Upanayanam

Those who study the Vedas consider that among all sanskara rituals, the initiation rituals of Upanayanam are the most important.
Upanayanam, also known as the sacred thread ceremony. is usually performed at the age of seven or eight because that is the age when a child stops getting the benefits of the karmas of his parents and will have to learn and perform his own karmas. Upa means near and nayanam means going; that is the act of going to a teacher to learn.
The meaning of the word upanayanam can also be interpreted as nayanam meaning eye prefixed with upa- (auxiliary), making for the interpretative meaning: bringing (the ultimate truth nearer in sight).
There is plenty about Upanayanams on Wikipedia.
According to Aapasthambha Maharshi, a brahmachari should not

• Sleep during the day


• Use cosmetics or perfumes


• Have close contact with girls


• Engage in gossip


• Indulge in entertainment


• Indulge in boasting

He should be disciplined, quiet, self confident, tireless, soft spoken and without ego or jealousy. Chanting of Gayatri Mantra regularly gives him the strength to follow the above rules. This gayatri mantra is taught to the brahmachari by the father taking the position of guru, which is known as Brahmopadesam.
The Upanayanm function starts with Punyahavachanam followed by Yagnopaveethadharanam. The Muhurtham is the time of Brahmopadesam.

After yajnopaveethadhaarnam is Kumarabhojanam. Kumarabhojanam is common both for Upanayanam and choulam. According to the vedic karmas, the vatu (the boy whose upanayanam is being performed is commonly referred to as vatu) should be served with rice, ghee and milk without salt or spices. The vatu (disciple) is supposed to eat bland food throughout his brahmacharya (the period during which he is supposed to do vedadhyana) and taste good food only when he enters Grihasthashrama with the vratha ritual of his marriage. At this time he is blindfolded and when he opens his eyes, he is fed neiyappam (from when he starts eating tasty food) and shown the mirror, from when he starts beautifying himself.
During Kumarabhojanam, another kumara who is not yet a brahmachari is made to sit with the vatu and served food. At some places, another brahmachari is seated along with the vatu and also the food served is rice cooked with turmeric powder and dal, along with fried rice pappads.

After Kumarabhojanam is the vapanam, or shaving of the hair for the vatu. The first locks are cut by the father and then by the barber. Usually, this is a noisy scene during choulam, as this is the first time the boy gets a hair cut.

After the vapanam, the boys are given bath, dressed in new clothes and taken to the temple. In the olden days, this bath was given at the stream and the ladies would all accompany them and dress up the boys at the stream side. From there, they come in a procession to the temple. The maternal uncle of the boy is supposed to carry the vatu during this procession. Aarati is done to the boys in all the houses and also they are given a small gift, usually a piece of jaggery, sugar candy or banana. In return, a packet containing a murukku and laddu is given to all the houses. The aarati water is poured on the dhoti of the uncle. This procession goes upto the temple and returns to complete the rituals.

The rituals of Choula karma is almost over after the boy comes back from the temple and the homa and ashirvadam.

Agnimukham is performed and the boy is given all the symbols of a brahmachari. First the boy made to stand on a stone and the father says, “You should be as strong-willed as this stone”.

Then the father ties a long cloth (known as kuttai) around the brahmachari’s waist and prays, “May the Gods give you long life, strength, health and wealth” (In the olden days, the brahmachari was supposed to wear this cloth for 3 days). A cord made of three strings of Durva (Moujibandhanam) is also tied around the brahmachari’s waist, symbolizing the three sections of Vedas which will protect him from all evils. A piece of deer skin (krishnajinam) is also tied around bramachari’s waist, which will make him bright in intellect as the blazing sun. He will be endowed with health, wealth and prosperity. He will become strong spiritually and intellectually.

Then the brahmachari is taught the most sacred Gayatri mantra by the father. He is taught all the rules of Brahmacharya vratha. He is also given Palasha Danda (a small twig of the peepul tree) as a symbol of brahmachari.

The brahmachari is supposed to live on the food he receives as alms by going from house to house. As a symbolic representation of this now forgotten system, the brahmachari asks for alms from his mother and all the other ladies of the congregation.

Followed by Ashirvadam and aarathi, the upanayana karma comes to a happy end.

The brahmachari is supposed to be in a sort of vrata for the following three days, doing all the nityakarmas of the brahmachari but not going out. On the fourth day, a Pranava Sradha Medha Puja and homa is done, when the kuttai is removed and given to the Acharya and the moujibandanam, krishanjinam and palasha danda are also taken from the bramachari. In the olden days, new palashadanada, moujibanda and krishanajina were given to the brahmachari.
The Upanayanam is the most sacred ritual in the life of a boy as all through the ceremony the Guru (father) appeals to the Supreme beings to take care of the boy and give him long life, health, happiness, intellect and lead him through the right path and give him strength to face all odds in life and also mental strength to lead good life and turn back from all evils. It is an earnest prayer from the father, having brought the child up to his adolescent age, to all powers in this universe, the earth, the water, the sky, the ether, the fire, all the stars, all the deities who are the devatas of all the eight directions (ashtadigpalakas), all the vedic scholars and elders of the community and all the pitrus to take good care of the boy from then onwards. And also by teaching him the Gayatri Mantra he makes the boy responsible for his well being and also advises him on the various dos and don’ts of the life, when he is going to be away in the Gurukula in pursuit of knowledge.
This karma has a very powerful influence on the boy and the family, if the purpose and meaning of each ritual is properly understood and followed.
It is one ritual no one should avoid or postpone as it gives the boy great strength of mind. Practicing the Gayatri mantra everyday makes him strong willed, confident, intelligent and pure in his thoughts and deeds.
Explaining the meaning of all rituals will take lot more space and time; perhaps, I should be able to give the meanings of some of the rituals more elaborately some other time.

