Pongalo pongal/Recipe Nutriladdu

New year has dawned and we have already celebrated new years' day and thiruvathira.

Tomorrow is Makara Sankranthi/ Pongal. The weather in the southern India is slowly warming up leaving the cold winter nights behind, though northern India is still reeling under the cold. It would continue to be cold there till holi which is when they celebrate burning their old things akin to what is done in the south during bhogi. We had a fairly cold winter this year in Bangalore, accompanied by rains at times thanks to Thane and other short fused cyclones in the bay. People in parts of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry were the worst affected because of Thane and when seeing the clips of Thane ravaged beach road of Pondicherry I was reminded of our trip to Pondicherry last January . The beach road in Pondicherry is a lovely walking plaza and I enjoyed walking there on all days of our stay there.

Though winter is fast fading out, the mornings will continue to remain foggy and misty. A rich diet of proteins and carbohydrates is recommended to ward off the colds and coughs caused by the weather. That's is the reason why SarkkaraiPongal and Venpongal with lots of dal and rice and ghee is prepared and distributed during Pongal. In Karnataka a mixture of dried coconut, groundnuts, sesame seeds and jaggery is distributed to friends and neighbours during Makarasankranthi. "Ellu Bella thinni Olle mathannu adi" ( eat sweetened sesame seeds and speak sweet words).

I am giving a recipe for a nutritious laddu( poushtik laddu) which is rich in proteins and carbo and is very good for kids and grown ups alike. This laddu can be prepared with any assorted nuts and is quite easy to prepare. Here I have prepared with the more common sesame seeds and ground nuts.One can use either white or black sesame seeds. I prefer to use black sesame seeds.


Ingredients:

Sesame seeds : 1 cup
Groundnuts     :1 cup
Fried dal (pottukadalai) :1/2 cup
Jaggery   :  21/2 cups
Ghee: 2 tbsp
Cardomom powder / dry ginger powder(chukku) 1 tsp.

Mehod:

Wash and clean the sesame seeds. Drain and spread on a clean towel to dry. Heat a pan and dry roast the sesame seeds, until the seeds start spluttering. Remove. Roast the ground nuts and fried dal separately.Remove and cool. Grind the ground nuts and  roasted dal coarsely.  Make a 2 string(kallupaku) syrup of jaggery. Add the ground nuts, fried dal and roasted sesame seeds and the ghee. Add the cardomom or chukku powder. Mix well.Remove from heat. Allow to cool a little. Make small balls of the mixture, when it is still warm. While making the balls, smear little ghee in your palms so that the mixture will not stick to your hands.

The hot mixture from the stove can also be poured into a greased plate and cut to shape when a little cool, to get chikkies.

nJOY!

WISHING EVERONE A HAPPY PONGAL AND JOYOUS DAYS AHEAD!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Important festivals in August 2009

It has been some time since I posted. During this time, I went on a very satisfying pilgrimage to Sabarimala and have been busy since my return. Before I realised it, we were on the threshold of August, which is a month full of festivals after a lean period of a couple months. Since details of the Sabarimala trip will take longer to post, here are the important dates for the month of August 2009.

5th August 2009 - Aavani Avittam or Yajur Upakarma
Yajur Upakarma is a very important festival in the Hindu calendar. Though only the menfolk observe the rituals, it is equally important for the whole family. Tradtionally the rituals start early in the morning with recital of Kamokarshit japa followed by Yagnopaveetha dharanam and Kandarishi tharpanam. After this is the Vedarambham.

The rituals are as always followed by a sumptuous lunch with payasam and vadai. Many dishes like Morkoottan or Parikkai pitla or Aviyal, thoran, pachadi, erissery are prepared for the lunch.

6th August 2009 - Gayathri japam

Again the rituals are only for the menfolk. The men have to recite the gayatri mantra 1008 times in the morning.

