Counting Down

The frequency with which I am writing gives me jitters that I might not finish the wedding episode by the time my children celebrate their anniversary.Ever since our son got married we have been taking vacations like never before. The recent one at the peak of the summer to Kerala was both enjoyable , because we visited many places that we had been planning for years and very tiring because of the heat and humidity. Bangalore itself saw one of the worst summers in the recent times with temperatures hitting a 30 years high and the months of April and May this year were just unbearable. We followed it with a really humid summer in Kerala. Thankfully, we had the satisfaction of visiting all our destinations without any problems.

To continue with the wedding, as I said earlier, I was like a robot once the children arrived. I had to accompany them on their shopping and check with the tailor on the new dresses to be made, visit the hotel for the last minute briefings and arrangements about the decoration, food, etc., and be at home for meeting with various event managers and do up the house. Y was a great help in decorating the house. She and our elder son did all the decoration at home. I was also cooking all the meals at home especially because we did not want Y to get any problems eating out as this was her first visit to India. I am proud to say that Y ate all her meals at home (the regular tambram food) and never complained. We all appreciated her for that gesture.

As the D day was approaching we were almost ready with all the preparations and plans and moves and what should be done whens and who should be doing whats and where would one be at any given times, and…. ….. And yet there were things that could be done only on the given day and we made sure everything was well planned

And it was 1st February. Y’s parents arrived and were comfortably put up in the same hotel as the wedding was to take place. We had planned a meeting at home and wanted to serve home made food. As Y had been with us for few days now, I had planned a menu in consultation with her so that her family would be comfortable with the food served. They all enjoyed the Kali, Kari, Bajji, Mysorepak and especially the black tea that they preferred. Indian tea is very tasty, they said. On the 2nd, Y with her brother and parents went around Bangalore. Since it is a custom with us to give lunch to the bride’s people after the wedding, we decided to take them out for lunch on the following day (there was not enough time after the wedding).

On the evening of the 3rd was the Mehendi ceremony. As we were not sure about the contents of the commercially available mehendi cones, we were planning to use the mehendi powder we had made at home from hand picked mehendi leaves . We were not very successful in getting the powder to a consistency that could be squeezed through a cone. We tested the commercial cone and were satisfied that Y had no sesitivity to the product. Y was very excited about getting the mehendi applied. My friend’s daughter applied mehendi for Y.




Our guests from outside Bangalore started arriving on the morning of the 4th. Lunch was arranged at home. The decorators did up the house and the house was reverberating with the usual “Kalyana veedu” conversations.

We had arranged for a get together with all the family members and Y's family in the evening. Y’s parents were very surprised that all the guests present at the function were immediate family members. We told them that there were many more who could not make it for the function. We also had a sort of Nischayathartham in the evening and presented Y with the saree and the jewellery she was to wear the next day. Our son was also presented with the clothes he would be wearing the next day. As is the custom, my mother and brothers gave gifts to us and our son. We wrapped up the evening with dinner at home. The guests went back to their rooms for a good night’s rest.

We were busy till late into the night keeping everything ready for the next day and double checking. We had to leave home by 5.30am so that we would have enough time to get Y ready. We had not hired a professional for bridal make up, as again we were not sure if Y would be comfortable with the cosmetics used by the local beauticians. My friend Veena had taken up the responsibility of helping Y to get dressed up for the function. And so, we also went to bed for a short rest in the wee hours.

Preparations get frenzied

My husband and I reached Bangalore by middle November and we were glad that we had only recently had the house painted and refurbished just before we left for Hyderabad. We did not have to do anything towards preparing the house for the occasion except for the routine cleaning.

And yet, by the end of the first week at Bangalore, we were nowhere near our target. The first and foremost requirement was to fix the venue for the wedding without which we could not submit the affidavit at Arya Samaj (we had to mention the date and time and venue of the wedding) nor could we print the invitations. Though we had asked our friends at Bangalore to shortlist a few venues not much progress had been made on that account. By end of the first week, we decided to visit some of the hotels we had shortlisted and make enquiries. My nephew who is a student of hospitality management suggested The Chancery Pavilion and we visited the hotel and were very happy with the ambience. It was also centrally located in the city for the convenience of all the guests. Moreover, we could book our international guests in the same hotel. We did have some initial difficulties with the rates but with the help of a good friend we could get the services at an affordable price. It was 5^th December and the date of wedding was fixed for 5^th February 2010. We had exactly 2 months to go and the list of things to do was growing like Hanuman’s tail. We prepared a list prioritising the things to do and marked the date by which each activity should have been done. This list was getting updated every day.

Having decided on the venue the first thing to do was to submit the affidavit at Arya Samaj. Next was getting invitations printed. Getting the card blanks was not a difficult issue as we knew exactly where to go for them and our son had already indicated the type of card he would like to have. A good friend of my brother who owns a printing press promised to get the cards printed in 2 days. By 15^th December, the cards were also ready. We decided to post the card for outstation guests in the first stage so that they would receive them well in advance. Then started the process of inviting the local guests personally. While doing the rounds inviting people, we made it a point to visit the famous shops in those areas and get a good picture of the things available at each place so that we could decide on the shop and purchase the items on a convenient day. This made our final shopping very easy.