Nandisradham

Our elders have deemed some vedic functions as very important in our lives. Jatakarmam, Namakaranam, Annaprasanam, Choulam, Upanyanam, marriage, pumsavanam-seemantham, shahtyabdapurthy santhi, satahbhishekam, and kanakabhishekam are part of this list. Such functions are performed elaborately often over two days or more. They are normally preceded by Purvanga rituals. The purvanga rituals are aimed at purifying the person, purifying the puja upakaranas and invoking the blessings of the Gods and forefathers. Accordingly udakasanthi, angurarapanam, pratisarabandhanam and nandisradham are performed either in the morning of the day of the function or on the previous day, depending upon the length and complexity of the main function, the hours of the muhurtam etc. On occasions where Ashtotharam is performed it will have to be done on the previous day as it is quite elaborate and time consuming. Similarly, Nandisradham also will have to be performed the previous day if “feeding of Brahmins” is done as part of it. Sometimes for various reasons it is performed by inviting the Brahmins, invoking the forefathers and then giving them dakshina, rice and vegetables. As this function takes hardly an hour it can be performed on the day of the main function itself. Further, these days as vadhyars are scarce and most of the functions are conducted at mantapams rented at exorbitant costs for this purpose, and also the difficulty in entertaining the guests for more days etc, all the functions are compressed and conducted within a single day. The luxury of performing the functions over two or more days can be had only in villages as in the present case. In the present case we had the added advantage of easy availability of a sufficiently large hall for the purpose. Accordingly the rituals were extended over three days as follows:
Ashtotharam on the first day, nandisradham, angurarapanam and pratisarabandanam on the second day, and the main functions of the upanayanam and choulam on the third day. Being a village taking care of the guests was not a big problem. Space, accommodation and other infrastructure were not major constraints. Being summer holidays many elderly guests who had nostalgic memories of village life in their childhood had converted this occasion into a long cherished holiday in the village; later they went on pilgrimage in Kerala or to visit other relatives and friends in Kerala and adjoining states. I would like to mention here that all villages in Kerala these days are as good as small towns elsewhere in India in respect of communication and transportation facilities, availability of other infrastructure etc. Connectivity by mobile phones, landlines, public transports, availability of taxis, autos on telephone call, internet cafes and departmental stores at street corners, availability of emergency medical attention, provision of safe water in the households are all the hallmarks of most of the villages in Kerala now; while retaining the old rustic charm.
Nandisradham is performed to get the blessings of the forefathers before an important ritual like Upanayanam. Some people perform it before marriages also, in a small way of course. Nandi in Sanskrit means the beginning, so with Nandi begins the actual rituals for the functions. Usually during the Nandisradham before Upanayanam, the Brahmins are fed and various Upacharams are offered to them, whereas during the Nandisradham before the marriage, they are only given rice and vegetables and dakshina. I have not seen an elaborate Nandisradham being performed before marriage.

In a recent marriage we attended I talked to the vadhyar about the nandi sradham being performed during the marriage rituals. He mentioned that the rituals are performed in a very simple way by chanting the mantras and the dakshina is kept aside to be given away to the brahmins later. He also said that the sight of rice and raw banana during the marriage functions was simply not acceptable in many homes, thereby rendering the performance explicitly impossible. Some families rule out the performance simply stating that it was not done in their families. However, in the present case it was done elaborately by drawing nine kolams on the mantapam immediately after the vratham, placing a plantain leaf on each kolam conaining rice, vazhakkai, thamboolam, dals, pazham etc and nine brahmins were seated , one each against each leaf. The groom’s father then invoked the deavas and the forefathers two at a time and mahavishnu at the end in the following order:
Sathyavasusamyak visvedaeva (2), Prapitamahi and Pithamahi (2), Prapitamaha and pitamaha (2), Sapatnika matuhprapitamaha and sapatnika matuhpitamaha (2) and Mahavishnu (1), thus making a total of nine. Each Brahmin was then offered the contents of the leaf along with dakshina; again invocaion was done two at time as described above. It may be noted that in case the nandisradham is performed on a day prior to the main function the brahmnins are given more upacharams like vastram, jalapatram, umbrella, footwear, fan, stick etc and are also fed sumptuously as explained elsewhere ( feeding being done in place of rice, dal and vazhakkai, as in the present case).

The Nandisradham differs from the regular Sradham (anniversary) though both are meant to get the blessings of the forefathers. Nandisradham is known as Shobanasradham and no homam is done. The happy mood of the function going to be performed next day prevails during the Nandisradham also. There is festivity in the air. As no homam is performed in which havis is offered to the Agni and then offered to the pitruswarupa Brahmins, there is no pitrusesham and all can partake of the food after the Brahmins are fed, whereas during the Pratyabdikasradham, the pitrusesham can be partaken only by the immediate blood relatives. Further, for the pratyabdikasradham the month, paksham and thithi are fixed as on the day of the death of the parent, no particular thithi needs to be chosen for the performance of the nandisradham. Normally it is performed on the day previous to the main muhurtham.
During Nandisradham, Kolam is drawn and the rituals are performed on that. Usually there are 9 Brahmins on whom the father, paternal grandfather (or paternal grandfather and his father, if father is alive) mother and paternal grandmother (or paternal grandmother and her mother-in-law if mother is alive), maternal grandfather and grandmother, 2 vishwedevas and one Mahavishnuswarupa are invoked. In some places, there are 2 mahavishnuswarupas, thus taking the number to 10.
Before the Nandisradham, Udakasanthi, Angurarpanam and Kanganadharanam is performed. As we were having the choulam and upanayanam for two of my nephews on the same day, all the above rituals, except Nandisradham, were done for both the boys simultaneously.

Choulam is the first mundan ceremony for boys and is usually conducted between the age of 2 and 3. According to Sastras, this should be the first occasion when a razor is used on the child’s head. Due to various reasons, we could not perform the choulam for our handsome and charming younger son till the age of 5. So he had long hair when he went to kindergarten causing his teacher to send a note saying, “Please cut your daughter’s hair.” Eventually, we took him to Palani and offered his hair to the God there.

These days, it is only in very few families the choulam ceremony is conducted; if not, just the vedic rituals are conducted along with Upanayanam. Last year when we wanted to conduct the choulam for a nephew in Bangalore, our vadhyar said that there was no vadhyar who knows to conduct the choulam in Bangalore and we had to get our family vadhyar from Puthucode.
Udakasanthi involves invoking the presence of Varuna, the God of rain and water, and the other devatas and the holy rivers like Ganga, Jamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, Cauvery, in the water kept in the kumbham(pot) through the chanting of mantras from the Vedas and doing abhisheka (pouring over the head) with that water to the boy whose upanayanam or choulam is to be performed. This is the ritualistic bath given in functions like upanayanam, choulam, seemantham (it is done for the wife), shastiabdapoorthy, shathabhishekam etc., seeking the blessings of the Gods and the holy rivers to protect the ward and praying for long life, health and happiness.

