesh Chaturthi

Here's a step-by-step on making these patolis

Clean the turmeric leaves, wipe and place them in a plate. Grease the leaf with a little oil



Using your fingers, spread the maida paste over the leaf. It should not be too thin or too thick



Place a spoonful of the coconut-jaggery mixture on one side. You can do this vertically or horizontally



Fold the leaf in half (length-wise or width-wise, depending on how you placed the filling)



Place in a steamer and steam for 8-10 mins



Once done, gently lift one half of the leaf and serve with ghee



What you need -
(15 patolis)

15 turmeric leaves

For the filling
1.5 cups freshly grated coconut
3/4 cup grated jaggery (less or more depending on how sweet the jaggery is)
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom

For the paste
1 cup maida (rice flour can be used instead of maida, but maida is an easier option)
1.25 cups water approx

What you do with it -

In a non stick pan, add the jaggery and coconut and stir it over low heat till the moisture is all gone. Mine took about 15 mins on a really low flame
You can make this a day in advance
Mix the maida with the water, adding a little at a time, so you get a consistency of a dosa batter, not too thick, not too thin
Clean the leaves, wipe them and grease with a little oil
Spread the maida paste with you fingers over the leaves, keeping it as smooth as possible. This again should not be too thick
Place a spoonful of the coconut mixture on one side
Fold the leaves and steam it for about 8-10 mins
Gently open the leaf and enjoy your patoli with some ghee

Mango smoothie

This Mother's day turned out to be a fun one ! My son made me a card thanking me for all the 'work' I do..I am glad that he acknowledges it this early in life :) He was quite insistent that I make a card for my mother, but I told him I would cook for her instead

My brother brought over lovely flowers and a delicious cake. My sister-in-law and I cooked up dinner. Our menu that day was mango smoothie, feta and fig salad, thyme roast potatoes and angel hair pasta with mushrooms in a creamy garlic sauce, with the cake and some chikoo ice-cream from Naturals for dessert



Ma has always been very open to trying different cuisines and she enjoyed this dinner. The photos don't do much justice to how tasty it all turned out. There were far too many complaints about how people had to keep waiting for food because I needed to click pictures for my blog...
I did start cooking pretty late that evening and so hurried up with the pictures and I just realized as I am typing this that I do not have any pictures of the angel hair pasta
Here's a sample of the rest of our dinner that night...



Starting with the easiest recipe here, will post the rest soon...
What did you do for Mother's day ?

Mango Smoothie
(makes 6 glasses)

What you need-

5-6 ripe mangoes (I used the raspuri variety)
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup curd / plain yogurt
1-2 tsp sugar, if required
10-15 cubes of ice

What you do with it-

Peel the skin off the mangoes and squeeze as much juice off the skin as you can
Cut the remaining to pieces
Peel and cut the banana
Add the sugar and curd
Put all these ingredients into the blender along with the ice and blend for 3-4 mins
Serve cold with a mint leaf for garnish

Happy Ugadi and Gudi Padwa

Happy Ugadi and Gudi Padwa - Wish you all a very prosperous year ahead

Today is celebrated as the beginning of a new year as per the Hindu lunar calendar, and is celebrated by many communities in India, especially in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra

It is customary to eat neem leaves and some jaggery / sugar to begin the year and accept anything sweet or bitter that comes our way, during the year ahead



I made puran poli, a roti with a sweet stuffing of bengal gram and jaggery and karatey phodi / bittergourd fritters as my sweet and bitter start to the year !



Apart from this, I also made chana ghashi - black chickpeas in a coconut masala, dali saar - a simple everyday yellow dal, and this tendle bibbe upkari / tindora with cashewnuts

We've just had our meal and am just too full to post the recipes now...Will post them in a couple of days

Wish you all a prosperous year ahead !

Methi Muthias - Gujarati snack

Uttarayan is a very popular festival here in Gujarat. It is celebrated on January 14th, the day that other parts of India celebrate Pongal, Magh Bihu, Lohri and Makar Sankranti

It is a big kite flying festival here in Ahmedabad. There is also an International kite festival held in Ahmedabad a few days before Uttarayan. Its great fun in the old areas of Ahmedabad, called 'Pols' where everyone is up on their terraces flying kites, blowing something like a vuvuzela, beating drums and of course, eating !!
Undhiyu, poori, jalebi and chikkis made of til and peanuts are on the menu for Uttarayan...



