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