Meanwhile we were also busy with getting the saree blouses stitched for Y which was one of the most difficult tasks. As Y did not have a saree blouse for sample, I had asked her to send me the necessary measurements to get a blouse tailored, but none of the tailors we approached were ready to stitch a blouse with only body measurements. They all needed a sample blouse. Different people take measurements differently, they said. I would have stitched the blouses for Y myself, but I was already running short of time doing the various other things and decided it was not a wise idea . Finally I remembered one of my teachers from whom I had learnt embroidery, who was also a very good tailor and approached her. I knew she was too old to take any orders but she ever so kindly recommended my problem to her niece who is a very good tailor. My idea was to get 2 sample blouses done and send one to Y so that she could try it on and tell me of any corrections to be made. That was a big relief and the tailor promptly delivered the blouses so I could send one to Y in time for her to try and comment.

2010 arrived on time. We were progressing as scheduled. Invitations had been sent and acknowledged. We had a fair idea of the number of outstation guests who would be attending the wedding and accordingly accommodation had been booked for them. All shopping for the bridal couple as well as gifts for the other family members and guests had been done, except the jewellery for the bride. We were waiting for Y to arrive and choose her jewellery. The dates of arrival of the bride and family were known and accommodation booked. I felt that we were in a comfortable situation. Yet I would spend sleepless nights occasionally counting on the long list of small errands yet to be run. All the other members of the family assured me that everything was going as planned and there was no need to panic.

Finally, our handsome, charming and now soon to be wedded son arrived. I had taken an assurance from him that he would be present wholly at home with no phone, no office work, to be with me to help organise my thoughts and plans and do the last minute finalisation of the photographer, florist, etc.

A week later our elder son arrived and so did Y. We got busy again shopping for the jewellery for Y and also the wedding dresses for our sons and some Indian dresses for Y. The wedding was less than 2 weeks away and I was getting busier and busier as I had to take care of the preparations at home as well as accompany the children for the shopping. I was working like a robot.

Picking the rituals

Having decided on an Indian wedding, we now had to decide on what wedding rituals would be most convenient and comfortable considering the bride and family were totally new to Indian rituals. As I had written earlier, a truly south Indian wedding is an elaborate affair extending for more than 2 days and long hours of sitting in front of the havan(homam). We were not sure Y and family would be very comfortable doing that. At the same time, since our son wanted an Indian wedding we wanted to include as many South Indian rituals as possible. After long deliberations and Internet searching we decided that an Arya Samaj Wedding would be more appropriate since the wedding rituals included most of the South Indian rituals in a concise manner. It included a havan for a short duration and also a laaja homa. We were in Hyderabad at this time and we wanted to have the wedding in January – February. We got in touch with the Arya samaj at Bangalore. The following are the procedures for conducting a wedding in Arya Samaj style.

1. First one registers with the local Arya Samaj and pays a registration fee.
2. An application form to be filled by both the bride and groom and their parents and witnessed by one representative from each side has to be submitted to the Arya Samaj, giving the date and place of the wedding. A sum of Rs. 3000 to be paid as marriage donation.
3. A notarised affidavit stating that the couple are getting married on their own accord to be submitted.
4. We may conduct the wedding at any venue.
5. The Arya Samaj also gives a wedding certificate that may be used to register the wedding in India.
   
6. The Arya Samaj wedding rituals last about 90 minutes. If one wants to conduct extra rituals they may be conducted either before or after the arya samaj rituals.

Having decided on the Arya Samaj wedding, we set out getting the forms signed by our son and the bride. We were still in Hyderabad and were planning to reach Bangalore by end November. After having informed all the family members by phone, we set out making plans and schedules and setting time limits. We spent atleast 2-3 hours a day improving on our plans and schedules.

Y was excited about all these elaborate wedding rituals and said she was willing to wear a Mangala Sutra and insisted that she wanted to wear a saree during the ceremony. So I requested my mother who was then staying in Kerala to get a pair of traditional Thirumangalyam done. Having given the order for the most important and auspicious piece of jewellery, we set out planning for other details.

The next was picking the venue. Though there are very spacious and luxurious and sophisticated wedding halls which may cost upto Rs. 2 lakhs per day, one thing we have noticed in most of them was the chaos in the dining and washing areas and the restrooms. Hence we decided that we would conduct the marriage in a hotel, where all the basic amenities would be taken care of. Picking the venue would have to wait until we got back to Bangalore anyway.

We had our friend K pick an auspicious day and time for the marriage.

The guest list was prepared.

The gifts list for the guests was prepared. This took a long time as there were different types of gifts for different sets of people. Starting from the innermost circle of the bride and groom to the outermost circle of all the guests who participated in the wedding it was a large set of concentric circles. Care had to taken not to miss out anyone.

Accommodation for the out-station guests was also an important item. We decided to postpone that until we reached Bangalore.

Regarding the rituals and functions, we wanted to have as many functions as possible but at the same time wanted to restrict them to the ones that Y and her parents would be comfortable with. We did not want to inconvenience them with rituals they were not comfortable with. After all a wedding is an occasion for celebration and not for punishment. For example, Y said her parents may not be comfortable with washing the son-in-law's feet, which is a ritual in our Kanyadhan. Similarly it would have been difficult for them to sit through long hours of havans in the typical Iyer style of wedding. The Arya Samaj style accommodated these requirements.