After Udakasanthi is Angurarpanam or Paalikai, in which navadhanyas (seeds of nine cereals and pulses) soaked in milk are purified by mantras and sown into 5 pre-prepared pots or paalikai kinnams by 5 sumangalis. Colloqially it is called paalikai thalikal. The privilege for sowing the seeds into paalikai goes to the boy’s mother, followed by grandmothers, athai, mami etc. These days, to accommodate very important invitees, the list gets longer and longer and instead of 5 sumangalis, there are at times, 11 or more. In a recent marriage I had seen a similar function being performed by quite a few ladies. The list went on and on until the vadhyar put a stop to it, to continue with other functions. The ladies are then given thamboolam and dakshina.

The sown seeds need to be watered for 3 or 5 days by which time they sprout and grow to a good height. This symbolizes long life and prosperity. Actually twice a day, in the morning and the evening, the wife of the Kartha (the mother of the boy whose upanayanam, choulam or wedding is being performed) does a small neivedyam of betel leaves and 2 plantains and sprinkles water and prays for the well being of all. After 5 days, the sprouts are immersed in running water (preferred), or in a tank or well. This immersion of the sprouts is to be done by 2 young girls accompanied with vadyam (a boy accompanies them beating a plate with a stick). On return, aarati is done to the girls and they also get a cash reward (when we were young, we used to get 25 paise).
After angurarpanam, is the kangandharan. A thread sanctified by mantras, is tied to the boy’s right wrist to ward off all obstacles and give him long life and prosperity. It is believed that once the kangandharan is done, the proceedings of the function cannot be stopped.

Only after Kangandharan is Nandisradham performed. As said earlier, 9 Brahmins are invited and the late forefathers are invoked on them and blessings from them are sought for the successful conduct of the functions and the long life and prosperity of the whole family. The Brahmins are given new vastrams, dakshina, jalapatrams and meals. Here again, the menu is satvic or samaradhanai samayal.
The Nandisradham is different from the annual pitrusradhams in many ways. The mood itself is different. Whereas, during the pitrusradhams, the mood is somber during nandisradham there is a festive mood. No kolam is drawn during pitrusradham and kolam is drawn during nandisradham.

The food is offered as neivedyam to Grihadevathas during Nandisradham.

In the case of Shashtyabdapoorthy and Satabhishekam , normally udakasanthi and rudrekadasini are conducted on the previous day.
During the Nandisradham conducted at our house the menu was as follows:

We had Jangiri, Parippu vadai, Rasavadai, Banana and Jackfruit chips, Palpayasam, Chakka ( jackfruit) Pradhaman, Mambazha Pulisserry, Chakka kari, Thoran, Thayir Pachadi, Rasa vadai, Thogayal, Curds. Again, no pappadams for Nandisradham.

Recipe: Idiyappam/Noolpittu

Noolpittu or Idiyappam is also a favorite Kerala breakfast item and Kerala Iyers prepare Sevai a cousin of Noolpittu. This again is a very simple oil free snack.

Ingredients:
1. Rice flour: 1cup
2. Salt
3. Hotwater 1 cup


Method:
Roast the rice flour very lightly. Cool. Add the hot water and salt and mix with a spatula to firm dough. Fit the Anju thattu nazhi with the plate with tiny holes. Fill with the prepared dough. Press onto perforated plates or idli plates and steam until done.

Remove and serve with sweetened coconut milk.

Needless to say, this is my second post for JFI Rice (first: Aappam).

Recipe: Aappam

When I saw that the topic for the current JFI was “Rice” I was thinking, I have posted all my favorite rice recipes. What can I post when I have already posted Palpayasam, the king of rice recipes and Idichu Pizhinja Payasam which is an all time favorite of all Kerala Iyers and in particular Puthucodians and now of many others . Our elder son suggested Idiyaappam or Noolpittu and Aappam.

Neither of the above is a Kerala Iyer specialty. In fact, I had never heard of these two items until our elder son started going to school. In school he had a close Malayalee friend, Krishnakumar, who used to bring aappam for lunch. Our son used to come home and ask me to give him, white dosa for his lunch. I only knew the conventional dosa and I tried making them white in color, by under cooking them. He used to say, “Amma, this is not the one, make white dosas for me”. This continued and it was not until I took up a full time job and I had malayalee colleagues, that I came to know about this secret of this white dosa. The white dosa he was referring to was Aappam and I got the recipe from the colleagues and started preparing them to my son’s delight. Our younger son never liked it though, as his liking was always roast dosa. Then I realized the reason why this preparation never entered the orthodox kitchens of Kerala Iyers. The main reason is the fermentation agent most commonly used in the preparation of the batter. Usually an alcohol prepared from the coconut palm (fresh toddy, country liquor or kallu ) was used in the fermentation process. Therefore, it is also referred to as Kallappam, Kallu being the name by which such alcoholic preparations are known. Even the mention of the word Kallu was banned in Iyer households in the olden days, let alone bringing it home for fermenting the dough. Now coconut water kept overnight, or yeast is used as the fermenting agent. Use of these items in Iyer households is no longer taboo and therefore this recipe. Partaking of this fresh toddy early in morning is quite common among the non-brahmin communities in the villages even today. Moreover cooked rice kept overnight (which also ferments) is also added during the grinding, which was taboo in the orthodox kitchens (pazhaya satham).

Aappam is a typical Kerala breakfast item and is comparatively oil free and full of vitamin B as it has been fermented. Usually train travelers from other parts of India travelling to Kerala, are greeted by Chaaya Velleppam as the train reaches Palghat, the first railway station in Kerala. As the train always reached Palghat early in the morning and we could reach home by breakfast time, we never even thought of trying this Velleppam. To this day, I have never tasted Velleppam other than what I myself have cooked.

As I have already mentioned, people later on started fermenting the batter with yeast and I ferment my batter with a home made toddy I prepare thus:

Whenever I break a coconut, I preserve the elaneer (coconut water) with a spoonful of sugar added to it. The next day, I make the batter for Aappam by soaking the rice in this home made fermenting solution.