Undhiyu / Undhiya is a winter special made with a whole lot of root vegetables, tubers, beans and muthias and cooked with some fresh spices.
Muthias are Step 1 towards making Undhiya / Undhiyu, a very popular Gujarati dish, made in winters. It has a lot of root vegetables, which are available during winters. My next post will be on Undhiyu, so tune in again soon...

Muthias can be had as a snack too, with some chutney and tea !

What you need -

1.5 cups cleaned and chopped methi / fenugreek leaves
1 cup wheat flour
2 tbsp sooji / rava
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp dhania / coriander seed powder
1/2 tbsp jeera / cumin seed powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp white til / sesame seeds
1 tbsp oil
a pinch of fruit salt / eno (optional)
juice of half a lemon
oil for deep frying


What you do with it

Add the chopped methi leaves in a bowl
Add all the spice powders, salt and sugar and oil and mix well
Then add the flour and sooji and the lemon juice and knead into a stiff dough
Add eno if using at this point. I didn't use it.
Add as little water as required to bind the dough
Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan
Make small balls with the dough and then roll them into oblong shapes
Deep fry the muthias in oil
Drain the excess oil on an absorbent paper and enjoy with hot tea and chutney

Christmas Cake

Merry Christmas to all of you !
May this festive season bring peace, happiness and love in your lives...



I baked my first Christmas cake thanks to Nags, who posted this link, and Swapna who posted this very detailed recipe for a delicious Christmas cake

I took the picture above in a real rush before our friends came over for a Christmas eve dinner...The cake was moist and tasted really awesome, and the picture doesn't do any justice to how good this cake was !



Update : This picture was taken the next day, when we had some cake and tea at leisure...
The soaked steamed fruits made the cake really rich and the rum in it made it quite heady :)

We had a small Christmas tree, with some lights around it and stockings with gifts for the kids... They were so excited and waited till midnight to see Santa...Of course, we sneaked in and put in the gifts...
Its lovely at this age they are at, when they truly believed that Santa came in thru the window with gifts for them...
Christmas isn't really big here in Ahmedabad, but we wanted the kids to understand and appreciate the celebration of all faiths

I followed her recipe exactly as given, so am not posting it here again. Here's the link to her Christmas cake

Sending this to "Jingle all the way", event hosted upto 31st December

Have a wonderful Christmas !

Curd Poha / Dhaiya Phovu for Janmastami

Yesterday was Janmastami / Gokulashtami - a festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Since Krishna is believed to be born at midnight, this puja is generally done at midnight.



Since my childhood, I remember helping my grandfather set up the cradle for Lord Krishna and placing the baby Krishna idol into the cradle, do the puja and then we would all go give a cradle a tug. As kids, my brother and I would dress up as Krishna and Radha and go to the local Krishna temple and see all the boys, break the dahi handi. This is a fun event where the boys make a tall pyramid and a little boy, dressed like Krishna climbs right up and breaks the pot with curd inside it.



In the Tamil customs, patterns of tiny feet are drawn, reaching into the puja area, indicating that Krishna is entering the house
The food made on this occasion varies across regions. In the Konkani tradition, we make ladoos, panchukdayi, panchamrit and dhaiya phovu or curd poha
In Gujarat, a prasad called panjiri is given for Janmastami.

We did a combination of all these customs, bought the panjiri, drew the tiny feet of Krishna and made dhaiya phovu...



Curds poha (Recipe Source - Rasachandrika)

What you need -
1 cup beaten rice / poha
1 cup curds
2 tbsp fresh grated coconut
1 tsp sugar
2-3 green chillies
1 small piece ginger
salt to taste
a few curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp ghee

What you do with it -
Wash the beaten rice and squeeze out the water
Grind the coconut, green chillies and ginger to a coarse paste
Add the salt, sugar and curds and mix well and add to the beaten rice
Prepare a seasoning with ghee, mustard seeds and curry leaves and add to the beaten rice
Once the beaten rice soaks it all up, make into little balls

My Ugadi Menu

Happy Ugadi to all of you...

Ugadi translates to Beginning of a New Era and is celebrated as a 'New Year' in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka
Being a few states away, the fervour, holiday and celebrations of Ugadi were missing, but the food made up for most of it...