13th August 2009 - Gokulashtami or Ashtami Rohini or Janmashtami

Gokulashtami is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna. There are many people who observe a fast on this day until midnight, which is supposed to be the time of Krishna’s birth.

The main neyvedyams for Gokulashtami are Cheedais, Neyyappam, Sweet Avil, Palpayasam and Butter.

23rd August 2009 - Ganesh Chaturthi and Sama Upakarma

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha. The festival is celebrated differently in different parts of India. Among the Tamil Iyers it is celebrated by offering pooja to Lord Ganesha and offering Kozhukkattai, Neyyappam and Payasam as neyvedyams. Though it is not a custom among Kerala Iyers, many families install an idol of Lord Ganesha and do pooja and immerse the idol in a lake or river or sea on the 3rd or 5th day after Chathurthi.

The Upakarma or Avani Avittam for Samavedis is also celebrated on this day, though the Gayathri Japam is done along with Yajurvedis on the 6th August.

Important festivals in July 2009

The month being Aani and Aadi, the monsoon months in India in general and in Southern India in particular, there are not many important festivals in July. The festival season begins with the advent of Shravana in the month of August. However there are some important days observed in the month of Karkitakam/Aadi.

17th July 2009 - Karkitaka Sankranthi
Devi Bhagavathi is worshipped specially in the month of Karkitakam and the pooja starts on this day. The house and surroundings are given a good cleaning and Devi is installed in a special peetham in the pooja room

21st July 2009
This is considered a special day to propitiate the pitrus and pitru tarpana is given to the deceased especially by the side of holy rivers.

31st July 2009 - Varamahalakshmi Pooja
This is a special pooja performed by women to propitiate Devi Bhagavathi for the well being of the family and a long and happy married life. This the pooja is not performed in our family and hence I am not aware of all the rituals connected with the pooja.

Have a healthy Karkitakam!

Important festivals in June 2009

There are no important festivals that are celebrated at home in June. However, the full moon day in the month of Vaikasi (May-June) is celebrated as Vaikasi Vishakham in all the Subramania temples in the south. As we have seen, all full moon days are celebrated as special days in the Hindu calendar. Vaikasi Vishakham is considered as the day Lord Subramania was born. The purpose of his birth was to kill demons like Tharakasura, Soorapadma etc. It is considered good to donate fruits and grains to the needy on this day. Since this is the season of mangoes and jack fruits these fruits along with banana, called muppazham (three fruits) are given to Brahmins as a good karma.

Important festivals in May 2009

Someone rightly pointed out there aren't any important festivals that we celebrate in the month of May. That is if you do not count Chithra Pournami as a festival celebrated at home. Chithra Pournami is the full moon day in the month of Chithirai (April-May) and is celebrated as the birthday of Chitragupta. This year Chithra Pournami is on the 9th May.

Chitragupta is the accounts keeper of Lord Yama. He keeps the accounts of the good and bad deeds committed by the humans and advises Lord Yama of the appropriate place for them in heaven or hell at the end of their lives. There are various stories about the birth of Chitragupta. Yama found it very difficult to keep track of the good and bad deeds committed by the humans and pleads with Lord Brahma to give him an assistant who can keep track of this. Lord Brahma goes into deep meditation and at the end of his meditation finds a young man in front of him with a pen in his hand and names him as Chitragupta and assigns him as the deputy of Yama.

In another story Chitragupta is depicted as being given life by Lord Shiva to a portrait drawn by Devi Parvathi. Since he emerged from a Chithiram (portrait) he was named Chitragupta.

It is also said that Indrani, Lord Indra's consort, wanted to have a child and prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva asks Chitragupta to be born as the son of Indrani. So meticulous is he in keeping the accounts of everybody's destiny that Chitragupta refuses to be born from the womb of Indrani as Indrani is not destined to have children. Lord Shiva then sends Kamadhenu, the celestial cow, to Indra's abode and asks Chitragupta to be born from the womb of Kamadhenu.