So we decided that we would have some functions to entertain the guests like a Mehendi for the bride and groom, a get together the previous day at home with lunch and dinner, a small function to gift the bride and groom with the wedding dress and other things in place of Janavasam and Nischayathartham.

And we decided to reach Bangalore well in advance to do the actual preparations for the wedding.

Happy Vishu 2010

Wishing all my readers a happy vishu. May the new year bring you prosperity and happiness.

Back from a break

Hello everyone! It feels nice to be able to greet all my readers after a long time. As many of you had correctly guessed, we were busy with the wedding of our handsome, charming and younger son. It is rightly said in the Tamil proverb, “Kalyanam Panni Par, Veettai Katti par” (Conduct a marriage, construct a house), by the time one gets done with the job, one gets so exhausted one needs plenty of energy boosters to get going once again.

So, it was with lot of excitement and joy that we celebrated the wedding of our handsome and charming son on the 5th February, 2010. To put it in my husband’s own words, it was a truly international event. Owing to its international nature, each ceremony had to be planned carefully, taking into account that the most important guests were new to all this. A lot of thinking and discussions and suggestions went into planning each little event so that all the guests would be most comfortable. As such, a wedding in India is an elaborate and time consuming affair with both the bride’s and the groom’s family planning separate events and ultimately merging on the mega day to make it a grand affair. In our case, since all the arrangements had to be done by us it was even more exhausting.

To begin at the beginning, as all of you know we had been planning to get our son married for sometime now, when he was in India to expand his company’s business. We were not successful in getting a suitable bride for him and in the first quarter of 2009, he returned to the U.S. We were all the more concerned at the turn of events as now we had to look for somebody who would be willing to relocate to the U.S. After a few months of being there, our son called us up one day to say that he had found the right girl for him to get married, if we had no objection in his marrying an American. Our only concern was that the girl should be open to Indian culture considering that our son himself is very strongly rooted in Indian values and culture. He never misses an Indian festival even in America, living alone. He would want to observe all the Indian festivals. Apart from that, if he felt that they are compatible we had no objection. So it went back and forth and the girl had to get her parents’ views about marrying an Indian and in short, it was decided our son would marry Yoshimi, an American citizen of Japanese origin. We would like to have an Indian wedding, said our son. Having read my earlier posts on South Indian wedding, Yoshimi was also very excited in getting married in India. This started the planning for the great event our family held to everyone’s satisfaction.

Long Timeout

I am in the midst of a very long timeout from my blog. I have been very busy with some very happy upcoming family events. I will of course write about all of it once we are done next month. While it is a very exciting time for us, unfortunately it has left me with very little time to even sit at a computer let alone write.

In the meantime, I wanted to link to another blog in the ever expanding Blandings Media Empire. Gally says is written by my handsome and charming son and is a very entertaining read. Please enjoy the blog.

Let's hope I can be back in a couple weeks. Until then, I hope you all had a good Pongal and will have a good Sivarathri.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

A belated merry christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year to all my beloved readers.

Recipe: Pori

As I have mentioned, the neyvedyam for Karthikai are Pori, Neyyappam and Adai. Pori is puffed rice and there are 2 kinds of pori: nelpori (made by frying paddy seeds) and avil pori (made by frying flattened rice or avil). The preparation of both these poris for neyvedyam is similar. Here is the recipe.

I am mentioning the ratio of ingredients for 5 measures since that is the easiest way to measure out the required quantity of jaggery. You can use any container to measure the pori.

Ingredients:

Pori : 5 measures
Jaggery: 1 measure
Coconut pieces: 2 tbsps.
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp.

The pori needs to be cleaned first. It will have husks sticking to it and also some stones at times.
Melt the jaggery in just enough water to cover the jaggery. Strain to remove sand and other impurities. Boil the jaggery syrup to get a thick consistency. This is very important as otherwise the pori would sink in the syrup and become soggy. When the jaggery syrup is of right consistency the pori will get coated with the syrup and will remain crisp.


Here is how to get the right consistency. As you are boiling the jaggery syrup, keep a bowl of water near your working surface. As the jaggery thickens drop a few drops into the water. Remove the jaggery drops from the water with your fingers. Initially it will form a soft ball. This is known as jelly consistency or more commonly as tomato consistency(as it would be soft as tomato). This is the consistency for Neyyappam.

Boil the syrup some more and drop a few drops into the water. Collect the dropped jaggery with finger tips. It would form into a hard ball. If you throw the ball on a hard surface it should make a "thud". This is the right consistency for Pori and is known as "Kallu pakam" or stone consistency. Now you need to be very quick. Remove the syrup from the stove.

Add the coconut pieces and cardamom powder and the pori and mix continuously so that the pori gets coated with the jaggery evenly. Allow to cool a little and make small balls of pori.

Avil Pori is prepared the same way. Avil pori will have fine sand particles so it needs to be sieved to remove the sand. Follow the same method as for nelpori.