For lunch, I made a kele-chana ghasshi (raw banana- black chana spicy coconut based gravy), a Kannada style kosambari (salad with mung dal, raw mango and coconut), dali saar, tendle-bibbe upkari and Puranpoli

Here's what we had for lunch today...



Today's Menu

Kele-Chana Ghasshi

What you need -

2 raw bananas
1/2 cup black chana soaked in water overnight
4 tbsp grated coconut
2 tsp coriander seeds
4 red chillies (preferably byadgi)
1/4 tsp methi seeds
pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
mustard seeds and curry leaves to season
small piece of tamarind or 1/2 tsp tamarind paste

What you do with it -

Cut the skin off the bananas and then quater length-wise. Cut into small cubes
Heat with turmeric and a little salt in water till cooked
Pressure cook the soaked chana till cooked well
Roast the red chillies, coriander seeds and methi seeds
Grind with coconut and tamarind to a smooth paste
Add this coconut paste to the cooked chana and bananas and stir till it blends well
Add water and bring to a boil
Prepare a seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil and pour over the ghasshi

Puran Poli (with tur dal)
This puran poli is something I learnt from a friend here - its made with tur dal instead of chana dal, tried that for the first time today

What you need -

1 cup tur dal (soaked for an hour or more)
2-3 cardamoms pounded
1 cup grated jaggery
1 1/2 cup maida / flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

What you do with it -

Wash the dal, add enough water to cover it and cook in a pressure cooker till its soft
Drain off the excess water
Add jaggery to the dal and cook on a low flame, stirring continuously, till all the water is absorbed
Allow it to cool and grind it to a paste - do not add water
Add the cardamom powder
Divide this mixture into small balls
Make a dough with the flour, turmeric powder and 1/2 cup water
Add oil and knead well
Apply a little oil to your palm, take a portion of the dough and flatten it on the palm
Place a ball of dal in the centre and cover from all sides
Dip in flour and roll it out flat
Roast on a hot tava on both sides till it has a few brown spots
Serve with ghee

Kosambari

What you need -

1 raw mango
3 tsp fresh grated coconut
1 green chilli
pinch of salt
1/2 cup yellow moong dal
few coriander leaves

What you do with it -

Soak the moong dal in water for about half an hour or more
Drain the water
Chop the chilli, raw mango and mix with the dal
Add grated coconut, salt and mix well
Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves

Varsha Pirrapu - Tamil New Year

Its interesting that with so much diversity in India, almost each state celebrates a different New year (or a New year called by different names), based on whether they follow the solar or lunar calendar.

We celebrated Udagi (the New Year for Kannadigas, Telugus and Konkanis), Gudi Padwa for Maharashtrians, Cheti Chand for Sindhis about a fortnight back and now its time for the Tamil new year.
The Tamil New Year (Varsha Pirrapu) is celebrated around the same time as Baisakhi in Punjab, Rongali Bihu in Assam, Vishuva Sankranti in Orisa and Nobo Borsho in Bengal !!

Anyway, for us, it means 2 days of celebration and good food !!
My Ugadi lunch was wiped out before I took any pictures, so here's the Varsha Pirrapu lunch with some Ugadi features !!

The menu is pretty much the same, the main highlight being on the 'raw mango, neem, jaggery'. The idea is that you take the bitter and the sweet, which symbolizes that you accept/face the good and difficult events that happen in your life, with equal conviction. The 'panchanga' is read on this day, which I assume is the prediction for the year ahead.

Have a great year ahead and here's a peek at my lunch thali today



Clockwise from top: Mavinkkai Chitranna (idea borrowed from my Ugadi menu), maanga pachadi, beans poriyal, sepankezhangu(arbi) fry, pal payasam, biscuit ambode(similar to vadas, but simpler) and rice with drumstick, pumpkin, brinjal sambar in the centre.
There was the rasam, appalams and thair saadam, of course.

Aother look at the maanga pachadi, which was the star of the day



What you need -

1 cup peeled and sliced raw mango
2 tbsp grated jaggery
1 tsp chilli powder
2 neem leaves
a pinch of salt
1 tsp gingelly oil
1 tsp mustard seeds

What you do with it -

Steam the raw mango pieces with the jaggery, chilli powder and salt till the mago turns all soft
Heat oil and add mustard seeds
When they splutter, add the mango and mash it in a bit
Adjust salt if required