Chitrapournami is celebrated as a big festival in many temples. The Chitrapournami festival in Madurai is especaially famous.

Our Echiyamma (my beloved grandmother) used to celebrate (or perhaps appease Chitragupa) Chitrapournami by gifting a bamboo tray (Muram in tamil and malayalam) filled with fruits, idli, payasam and an iron ezhuthani (a metallic scriber with which inscriptions were made on palm leaves in the olden days) to a brahmachari (bachelor). She would tell the brahmachari to return the ezhuthani later and would pay him four annas in lieu. The ezhuthani would be kept safe for use for the coming year. So for us Chitrapournami was also a festival at home since we got a feast on that day.

Though there are not any festivals during this month, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala this is the time for the festivals in various temples. In Kerala, the festival season starts by February at the end of the harvest season and goes on till the end of May or upto mid June. Of these the Thrissur Pooram festival is the biggest event of all and is a treat to eyes and ears.

Important Festivals in April 2009

3rd April 2009 - Sreerama Navami
Sreeramanavami is celebrated as Lord Rama’s birthday. Special poojas are conducted in temples and also at various venues. At home we celebrate Sreeramanavami by preparing vella avil (sweet poha), vadai and panakam and offered as neyvedyam. Many people prepare payasam also.

8th April 2009 - Pankuni Uthiram
In the month of Pankuni, the full moon day coincides with the day of the star Uthiram and is celebrated as Pankuni Uthiram. Pankuni Uthiram is celebrated as the day Lord Muruga wedded Devayani and hence is an important festival in all Muruga temples. It is also believed to be the day of Lord Shiva’s wedding with Parvathy and Lord Ranganatha’s wedding with Ranganayaki Thayar and Lord Srirama’s wedding with Sita. It also celebrated as Lord Ayyappa’s birthday in Sabarimala. Special poojas are conducted in the temples. At home it is observed by offering Panakam and Sweet Payar to Lord Muruga and partaking the prasadam.

14th April 2009 – Vishu
Vishu is the New Year day for people of Kerala and also Tamil Nadu. The important ritual on Vishu day is the seeing of Vishukani on the morning of Vishu followed by the eldest member of the family giving Kaineettams (gifts of money) to all the younger members of family. Then of course follows the special vishu lunch.

27th April - Akshaya Thrithiya
Akshaya Thrithiya falls on the third day of the bright half of Vaishakh month (April-May).The word akshaya means eternal or that which never diminishes and hence it is believed that any project initiated on this day will reach great heights. Akshaya Thrithiya is celebrated in the famous Guruvayoor temple in Kerala as the birthday of Lord Balarama. It is believed to be the day when Lord Krishna bestowed wealth and prosperity on his childhood friend, Kuchela(Sudhama) who went to meet him with a packet of avil (poha). Many people symbolically buy something new on this day. More recently, there is a new craze among people to buy gold on this day so that they will be able to buy more gold in the coming days of the year which is being fully exploited by the jewellers.

Important festivals in March 2009

10th March 2009 - Maasi Pournami (all Maasi Pournami related posts)
The full moon day in each Tamil month falls on a different star or nakshatra and that day is generally known by the name of the star. In the month of Thai (January-February) it falls on Poosam nakshatram and hence known as Thai Poosam. In the following month, Maasi (February-March) it falls on the Makam nakshatram and known as Maasi Makam, though in our parts it is more popularly known as Maasi Pournami. Offering of Payasam to Lord Siva after the moon rises and distributing the payasam to children are the important rituals of the day.