Recipe: Neyappam

Neyyappam literally means "ghee cake."

Neyyappam is a unique sweet of Kerala and is made in a special utensil known as Appakaral which is a pan with bowl-shaped depressions carved in to it. In the olden days appakarals were made of bronze. Now a days appakarals made of iron and other metals and even non-stick karals are available. The traditional appakarals had 3 depressions and these days karals with 7 and 9 depressions are available

"Neyyappam thinnal rendundu karyam," is a famous malayalam saying which means that you gain twin benefits when you eat neyyappam. What are they? "Appavum thinnam, meniyum minukkam" which means you can enjoy the appam and also shine your body. This is because as neyyappams are fried in ghee the appam is dripping with ghee and after you eat a neyyappam there is so much grease in your hands that your can apply it on your body.

Now for the recipe. Though different people make the dough for neyyappams differently, below is the recipe followed by our family and it gives the softest neyyappams.

Ingredients:

Raw rice: 1 cup
Jaggery: 1cup
Coconut pieces: 1 tbsp.
Cardamom powder: 1tsp.
Ghee for frying the neyyappams
Gingelly (sesame) oil: 3 tsp.

Soak the rice for 2—3 hours and strain through a colander to remove all the water. Grind to a fine powder in a mixer. Sieve to remove any larger particles. Grind once again until all the rice is ground to a fine powder.

Make a syrup of jaggery to jelly consistency. Switch off the stove. Add cardamom powder and coconut pieces and add the ground rice flour while mixing the dough continuously. Keep the dough covered for a day. (This dough will keep good for upto a week).

The next day mix the dough well adding a little water to get a pouring consistency (as thick as idly dough). Heat the appakaral and add a tsp of gingelly oil (ghee tends to stick to the bottom of the karal) and top with ghee. When the ghee is very hot ladle out spoonfuls of dough into each depression. When the neyyappams are cooked on one side (appams will start turning on its own) turn them with a skewer. When they are done (the skewer should come clean when inserted) remove them using the skewer. Repeat.


Offer neyvedyams to Lord Shiva and enjoy the prasadams with family and friends.

Important festivals in December 2009

1st December 2009 - Karthikai Deepam

Karthikai Deepam is an important festival in the Tamil calendar. From the 1st day of the Karthikai (Vrichikam) month small terracotta lamps are lit in the front of the house and on Karthikai day many lamps are lit. In the evening, pooja is offered to Lord Shiva after lighting the lamp in the pooja room. The neyvedyam includes sweet pori, Neyyappam, Adai and fruits.

31st December 2009 - Thiruvathira

There are two views about the exact date of the festival. Some calendars say it is on the 31st December 2009 and yet others say it is on the 1st of January 2010. Well, I am going to decide when to celebrate only closer to the festival.

The neyvedyam for Thiruvathira is of course, Kali and Kari.

Comments Roundup

As I had mentioned earlier I had not been giving much attention to my blog in the past couple of months due to personal work pressure. I have always been responding to all the comments that appeared from my beloved readers. For the past months I had not been able to do so. I thought it would be appropriate if I wrote my responses in a separate post so that all those who had sent comments could see them .

Anonymous said...
It would have been wonderful to give birth in these condition. In today's world, where I live, I have no family support and no question of a maid. I have to go back to work in 6 weeks and need to find somebody to take care of my baby. Nobody is there to massage and I have to cook my own food. No wonder the child falls sick because the mother is in constant stress. I have to do this to support my family back home but nobody there wants to come and lend a hand because they get bored in US of A. They don't know what to do here, and so they don't really care.

Hi Anonymous

It is really sad that you are so stressed out at a time when you must be relaxed to take care of the growing baby. I do wish you will be able to get some help locally and or take some time off to take care of yourself and your baby. Best wishes.

Kaiser Soze said...
It came out really well. I added a pinch of turmeric, it tasted great. Thanks for the recipe!

Thaen said...
Today I made your recepie.. it came out really well. Since we have sugar, i added sugar free tablets instead of sugar. Thanks for the recepie...!!!

Hi Kaiser and Thaen

I am glad your kesari came out well. Have a nice Diwali.

Gayathri said...
Dear Ammupatti,
Thanks for a wonderful and easy recipe. I made Paal Payasam for neivedhyam yesterday and it turned out great. I loved the pink color of the payasam especially.

Hi Gayathri

I am glad your payasam turned out great. Best wishes.

Think Shink said...
Dear Maami,
(if I may call you so), I love your blog although I have read only a couple of pages. It brings abck my childhood and all the relatives I know. Today I have just married a bengali guy and feel a little well . . out of touch with my childhood tambram traditions. Your blog will help me a lot in not feeling like that part of my life is far far away. Do keep writing

Hi Think Shink

I am glad that you feel my blog will help you to keep rooted with your traditions. Wherever you go, one can never forget one’s roots or traditions or childhood. It will always be within and give the much needed moral support at the hour of need. I wish you a happy married life. By the way, how did you celebrate Durga Pooja? Happy Diwali( or Kali Pooja)


Jennifer said...
Thanks for sharing this. I was really confused about this as the Malayalam calendar did not list Krishna Jayanthi in August...