Ingredients:
Coconut : 1
(It is better to use a medium ripe coconut, as it will yield more milk. The shell of the medium ripe coconut is white in color, in contrast to the dark brown color of fully ripe coconut).
OR
Coconut milk : 1 cup
Grated coconut : ½ cup
Yeast: 1 tsp.
Raw rice : 1 cup
Cooked rice : ¼ cup
Sugar 1 tbsp.
Salt to taste
Soda-bi carb. ½ tsp.

Method I:
Make the fermenting solution thus:
Break the coconut and reserve the coconut water with a tbsp. of sugar added to it. Keep it overnight. Grate the coconut and preserve. Next day, wash and soak the rice in the reserved coconut water for 4 hours. Grind the rice, cooked rice, grated coconut and salt to a very smooth batter. Leave it overnight.

Method II
If using yeast, soak the yeast in little warm milk with a tsp. of sugar. Soak the rice in water and grind with yeast solution, grated coconut, cooked rice, sugar and salt to a smooth batter. Leave it overnight.
The aappam is prepared in a special earthenware aappa chatty (kadai) with a lid. These days, non-stick aappa chattis are available; yours truly makes it in a regular cheenachatty with satisfactory result.
Add the soda-bi-carb, just before preparing the aappams.
Heat the aappa chatty and smear with a drop of oil. Add a big ladle full of batter and swirl the kadai so that the batter spreads on all the four sides. Keep the kadai closed with a lid and cook on moderate heat. After 2 or 3 minutes open the lid and remove the puffed aappams. Repeat the process.
ENJOY WITH STEW.

Along with my recipe for Idiyappam, this is one of my entries for JFI Rice.

Ashtotharam

I took a break from my Puthucode blogging for the JFI entry. But now I can continue with my Puthucode memories. As I mentioned we had got together this time for the Upanayanam and Choulam of my nephews.
Upanayanam has more Vedic rituals than marriage and is usually preceded by a nandi sradham for taking blessings of the forefathers. Very rarely an ashtotharam is conducted before upanayanam. There was an ashtotharam conducted in our family about 30 years ago, during the upanayanam of my cousin and my brother had decided to conduct one now.
Conducting an ashtotharam needs elaborate preparation as the ritual itself consists of invoking the 108 different images of Mahavishnu (The Ashtothara sata-namah) on Saligrama and doing puja to them. Apart from this the Dwadasa or 12 (the Dwadasa Nama puja) images of Mahavishnu are also invoked and puja done to them. After this, the 108 namas and 12 namas of Mahavishnu are invoked on Pratyaksha Brahmins and puja done to them. Therefore, the first and foremost requirement is to assemble 120 Brahmins at the venue. As the invitations to them are extended well in advance, replacements for any sudden dropouts due unexpected circumstances have to be accounted for. These Brahmins are picked from the nearby villages (Palakkad is famous for the 18 gramams surrounding it). Many factors make the task of the organiser very difficult these days. Some of them are:

1. The financial status of the younger generation today is better. The Brahmin settlements in the gramams have depleted considerably over the past few decades.


2. Most of the people are educated and have regular employment and are not able to spare time for such activities.


3. The organising vadhyar and the Brahmins invited have no direct commitment to each other as a vadhyar is required to organise such a puja only on very few occasions in his lifetime. Many of the present day vadhyars are not familiar with such a function.


4. Call of conscience is the sole motivation for an invitee to attend keeping aside other more lucrative offers on the same day.

However, great strides in communication facilities and transport facilities helped the vadhyar in organising the required number. Special mention should be made of the relentless efforts by Shri Dharmaraja Vadhyar and his two sons in organising the august assembly of 140+ Brahmins for the function and the successful conduct of the Ashtotharam, Nandisradham, Upanayanam and Choulam. Incidentally, he had presided over our marriage as Bride’s family priest more than three decades and a half ago. He had the fortune to have been associated with great vadhyars like Shri Chami vadhyar and Srinivasa Vadhyar of Puthucode, who were my father’s maternal uncles.
The function mainly consists of inviting the 120 brahmins, receiving them by washing their feet, invoking one image of Mahavishnu on each of them, for whom pujas have already been done and performing various Upacharas and Pujas, and gifting them asanam, Vastram and Jalapatram. They are then fed sumptuously and offered thamboolams and dakshina.

As doing all these rituals by a single couple is strenuous and time consuming, it was decided to associate brothers and other elders for the performance of the Puja. We had six couples who readily undertook to perform the Puja. As some of the couples were senior citizens, there were other couples ready to take their place, in case they felt any discomfort during the 4 hrs puja.

There were many behind the scene activities also, in which the whole family had to involve themselves so that the functions would move smoothly. Accordingly, the Brahmins were divided into six groups of 20 each, to be associated with the six couples for puja. One vadhyar each was assigned to each group. After the initial rituals, common for all the groups, were performed by the main priest, the six groups performed the puja simultaneously at six designated sites in the same hall. Sourcing and arranging the items required for danams was the result of the combined effort between my brother and the priest. For the feast they all had to be accommodated in one venue, seated on the ground, served at the same time, as there were some rituals to be performed during this time also.

Since it would have been difficult to entertain so many Brahmins in our house, we decided that the function would be conducted in the newly built halls in the north village (Chami Vadhyar Memorial Trust). My father’s cousins have converted their ancestral house into a large hall, kitchen and some rooms for the conduct of such functions for the family. The house adjacent to it has also been converted into a big function hall on the ground floor and living quarters on the first floor. They insisted that the function be conducted there and my cousin (a big industrialist) took time off from his busy schedule and supervised all the arrangements for the smooth conduct of the functions. Our priest had arranged with 150 Brahmins to be present just in case someone opted out.
As usual my cousin, my beautiful and talented niece, and I did the kolams the previous evening itself. The functions started early in the morning with Ganapathi Homam followed by Ashtotharam. By the Blessings of the Almighty and all the elders, they were all in good spirits and the functions went off smoothly.
Serving food to the 150 Brahmins at the same time was the major problem, but with the collective efforts of everyone, somehow this was also done without much difficulty.
The lunch itself is called Samaradhanai menu as there are some vegetables which are not be included in this type of lunch. Usually carrot, beans, cabbage, (which are known as English vegetables) are not used. Sambar is not made. Pradhaman is not made, only Palpayasam is made. Pappadam is not served, only chips are served. Onion of course is a very big NO NO.