14th March 2009 - Karadayan Nonbu (2008, 2007, all Nonbu related posts)
As I had written earlier, this particular pooja is offered at the time of the birth of the new month Panguni (Meena) which varies every year. This year the Sankramanam (time of birth of the new month) is at 2.54 pm and hence pooja and neyvedyam to be offered at that time. Neyvedyam - Adai

27th March 2009 - Ugadi
Ugadi is the new year day for Telugus as well as Kannadigas

Important festivals in February 2009

Before continuing with my Kanu descriptions, I need to take a time out to list the festivals we observe in the month of February. Well this is half Thai and half Maasi ( the Tamil months) or half Makaram and half Kumbham (Malayalam months). Not many festivals during this period although Kerala comes alive with the temple festivals of Poorams and Velais. The Poorams start after the harvesting seasons, one of the main reasons being that the Ezhunnellippu (procession of caparisoned elephants) is done mostly in the fields after the harvest.

8th February 2009 - Thai Poosam
A festival celebrated in the Muruga temples all over the world. As with other festivals, there are various legends associated with this festival too. According to popular legend, it is the day Lord Muruga destroyed the demon King Tharakasura. We used to observe the festival at home by offering some neyvedyam like Vella payar or Panakam to Lord Muruga. The more important ritual is to take a coconut to the tank or stream where one takes bath and breaking the coconut at the side of the stream after the bath and offering it to Lord Muruga there itself. I am not able to find a convincing reason for this ritual. Usually neyvedyams are offered at the temples or at homes; what is the significance of offering the neyvedyam at the bathing ghat? If any of the readers knows the answer, please enlighten me.

23rd February 2009 - Mahashivarathri
One cannot call Mahashivarathri a festival in the real sense of the word. I would rather call it day of meditation and fasting and getting rejuvenated mentally as well as physically. Most people observe a fast on this day with a jagaran (keeping awake) for 36 hours. That is starting from daybreak on Mahashivarathri day until night falls the next day. Different people observe the fast differently. The full fast is observed by not taking any food till sunset. After offering Pooja and Argya to Lord Shiva after sunset, light saltless refreshments (Vella dosa, Parippukanji, fruits, etc.) are partaken. People who cannot fast the whole day, take some light refreshments once during the day and once in the night.

Important festivals in January 2009

Readers of my blog have been asking me to post about the important events in advance so that they can observe the festivals according to our tradition. I have wanted to do it for a long time but every time I missed it. I am making an effort to post the important events of the current month starting January, 2009. Please wish me success.

Here are the important festivals for January which we are celebrating. Customs and traditions and rituals differ from household to household and hence this by no means is a guide to observe the festival. I am posting what we have been observing in our family for generations. I believe the spirit of festival is in remembering and enjoying it with family and friends in whatever manner and not in sticking to rule books.

10th January 2009 – Thiruvathira (2006 Thiruvathira post, all Thiruvathira related posts)
The important rituals for Thiruvathira are an early morning oil bath followed by a visit to Shiva temple. Preparing Kali and Kari and offering to Lord Shiva. Visiting elders of the family and taking blessings from them. Also take along the Kali and Kari you prepared for their reviews. Have a nice Thiruvathira.

13th January 2009 – Bhogi
We don’t observe any special rituals on Bhogi day. In the evening, the house is cleaned and Rangolis made in front of the house for next days Pongal festival.

14th January 2009 – Pongal (all my pongal related posts)
The important ritual observed on Pongal day is preparing Pongal and offering to Lord Suryanarayana.

Actually at home, the practice was to prepare Pongal with just milk and no sugar or jaggery. Our echiyamma would put one jaggery piece on top of the unsweetened Pongal and offer it to Lord Suryanarayana and we all would fight for that piece of jaggery. A portion of this neyvedyam is kept aside for the next day’s offering to crows.

These days, we prepare Sarkkarai Pongal and offer as neyvedyam.


15th January 2009 – Kanu / Mattupongal
The important rituals on Kanu day are taking blessings from the elders, (The elders in the family used to apply turmeric on the foreheads of younger girls and bless them), offering curd rice topped with coconut pieces and turmeric pieces and jaggery pieces to crows and taking oil bath.

Of course, the most important ritual of Kanu is the variety spread for lunch which includes various types of mixed rice and Keerai masiyal and vadams and karuvadams.

Wishing Happy Thiruvathira and Pongal to all!