How is the household celebrations of Krishna Jayanthi in Kerala on Sept 11 similar or different than how it is celebrated in other parts of India?

Hi Jennifer

The house hold celebrations of Krishan Jayanthi differs at different parts of Kerala. Most people have a pooja at home but the main pooja is usually in the local temple. People take out procession of little children dressed as Krishna accompanied by an orchestra of drums, flutes, etc.In the famous Guruvayoor temple of Kerala, there are elaborate celebrations on Krishna Jayanthi.

Happy Diwali

By the way, how was your India trip?

Manju said...
Congratulations on you completing 200 posts. i adore your writing style and your recipes. keep up the good work and continue to be inspiration to all of us.

Thanks Manju. Happy Diwali

Anonymous said...
well, been doing my research on sambar podis... tamils sometimes use toor dhal and pepper also in sambar podi. and the keralites have no concept called sambar podi - just their style of cooking :-) and boy does their sambar taste lovely...

Hi Anonymous

It is true that Keralites had no concept of Sambar Podi until a few years ago. They made all their curries with fresh ground masalas and the taste as you said was simply superb. With the busy life catching up with them, Kerala also has a good market for ready made powders now.

Roops said...
made kozhukattais using your recipe. Thanks! By the way, which city are you from? My dad's name is Puthucode Rama Iyer Kasi Vishwanathan but he grew up in Chelakkara. He is now in Mumbai. What about you?

Hi Roops

Nice to know about your Puthucode connections. I grew up in Puthucode and have made Bangalore my home for the past 35 years. Are you Mr.Ramchander’s niece?
Happy Diwai

Sujie said...
Hi,

Thanks for posting this great recipe. I have tried semiya payasam so many times before but got it right and this time it was perfect. Keep up the great work!!. The best thing about your recipes are you tell us how to check the consistency, and at what stage you add - so it is all step by step which is excellent..i never found a better recipe online ..thanks :)

Thanks Sujie and Happy Diwali

Sandi said...
Hi Ammu patti,

This recipe is excellent!I have made semiya payasam couple of times before, but has never been so good. Thanks once again!
Keep posting such great recipes.

Hi Sandi

Thanks and Happy Diwali

Vinitha said...
This is one is Mangalorean? Cool I must really try this sometime and you have recipes for most of my favorite dishes like Kashi halwa etc..loved your blog :)

Hi Vinitha

Hope your cucumber dosa came right. Incidentally we had cucumber dosa for breakfast again today.

Happy Diwali

Parvathy said...
Hi Ammu.. Today i did kalan for onam.. Man.. came out just like my mother used to make.. Cheers.. Looking forward for more of ur recipes :)

Hi Parvathy

I am glad you got your Kalan right. Will certainly post more. Happy Diwali

Nisha said...
How to make curd sour, as here in US, I get curd or buttermilk which is not as sour as we get in India..I made kaalan twice, and both the times, the curd got seperated...pls help me..

Hi Nisha

It is true that your curd or buttermilk doesn’t turn sour in the US. because of the weather. While I was there, I used to make sour buttermilk by keeping the pot at a warmer place like a heated room or in the sun for a day or two. Try it out and I am sure you will get good results. Best wishes


radha said...
Can you give the recipe of the sweet tomato pachadi made at tamilian weddings? Thank you

Hi radha

I shall soon

Lakshmi -Celebrations said...
Dear,
i liked the simplicity of the blog.lovely.Theres one more thing dear friend,can i use ur images in my decor blog,where i am going to write an article about athapookalam designs.i shall give alink to ur blog too.if u can give ur consent ,it would be fine.thanks you.
loved the simplicity of ur designs.some traditional and not the ones used for competitions.very grounded ones with kolams too...pl do write to em and visit my blogs too

Hi Lakshmi

You can certainly use my images giving due credit. You may also give a link to my blog.

Best wishes

geevi said...
Can you give us some good recipes for chundal?

Thank u


Hi geevi

I know that a response delayed is a response denied. Sorry, I could not post any chundal recipes in time. Perhaps before next Navarathri.

Best wishes

Parvathy said...
Hi
This recipe is very good, I knew how to make it, my mother-in-law makes it. I had a confusion in the consistency of the rice paste and whether we have to smear oil on the elai. Have some elais which we bought for onam lying, so thought of making elaiadai. Just checked in the net, your recipe was very useful.Thank you!
Hope you will post authentic and traditional kerala iyer recipes in the net again...

Parvathy

Hi Parvathy

I hope your elai adais came good. Shall try my level best to post more recipes.

Best wishes

Janaki Gopikrishna said...
can u kindly post prasadams for the nine days of navaratri. fast and easy ways to make it for Devi..

Hi Janaki

I am sure you made different kinds of neyvedyams for devi on all the 9 days.
Best wishes

Malathy Nair said...

I love Puthukode because my childhood was there. My mind is till there now the time of Navaratri.

Hi Malathy

Hope you could visit Puthucode during Navarathri.