At this event, the menu, consisted of

Kichadi,
Kari(Chenai +Elavan)
Poduthuval
Thoran(Payar)
Pavakkai Pitla
Rasam
Chips
Puliinji
Mangakari(pickle)
Palpayasam and
Curds.

After the meals, all the brahmins were seated in a circle, and all the family members did pradikshanam when they were chanting vedic hymns invoking the blessings for one and all.

Thus, concluded the 1^st day functions.

It was only after all the Brahmins were seen off that the family and other invitees had their lunch, around 2.30pm.

We had to get ready for the next day’s Nandi Shradham.

Recipe: Stuffed Capsicum

Stuffed capsicums can be prepared in a variety of methods. You can steam, grill or bake them. This time I have steamed them as I am now preparing some bland diets for my son who is recovering from gastritis.

Ingredients:

Capsicums: 4 Nos.
Potatoes: 200gms
Green chilies: 2.
Grated ginger: 1 tsp.
Onion: 1 no.
Garam masala: ½ tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1tsp.
Lemon juice: 1tsp.
Salt to taste:
Oil: 1 tbsp or more (depending on the method)
Mustard: 1 tsp.
Jeera: 1 tsp.
Finely cut coriander leaves: 1 tbsp.
Maida: 1 tbsp.

Method:

Wash the capsicum and remove the stalk portion, forming a lid. Remove the seeds. Apply salt to the inside and outside of the capsicums and keep them inverted.

Boil, peel and mash the potatoes. Chop the onions and green chillies finely. Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a thick bottomed pan and add the mustard and jeera. When they splutter, add the finely cut onion, green chillies and grated ginger. Saute until the onions are transparent. Add the mashed potatoes, turmeric powder, garam masala, and salt. Saute until all the ingredients are well mixed and dry. Remove from heat; add the lemon juice and half of the coriander leaves. Mix well and cool.

Stuff this mixture into the capsicums.

Make a thick paste of maida and water. Apply to the tops of the cut capsicums and close with the stalk portions. This will prevent the stuffing from coming out.

Now, steam them for 10- 15 mnts or apply a thin coat of oil on the stuffed capsicums and either grill them or bake them until done.

Remove, cut into halves or quarters, garnish with the remaining coriander leaves and serve!



Along with my Thayir Molagai post, this is my entry for JFI August

Recipe: Thayir Molagai

There are many kinds of peppers. In India though, only black pepper is known as pepper and all others are known as chillies and bell peppers as capsicum.

Green chillies are widely used in everyday cooking and also pickling. I wish I could get photographs of all the different green chilies available. We have gundu molagais (the big ones), the byadagi (the long and less pungent ones), the Bhavnagar variety (so non-pungent you need to add some chilly powder to it) and the famous oosimolagai (the thin and short variety, which is the most pungent. So much so, some people were even called “oosimolagai” for their pungent words).

I shall give the recipe of Thayir Molagai, green chilies marinated in curds and dried, which is an all time favorite. Curds Rice garnished with fried thayir molagai tastes heavenly. Thayir molagai can also be used to garnish other rice preparations like lemon rice, coconut rice, etc. This adds a special taste to the rice.

Though dried thayir molagais are available in the shops these days, they are not marinated in curds for long enough and lack the original taste, I am told. I always prepare my thayir molagais during the summer. It is a messy, tedious and time consuming process though the end result is worth the trouble.

For thayir molagais, the less pungent variety of gundu molagai or big green chilies is used. Before buying the green chilies one should make sure to have thick sour curds to marinate the chilies.

Ingredients:

Green Chillies: 1 kg.
Thick sour curds: 1 to 11/2 lts.
Salt: 200gms.

Method:

Wash and dry the green chillies. Make a slit up to halfway from the tip (keep the stalks intact), or pierce a hole in the centre of the chilies with a skewer. Dry in the sun for a day. Meanwhile, beat the curds to a smooth consistency and add the salt. Marinate the sun dried chilies in this curd. The chillies should be completely immersed in the curds. If not, pour some more. Allow the chillies to marinate for one full day. After that, drain the chillies from the curds and sun dry them. Put the dried chillies back into the left over curds in the evening. Repeat the process until all the curds has been absorbed. Dry the chillies for few more days in the sun, until they become crisp.

These sun dried chillies can be stored in air tight containers for up to 2 years.

Heat oil to smoking point, reduce heat and fry the chillies well to a nice black color.

ENJOY with your curd rice.

Tip: When the chilies are dry, the absorbed curds will flake off as a white powder residue. Use this curds residue as chilly flavour while preparing dals. It gives a delicious taste.

Along with my recipe for Stuffed Capsicum this is my entry for JFI August.

More Puthucode Memories

There was far more excitement this time as I was going to meet many of my cousins whom I hadn’t met in a long time and also because I was going to look at everything from a different perspective; I was going to collect material for my blog.

As soon as the train leaves Coimbatore Junction, I get myself glued to the window savoring each picture postcard scenario as it unfolds. I feel as if I have put all those flowers there and I know all the people living in the hutments lining the railway line. Each time I pass, I can see some new bungalows standing in the middle of nowhere, with 2 or more cars and I start thinking about the people living there and where were they all these days and before I knew it, we would be at Palghat Junction. And I love the bus ride from Palghat to Puthucode, where I can once again see all the familiar houses and landmarks and trees and flowers and streams. I see the school children getting into the bus and getting out. Where I used to see girls and boys barefooted but definitely with an umbrella, I can now see all of them wearing shoes or slippers. Boys in those days had half trousers, or knickers as they were called, or mundus (dhotis) and today, they are all dressed in full pants. Girls with open hair, wet after the morning bath, with an umbrella in one hand and their lunch boxes and books in the other hand used to be in long skirts and blouses and older girls in half sarees. Now there is a uniform dress code, in smaller places in India, the Salwar Kameez or Dress as they call it.

Almost in no time, the bus has taken the turn near the mosque and we are at the thottupalam (bridge). These days we have autorickshaws to take us from this point to our house, which is hardly 500mts. I prefer to walk, so that I can meet people on the road and exchange pleasantries.