Best wishes

Thanu said...
Hi, My MIL was fretting about some leftover ashgourd and when i googled for the halwa recipe, yours was the first in the search results. I followed your recipe except i didnt use the exact measurements.The taste was really good. Everyone including my MIL loved it. Thanks for a foolproof recipe [:D]

Hi Thanu

I am glad your halwa tasted good. Best wishes

Sandi said...
Hi Ammu patti,

This recipe is excellent!I have made semiya payasam couple of times before, but has never been so good. Thanks once again!
Keep posting such great recipes.

Hi Sandi

I am glad your semiya payasam turned out well.

Best wishes

Life Lessons from a Late Bloomer said...
I am lost for words and all that I can say is I am blessed to get into your web page on this Saraswathy Pooja/Vijayadasami day and get into know about Puthucode Bhagavathy, Sri Annapoorneswari. I really enjoy reciting, and I feel like talking to The Mother, whenever I recite Adi Shankaracharya's Annapoorna Ashtotram. I pray that She will one day take me to Puthucode. I can't wait to offer my prayers to Her.

Thank You, and very nice blog!
Hi

I am sure with Bhagavathy’s Blessings you will be able to visit and offer prayers at Puthucode Annapoorneswari temple soon.

Best wishes

ANANTHA said...
My self belongs to Puthucode South Village. I am very much proud to be a Puthucodian.

Hi Anantha

I am glad to get in touch with another Puthucodian. Which house do you belong to?

Best wishes

Rajashri said...
Hi Ammu patti,
Can you share the exact quantity of water and sugar needed to make 2 thread consistency?

Hi Rajashri
There is no exact measurement of water and sugar. The consistency is got as the sugar solution thickens. My thumb rule is to add just enough water to dissolve the sugar.

Best wishes

Lux said...
Thank you for the post!

Glad to know that you are hale and hearty :)

Hi Lux

Thanks for your concern.

Best wishes

Anonymous said...
very nice pictures of the temple. In my childhood years, I use to spend my school holidays with my grandparents in the South Village every year and loved the time I spent there. I haven't been to Puthucode for years, but will be going in couple of weeks.

Hi Anonymous

I hope you were able to go to Puthucode . Out of curiosity, who are your grandparents?

Best wishes

Rama said...
How to make the dry fruit powder? Just grind it in mixie or some processing is required before grinding?

Hi Rama
Just grind it in mixie.

Best wishes

Harini said...
Hi bhagavathy, ur halwa looks bright and yummy , had this halwa only in marriages (incluiding mine :-))I'm gonna try this as an extra sweet for diwali... i believe it should come out awesome...
Even i've started blogging last week.. check out and share your comments

harinitalks.blogspot.com

Keep posting !!!

Cheers,
Harini

Hi Harini

Deepavalikku Halwa panninaya, supera vanduda? Un bloge pathen. Just Superb.

Best wishes

Janaki Gopikrishna said...
my mom was here this week and we made all the palaharams

Hi Janaki

You did not tell us what all palaharams you and your mom made.

Best wishes

Viji said...
Hello

I am a silent follwer of your blog for (more than) a while now and wanted to wish you and your family a very happy Deepavali.

I very much enjoy reading your blog - your recipes, your opinions and comments.

I am sorry to read that your spirits are a bit low at this point in time but anything that goes down has to come up.

Cheers
Viji

(I know there are so many Vijis in the blogsphere and this Viji happens to live at Pittsburgh USA - at least for the time being :-))

Hi Viji

Thanks for being a regular reader of my blog and also for your concern.

Best wishes

DeEpAk said...
Hi Paati,

Thanks for the recipe. But, ravai lumps prevent panrathukku, fry panna ravaiku boiling water add pannen, my mom's suggestion. I had tried rava uppma earlier and ravai lumps form aachi.

Deepak.

Hi Deepak
I am glad you got good results following your mom’s suggestion.
Best wishes

Lux said...
yummilicious picture....especially those mysore pak ....can row a boat in my mouth now...Lookin' fwd for the recipes ammupatti.

Hi Lux

Very soon.
Best wishes

Deepa said...
WOW.... what an amazing Blog... I love the piece on festivals and Iyer traditions... when my north indian friends tell me that after Diwali, the only festival they have is Holi, I happily reel off Karthigai, Thiruvathurai, Sankranthi, Thai Poosam, Nombu, Ram Navami etc... such wonderful traditions.. thank you, Ammu Patti.

Loots of Love & a BIG HUG to you ( I miss my patti so much)

Deepa

Hi Deepa
Thanks much. Lots of love

Anonymous said...
mami, we make these too, but spiced with chilli pd. for the strangest reason( both my sisters-in-law find this hilarious) it is called "mannangatti Kozhukattai" ( mud / dirt ball in tamil!) maybe the colur is a brick red... i dont know.... but we love the spicy kick and the yummy taste!

Hi Anonymous

Wonderful name – Mannangatti kozhukattai. I am reminded of my grandmom who used to say,”mannu mathiri erukku” if she did not like the taste of some dish. My uncle used to tease her asking, “Mannu thinnurikkiya”

Anonymous said...
YUMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! looks like your mil is like my mum! my mum makes it for every reason - may my kids do well in their exams, may we get so and so, thank you for so and so, during aadi vellikazhamai's, during sankatahara chaturthi etc! not that we complain - we gobble it up before you can write K... and mami, my mothers kozhukattai's can create a world record - tiny, bursting with filling, a skin softer and thinner than a baby's skin... awesome... am hungry! Wish I were as good as her though....

Hi anonymous

I am sure with practice you will become as good as her in all fields.

Best wishes

Sumi said...
hmmm, tad same but very different from how we Thanjavur folks celebrate Diwali. we wake up at 3 am, but instead of ukkarai or any other sweet, the first thing they give us after ''ganga snanam'' is ''deppavali marundhu, aka legiyam''. nice post...now i crave for ukkarai. amma makes the best ukkarai, am sure u do too.

Sumi
Hi Sumi

Since we do not have varieties of sweets we do not have marundu. Yes my ukkarai came out very well. I shall post the recipe soon.

Best wishes

Anonymous said...
hello aunty,
i'm anand's batchmate in rec calicut, also frm blore....its nice reading ur blog
-karthik M

Hi Karthik
Nice to receive a comment from Anand’s batch mate. Where are you now?

Best wishes

Name said...
Hmm, I am not sure in which part of kerala is puthukotta, but my parents(both based on trivandrum) had stories of bursting crackers on diwali. I even remember my grandma telling me abt bursting crackers during deepavali. So i guess that was there from ages...We used to do enna thechu kuli in mornin and ate lots of sweets and savouries . Parippu vada and kaliodakka(kalivadakka) were must_made_items on the eve of diwali


Hi Name
Trivandrum being the capital of Kerala and also because of the proximity to Tamil Nadu always had great Tamil influence in its culture. And also I have heard that there are many 1st generation tamils in Trivandrum. So they follow the tamil tradition of bursting crackers for Deepavali. Towards Northern Kerala, there is no bursting of crackers for Deepavali to this day.
Best wishes

Oops. Big job. Must never postpone responding.

Best wishes to all

Important festivals in November 2009

This year, the month of November does not have any important festival that we observe. Usually, we have either Deepavali or Karthikai in the month of November. This year, however, Deepavali was celebrated in October and Karthikai falls in December. The people of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have already celebrated Karthik Poornima on the 2nd November. This is again because, as I had said earlier, the Tamils and the Keralaites observe Souramana Ugadi or Solar year and people in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh observe Chandramana Ugadi or the Lunar year. According to lunar year the month of Karthik begins on the new moon day, which happened to be the day of Deepavali this year, where as for people observing Solar year the month of Karthikai or Vrichikam begins on the 16th November. The full moon day following 16th November is celebrated as Karthikai in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. More about Karthikai later.

The story of Narakasura

Following up on my Deepavali post, I decided to post the story of Narakasura. I have posted it on Kathai Kathaiyam. Please read and enjoy.

Deepavali

Deepavali represents the victory of light over darkness, goodness over wickedness.

Hope every one had a nice Deepavali (yes, that's how it is known in the southern states of India). As is my practice I go back to my childhood days on each festival day and the things I remember are being woken up very early in the morning and given an oil bath and given pakoda and ukkarai to eat at that unearthly hour. Deepavali was not a big festival in rural Kerala in those days. Only the Tamil speaking Iyers or Iyengars celebrated Deepavali in Kerala in those days. They also did not have a big celebration unlike people from other states. Especially for Puthucodians, coming as it does after the greatest festival of the year, Navarathri, Deepavali was a low key affair.There were no fire crackers or new clothes. We also did not light diyas for Deepavali, we would do that for Karthikai. Kerala had fire crackers for Vishu and new dresses for Onam. So what did we have for Deepavali?

There of course was a special snack preparation for Deepavali in all the houses and invariably all the houses had Pakoda and Ukkarai for Deepavali. Then on the eve of Deepavali, all the households stored water in big utensils called Anda and Arkkinchatti, emptying the water from the wells. The firewood stove in the bathroom was also kept ready for heating up the bath water early next morning. Though usually we all went to the nearby stream for our bath, on Deepavali day everyone took bath in hot water at home.There would invariably be the story telling session by our Echiyamma and on the eve of Deepavali it was the story of Narakasura vadha. (I narrate the story as told by our echiyamma). Our echiyamma would wake us all up at 3 am. While our mother got busy with lighting the big stove in the bathroom for heating the water, our athai would make a small kolam and place a wooden palakai (a small stool) on the kolam. We all would sit on the palakai one by one and our echiyamma would pour one spoon of oil on top of our head symbolically. Our athai would take over from there and oil our hair and body thoroughly and get us all ready for our bath. Our athai and mother would give us all a hot water bath rubbing our hair with soapnut powder and body with greengram dal powder. Our athanga (athai's eldest daughter) would dry our hair and comb and plait them. Then came the most important ritual. We all would put on our best dress (not brand new) and say our prayers in the pooja room. Then we were given the ribbon pakoda and ukkarai to eat. Sankaran, the man who milked our cows and buffaloes would not have come at that early hour and hence we would have to wait for our coffee until he came. We would all crib for coffee. When we had had our snacks and our mother, athai and echiyamma had gone for their bath (they went to the stream for their bath), we all would fall asleep one by one where we sat (We were not allowed to sleep in bed after the bath). When Sankaran finally came and milked the cows and coffee was made, we would all be woken up for the second time. By now the sun would have risen and we would go out and meet our friends and eat some pakoda or ukkarai from their homes as well, come back home and have a breakfast of Idli and Chutney.