Our house was already overflowing with guests who had already arrived, all extended family members and eagerly awaiting the ones who were to arrive later in the day.

I reached one day prior to the commencement of the functions. By evening all the guests had arrived, well most of them. Others were coming the next day and the day after.

So here we were, the cousins, our Echiyammas’s elder granddaughters coming together after a very looooong time. The younger ones were not there yet.

Puthucode Memories

As promised, I am (finally!) ready to write about my trip to Kerala to participate in the Upanayanam and Choulam of my nephews.

I would like to warn at the very outset that this is not intended to be an elaborate commentary on Upanayanam and Choulam, as I could not keep questioning the priest at each ritual. Even otherwise, whenever I asked him to explain the meaning of some ritual, he would say, “here she comes with a paper and pen.” However, the meanings of some of the rituals could be seen here and there.

As I have already said, we had just done the grihapravesham (i, ii) of our flat and were planning to shift to the new place before we left for Kerala. Only later did we realise that the builder had some more work to finish, like the final coat of painting and the final polishing of the floor. Hence we decided to postpone shifting to a later date. However we had started the packing and were loading one room with the packed cartons.

This is how one of our rooms looked then (and now also).


Going to Kerala has always been exciting for me. I get lost in nostalgia. Though I have spent only ¼ of my life in Kerala, to this day that remains the most memorable time to me. We didn’t have any coffee joints or any cinema houses where we friends could get together. Nor did we have any shopping sprees where daddy’s hard earned money could be spent. We were confined to our agraharam and we did not even go to the other agraharams, unless there was a purpose. Then we had our thodu, (the stream) where we friends would meet every day and exchange stories (what happened between 6.30pm the previous day and 8.00am on that day) and had a lovely time splashing about in the water. Some of us also took along our younger siblings and taught them swimming. Our washing would also get over along with the bath. When we did not return in some reasonable time, our elders would stand outside our houses and would send word with others coming to the thodu, to ask us to come home soon “or else.” After school, we would again get together on the street, gramam or agraharam as it is known and play games of dice or I-spy, or simply run around and make a lot of noise. Nobody would check us. Then we would all go to the temple and meet others from the other gramams and by 6.30pm, we had to be inside our respective houses. No staying out after 6.30pm. There were so many events and happenings and stories to relate to our echiyamma (grandmother) and others when we came home. This was the only communication line they had. No phones; no getting together for the older women. Even we young girls had the privilege only till we attained puberty. After that it was only going to the thodu and temple. No loitering around in the gramam. Luckily for me, I left my gramam at that age, so I did not have any restrictions until I left. All these memories rush to my mind each time I plan a visit to Puthucode.


How come there isn’t as much to remember from the later years as there is from the first 14 years of my life? As usual, I always put this question to my best friend and philosopher, my dear husband. Depending on the mood of the day, he will give me a different but acceptable answer each time.

I had been going back almost every year in the beginning; actually every vacation when I was in college and also as long as our children were in primary school. It was only after I took up a full time job and my in-laws became old and I could not leave them alone that my visits became rare, just popping in for some important functions and returning the same evening.

As always, having started writing about my Upanayanam trip, I have drifted to my childhood days and Puthucode. This is, perhaps, what makes it so memorable. I don’t know if today’s children have so much to remember about the place they grow up in. Even today, when I start talking to my mother over phone, we will drift from one topic to another and finally wouldn’t discuss the topic on hand at all. Alas, that trend is fast disappearing. Today people have nothing to talk about after the cursory, “Hello, how do you do”. I sometimes feel, they are afraid they would disclose something about themselves or their family, if they talked more. It was not so then. Two people had to just meet and they would exchange everything they knew about everybody. They were not hesitant to discuss their children or family with others. Everyone accepted that every family had problems and by discussing with others they would invariably get a solution from the experience of someone or by drawing parallels. At the very least one got the tension out. I do not remember hearing of anyone having to go to a cousellor or a psychiatrist in those days. There were always friends, philosophers and guides in the gramam. It was one large family after all.

Recipe: Palpayasam

Let us have a sweet ending to our 100^th episode (and start the next 100!) with a special recipe for Palpayasam. Palpayasam is known as the king of payasams. The palpayasam of Ambalapuzha is world famous, though I have never had an opportunity to taste the delicacy. The Kerala palpayasam is any day more delicious than palpayasams of any other region.

There is an interesting story about the palpayasam, which my husband relates to our guests whenever we serve the delicacy. The story is about an elaborate Sadhya (feast) where many distinguished guests were gathered. Kunjan Nambiar, Kerala’s renowned poet, who was famous for his ready wit, was among the guests. After having his fill of all the special dishes served, Nambiar announced, “I am full, I cannot have anything more.” The king, who wanted to have a dig at Nambiar, ordered for palpayasam. In came palpayasam and, unable to refuse the king, Nambiar had a go at it. The King asked, “Nambiar, you said you were full and can have no more of any thing. How is it that you had so much of palpayasam?” Quick came Nambiar’s reply, “Your Majesty, imagine a huge gathering of people with not an inch to spare. Don’t they make way if the Maharaja is announced? Similarly, when palpayasam goes in, the other items in the stomach move aside to accommodate it.” Needless to mention, palpayasam is the “Maharaja” of payasams.

The Kerala palpayasam gets its special taste from the thickening of the milk, sugar and rice in vast urulis.

It is also special in the sense that there are no added flavours like cardamom or saffron and garnishing like dry fruits, etc. In its simplicity lies its deliciousness!

The payasam is made in large urulis or charakkus and is stirred with long handled ladles known as chattukam which measure many metres in length. As I promised in my post on Idichu Pizhinja Payasam, I got pictures of these when I was in my village last month.

The first picture here is an uruli, currently lying unused in our ancestral home. The second is one of people actually making the payasam at my nephew's upanayanam there last month.



Though the original version called for preparation in small urulis, I have an easy recipe to prepare the payasam in a pressure cooker without the hassles of constant stirring and the extra care to not burn the milk at the bottom or boil it over.

Special thanks for teaching me this easy method goes to my aunt, Vasantha Chithi, who painstakingly explained to me the minute details of this method of preparing this payasam, which has never gone wrong. Thanks once again, chithi.

Here is the recipe for the palpayasam.