In the evening the children (under 20) of all villages took out a procession of a decorated chariot or car (ther in tamil) to the accompaniment of Nadaswaram. The children made their own collection of funds for this and this was a good entertainment for all of us.

After a few years, some households started making sugar based sweets, like Thengaiburfi and diamond biscuits and it is only recently that people have started making mysore pak and laddus for Deepavali in Kerala.

So after my marriage when I came to live in Bangalore, we always made sugar based sweets like Badusha, rava laddu, Mysore-pak, Boondi laddu, Gulab jamun etc., and never tried Ukkarai. So this Deepavali I prepared Ukkarai. I also prepared Methi Para, thenkuzhal and Mysore-pak for Deepavali.

Happy Deepavali

I wish you all a very Happy Deepavali.

Important festivals in October 2009

Thanks everybody for your kind messages during my long sabbatical. We are all doing very fine, thanks to the Blessings of Bhagavathy and the best wishes of all of you. As I had mentioned earlier we had got into some minor renovation of our home, which per the contractor was supposed to take 3 weeks and at most 4 weeks. And it took, hold your breath, exactly 7 weeks, at the end of which we just sent them away as we already had planned on going to Hyderabad the next day. We also had to celebrate Onam, Ganesh Chaturthi and Navarathri as well as my mother-in-law's anniversary during this time. All these activities had me on my toes all my waking hours and I had no energy left even to check my email. We just reached Hyderabad and what torrential rains we had! Non-stop for 5 days. And to think that the roads we had travelled on just the previous day had all been washed away gave me the jitters. My heart goes out to all those who lost their everything in the floods of last week. Generally I was at my lowest ebb.

The show must go on. Here then is the list of festivals for October 2009. The only festival in October 2009 is Deepavali.

17th October 2009 - Deepavali.
Deepavali or Diwali as it is known in the North India is the biggest festival of the year. People across the country celebrate Deepavali differently. The common celebration being the lighting of diyas and bursting of crackers and consumption of mounds and mounds of sweets. The festival itself is celebrated on different days in different parts of the country. Whereas in Tamil Nadu Naraka Chathurdashi is celebrated as Diwali, most other people celebrate Amavasya as Diwali. Many people observe a vrath for Diwali and in north India Laxmi Pooja is done on Diwali day.

The most important part of Diwali being preparation of sweets. I have given many recipes for sweets and savouries. Have your pick and enjoy!

Happy Diwali to one and all!

The Blandings Media Empire Keeps Expanding

The Blandings Media Empire has a new addition to its rolls: Gally Says. Gally has wondered about Ministers twittering, ministers in zoos, and the Swine Flu craziness in India. Do give it a read!

Important festivals in September 2009

2 Sep - Onam
I have posted about Onam many times in the past of course. This year I am preparing a grand lunch at home since both my handsome and charming sons are at home.
11 Sep - Ashtami Rohini
As I explained in an earlier post about Janmashtami, this year Ashtami Rohini is being celebrated at a different time in Kerala than other states in India.
19 Sep - Start of Navaratri Pooja
Sharath Navaratri as it is known in the south, Durga Pooja as it is known in the east, Ram Lila in the north is an important festival in the hindu calendar extending for nine days starting on the Prathama after the Mahalaya Amavasya. Though the last three days Durgashtami, ahanavami and Vijayadashami are the more important days of the festival, south Indians start the navaratri pooja starting from Prathama. A display of dolls known as bomma kolu is kept in a specially decorated presentation and all neighbourhood ladies are invited to participate in the daily poojas. All the invitees are given tambulam (betel leaves, nuts, turmeric, kumkum) along with coconut and a small packet of the day's neivedyam.
26 Sep - Durgashtami
On the evening of Durgashtami, after the usual pooja, all the books are kept in preparation for the next day's Saraswati pooja. They are covered with a silk cloth where they will remain for two days. This is known as adachu pooja (close pooja). During this time, nobody reads any books.
27 Sep - Saraswathi Puja
Special pooja is done to the book pile kept and the neivedyam is palpayasam and parippu vada.
28 Sep - Vijaya Dasami / Vidyarambham
Vijaya Dasami or Vidyarambham (as it is known in Kerala)
is the day when the books are taken out after ofering the pooja. This is also the day when many children are initiated to writing and reading by making them writing the alphabet in a plate of rice. The neivedyam usually is vella payar (sweet cow peas), neyappam, vadai and payasam.

Happy Gowri Ganesha

Our house is being renovated and so I cannot find enough time to sit at the computer to write about Ganesh Chathurthi which falls on Sunday. So, here's wishing you all a Happy Ganesh Chathurthi, or as they say here in Karnataka, Happy Gowri Ganesha!

The picture above is from one of the street celebrations in our neighbourhood last year.

Don't forget to make kozhukkattais!

The story of Lord Sree Krishna's birth

To commemorate Janmashtami, I have posted the story of Lord Sree Krishna's birth on the Kathai Kathaiyam blog.