Since I always try to simplify my recipes to suit the requirements of our younger (handsome and charming, natch) son, who lives alone and loves to cook, I am giving below the recipe for just two servings. The quantity may be increased by multiplying the ingredients to suit individual requirements. Only take care to use larger pressure cookers when increasing the quantities of ingredients.

To make the payasam with 1 litre of milk, you should use at least a 5 litre pressure cooker.

Ingredients:

Milk (Preferably full cream): ½ litre (500ml)
Sugar: ½ cup
Rice: 2 tbsp

Sterilize the cooker by boiling 2 cups of water in it and rinse the lid and the weight with the boiled water, so that the milk won’t curdle. I do this exercise whenever I prepare milk based sweets.

Boil the milk and sugar in the pressure cooker. Wash the rice. When the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat to the lowest gas mark and add the rice. This payasam is best prepared on a gas stove, though I have prepared this payasam on an electric stove also. One needs to be very careful to control the temperature. Place a small spoon or a small shallow plate inside the cooker so that it will do the stirring action when the cooker is shut. Stir the contents well and close the cooker. Place the weight on the valve when steam escapes and allow the payasam to cook on a low heat. Switch off the stove after 20 minutes (If using an electric stove, switch off after 10 minutes). Open the cooker 30 minutes after switching off. Your delicious, creamy, Maharaja of payasam is ready.

ENJOY!

A few points to be given special attention:

Use a cooker large enough to hold all ingredients.
Reduce the heat to the minimum after placing the weight on the valve.
Switch off only after 20 mnts.
Open the cooker 30 mnts after switching off.

First century!

This, my 100^th post, has been a long time in coming owing to various reasons, one of them being my moving to Hyderabad to spend time with our elder son. Having started to blog in 2005 while visiting with our younger son, the two years of my blogging have gotten me a lot many friends from all over the world, and it feels nice when total strangers compliment me on my blog. Two years is definitely a very long time for 100 posts and I sort of try to feel justified in my irregular blogging whenever people ask me how I find time to blog.

Our son lives in a huge house with a vast garden; we need an intercom to communicate with each other and a bicycle to go around the house. I have my own exclusive enclosed cobbled courtyard to gaze at the sun and the stars; only the mosquitoes will not allow me to have the pleasure for long. It took a while settling down in the new house, as my son himself has recently shifted here and had not unpacked the boxes containing the kitchenware. He had done an excellent job of the packing though; the contents of all the boxes neatly tabulated down to the spoon and fork and carefully packed. Though they had been cleaned before packing, I am so fussy about the cleanliness of kitchenware that I had to clean and sun-dry them all over again. After 2 weeks, I am almost through with the job. As always with company allocated accommodation, there are lots of small jobs to be done, a switch here, a tap there and so on which gets done at its own slow pace.

The weather in Hyderabad is very pleasant at this time. It is cool and breezy (we are surrounded by tall neem trees and other trees like sithaphal, moringa, etc) with intermittent showers.

Now that I have started blogging again, I hope to be more regular. Wish me Good Luck!

Recipe: Brinjal Masala curry

I have been preparing this curry for a long time. I don’t think I learnt it from any recipe book or from anyone. I just started making my own recipes and this one turned out to be superb. I learnt how delicious it was only when my sister-in-law asked me once, “I understand you prepare a new variety or brinjal curry that is just superb, how do you make it?”

Here is the recipe.

I use the round violet brinjals for this.

Ingredients:

Dhania : 1 tbsp,
Chana dal: 1 tbsp+1tsp
Urad dal: 1 tbsp.+1tsp.
Hing : size of a pea
Red chillies : 2 or 3
Curry leaves : few
Brinjal: 250 grams
Onion: 1 big (100gms)
Tomatoes: 200 gms
Turmeric powder: 1tsp.
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil : 2 tbsp.

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation:

Wash and cut the brinjals into 2” long pieces. Cut onions into small pieces. Cut the the tomatoes into small pieces.

Roast the hing, dhania, 1 tbsp. chana dal, 1 tbsp. urad dal, red chillies, and few curry leaves to a light pink color. Cool and coarsely powder.

Heat the oil, add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the urad dal and chana dal. When they turn light pink in color, add the curry leaves and onion and saute until onions turn light pink in color. Add the tomatoes and saute until they are mushy. Add the brinjal and turmeric powder and salt and saute in medium heat until brinjal is cooked. Add the ground powder and remove from heat. Garnish with finely cut coriander leaves.

Serve with rice or chapatis.

Enjoy!

Update: Needless to say, this post along with my recipe for Vangi bath and my first post on brinjals are my entries for JFI July.

Recipe: Vangi Bath

Vangi bath is a Karnataka specialty and is a full meal in itself. It is prepared with the long green variety of brinjals.

Ingredients:

Brinjal : 200 gms
Dhania : 1 tbsp.
Chana dal : 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp.
Urad dal : 1 tbsp. + 1tsp.
Khus khus : ½ tsp
Hing : size of a pea
Sesame seeds: 1 tsp.
Cloves: : 2 nos.
Cinnamon : ½" stick
Marathi moggu: 1 piece (this spice looks like a big clove, I do not know the Hindi or English names of this spice. It is called Marathi Moggu in Karnataka)
Red chillies : 2 or 3
Curry leaves : few
Copra or dry coconut : 2 tbsp. (grated)
Gingelly (sesame) oil : 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Ground nuts : 1 tbsp.
Turmeric powder : 1 tsp.
Salt to taste.
Coriander leaves 1 tbsp.
Rice : 1 cup

Preparation:

Any cooking oil can be used according to individual taste. I prefer gingelly (also known as sesame or till) oil for this preparation for the flavour it adds to the dish.

Wash and cook the rice adding 1 tsp of gingelly oil to keep the rice grains separate (it should not be very soft). Spread in a plate to cool.

Heat ½ tsp oil and add the hing, dhania, 1 tbsp chana dal, 1 tbsp urad dal, khus khus, cloves, cinnamon, marathi moggu, red chillies and curry leaves and roast till the dals turn light pink in color and give off a nice aroma. Cool and powder coarsely.

Wash and cut the brinjals into 1” square pieces.

Heat the remaining oil and add the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the remaining urad dal, chana dal, ground nuts and curry leaves. When the dals turn light pink in color add the cut brinjals and saute them on low heat, adding turmeric powder and salt. When the brinjals are almost done add the ground powder and saute for another 5 minutes until they are thorughly mixed. Add the cooled rice and mix well. Garnish with finely cut coriander leaves and your vangi bath is ready.

ENJOY

Optionally 1 tbsp. of lemon juice can be mixed to the vangi bath.

Suggested accompaniments: Vangi bath is just delicious as such, or can be served with roasted papads, or raita, or keerai masiyal ( more about it later).

Update: Needless to say, this post along with my recipe for Vangi bath and my original post on brinjals are my entries for JFI July.

Brinjals all around

Brinjals (also known as eggplant in the U.S.) are available in different varieties. Though there are many varieties of brinjals available in market today, my early memories are only of the long variety in both green and violet colors. The round ones were seen less often. As I have said earlier, when we were growing up most of the vegetables we used were home grown and during the monsoon months we had only the lady’s fingers and brinjals grown in our back yards and the summer gourds hung from the ceilings.

There weren’t many different ways in which brinjals were cooked those days, the most popular ones beings the Mezhukkupuratti (either brinjals alone or in the combination of raw plantain and yam ), arachukalakki and the nezhukari. Brinjals were used in Sambar and molakoottal also.

Since our family had great Andhra connections (long story for another time), we also prepared the stuffed brinjals or Guthi Vangaya koora. My father also used to relish the simple Vangaya Veppudu, a cousin of our Mezhukkupuratti.

Brinjal has remained a favourite with our handsome and charming children also. I prepare many varieties of brinjal curries and I could write for a long time on brinjal recipes alone. Here then are the two recipes that I prepare quite often. The first is Vangi bath, the other is my own invention, I don't really have a name for it, I'm just calling it Brinjal Masala. Along with this post, those two comprise my entries for JFI July.

Grihapravesam (II)

After getting the car repaired and getting it home, we all breathed a sigh of relief. We started getting busy with the other arrangements. Once again, our handsome and charming son took an auto and went to the new house to get it cleaned. Hubby dear went to the market to get the flowers and other pooja materials. I got busy at home packing the various things to be carried for the pooja and checking with my list to see if I had forgotten something.

The things we carried included:
Kumkum
Haldi
Sandal powder
Camphor
Incense sticks
Flowers for pooja
Garlands for decoration
Different types of vilakkus (lamps)
Oil
Wicks for lamps
Ghee for homam
Homakundam
Woodshavings and other materials for homam
Various pooja utensils
Rice paste for kolam
Rice, urid whole and other navagraha dhanyas (paddy was being brought by the vadhyar)
Navagraha cloth pieces
Coconuts
Vengalapanai for boiling milk
Gas stove
Match box

It is a practice to spend the night on the day of the Grihaparvesam in the new house. Therefore we had to carry some sheets and pillows for sleeping there.

In between I summoned the services of my beautiful and talented niece to make the kolams. Locating her took almost an hour as she was on her holiday outing.

Finally around 4 pm, we loaded as many things as possible in two cars (my niece brought her car and we dared to take a chance with the repaired car. My son’s argument “anyway, we have to take the car there. Why not make use of it to transport our things?”)

Since the flooring was marble, we added some haldi powder to the rice paste so that the kolam would be prominent. My niece made the kolams, while we arranged all the other things so that in the morning it would be easy to manage the things.




We got the chairs and tables for lunch. We called the caterer and confirmed the arrangements. We also called a taxi and asked him to pick us up next day morning from home.

It was already 9pm by then. We had to get ready by 6 am next morning. So we hired an auto and reached home, had dinner and went to bed around 12 pm and set the alarm for 3 am.

The muhurtham for the grihapravesham had to be either at 5.30 am or after 9.30am, We had chosen the later muhurtham as it would have been impossible for us to reach the place well in advance for 5.30am muhurtam, after preparing the payasam for the neyvedyam and Havis for the homam.

I got up at 3 am and prepared payasam and havis after my bath, by which time, my husband and son also got ready. The taxi came at 6 am sharp and we all (my friend, Veena, also joined us) left on time. The Vadhyar had said “you carry lighted vilakku, flowers, rice, dal,coconut, haldi powder, chandanam etc., when you go in. Accordingly we decorated the entrance with garland and entered the house and kept things ready for the Vadhyar.




By then my mother and niece arrived followed by my brothers and their families and other invitees. Breakfast arrived punctually at 08:30am and we all had good breakfast of idlis, vadai, kesari and coffee. As lighting of the stove was not allowed inside the house until after the grihapravesam, we had made arrangements for another gas stove to be placed outside in the veranda/lobby for preparing coffee. The caterer had brought milk, cups, coffee decoction and sugar. This way we ensured that fresh and hot coffee could be served to the guests as when they arrived. To our satisfaction, we could give breakfast to our guests upto about 10.30am. This was essential as many of the guests were not familiar with the location and had to spend a little extra time searching/enquiring etc to locate the address. Being peak summer many were quite tired by the time they arrived. We had also arranged fresh lemon juice to be prepared and served to all. The caterer also had brought enough and more of the food items to be served for all the people.



Around 9 am the Vadhyar arrived with 4 other vadhyars and started the preparations for the pooja.



We were once again asked to enter the house with kumbham, vilakku, flowers, coconut, etc.
At 9.30am, punyaham and kshiraprasanam (the stove is lighted for the first time in the house and milk is boiled. This milk is offered to the God as neivedyam and is taken by the yajamana, his family and guests) were done, followed by Ganapathy Homam, Navagraha Homam and Vasthu Homam.

All the homams and pooja went quite satisfactorily and all the invitees attended the function.






By the time the homams were over, lunch had arrived. We had arranged with the same caterer we had arranged for the “Grihapravesham” of our house, we are living in now. The only difference being that then he had come and cooked at our premises and we had a buffet lunch with more invitees, this time around, he prepared the food and brought it and we had fewer invitees.

The lunch consisted of:

Kichadi
Pineapple Pachadi
Kootukari
Aviyal
Thoran
Puliinji
Mango pickle
Sambar
Rasam
Parippu vadai
Mysore pak
Chips
Pappadam
Curds

AND

Idichu Pizhinja Payasam

The reviews were soon in, “The lunch was grand!”