Today is celebrated as “ Ram Navami ” by Hindus. This festival is celebrated on the 9th day from Ugadi , Hindu new year. Ram Navami is celebrated as the birth day of lord Rama , from epic Ramayana . On all the 9 days from Ugadi to Ram Navami , poojas and bhajans are performed in the temples.
The main attraction for the kids in this festival is prasad that is served after the pooja . A very tasty spread of food ( naivedya / naivedyam – food which is offered to god) is prepared and offered to god and then distributed among the people gathered for the pooja . Obviously the food offered is purely vegetarian without onions and garlic.
At my native, naivedya for this festival usually consists of – muga dali usli (a dry dish prepared with moong dal ) – right in the below picture, – chane usli (a dry dish with black chickpeas) – left in the below picture, – ambli pachdi (spiced shredded mango dish), – panak (a sweetish, spicy drink)
Usually panak is a must during this festival. Other dishes vary from temple to temple. I will post recipes of other 3 dishes soon. After the pooja, god’s idol is taken in palanquin in a procession. The palanquin is placed on many of the Ashwatha katte (a round structure created around the Ashwatha tree) in many places across the village and different people offer pooja to the idol. In many small villages, towns and cities all across India these Ashwatha katte can be found. Devotees, believers normally are found making pradakshina (rounds) in the morning, which is also beneficial to health because of the fresh air around trees.
Ingredients: 2-3 tbl spn jaggery 2 cups water 1/4 tea spn cardamom powder 1/2 tea spn pepper powder 1/2 tea spn grated ginger(optional) 1 tea spn lemon juice(optional)
Ginger and lemon is not added in panak at my place. But in many temples, it is a must.
Method: Mix all of the above till jaggery is dissolved in water. Make a paste of ginger and add it. Mix well.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 5mins
Puran poli (Marathi/Konkani) or obbattu (Kannada) must be one of the most popular sweets in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Usually it is not always possible to make the outer wrap or the stuffing in exact amounts. Many different dishes can be made with such left over things. The most popular among them is HooraNada saru , also called as obbattina saru .
HooraNa is the sweetish stuffing used in puran poli . Usually people cook a little more chana daal while making this dish to prepare a delicious saru . There are many recipes for this saru and they all are very tasty and very popular. The one I am posting is the Kannada version of it prepared by my friend Poornima , I will post my mom’s version soon.
Recently one of my readers asked for this recipe. When I read that request, I remembered this recipe which Poornima had mailed me long back. I had prepared this a couple of times. Since I don’t make puran polis very frequently, I cooked daal just to make this saru . This was very delicious. Just make sure to cook more rice whenever you cook this, you can’t just stop eating :).
While making puran poli stuffing, all the water is drained out to make the stuffing very dry. This drained water is used for saru . It is prepared in same pan used for cooking daal and jaggery together, so that saru gets some thickness from the chana daal mixture and gets a tinge of sweetness.
See Vaishali’s Kataachi aamti .
Ingredients: 1/4 cup chana daal 1/2 cup fresh/frozen coconut 3/4 cup chopped onion 1 tea spn finely chopped garlic 1/4 tea spn tamarind extract or 2-3 pieces of tamarind 2-3 strands of coriander leaves 1-2 tea spns sambar powder 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 4-5 curry leaves Oil Salt
I use very less tamarind in my cooking. This dish requires a little more tamarind, so increase it to suit the taste.
Method: Heat a little oil in a pan and fry 1/4 cup onion till it turns slightly brownish. Grind this with coconut, sambar powder, tamarind, cooked daal and 1/4 cup raw onion to a smooth paste. In the same pan that is used to cook jaggery and chana daal for puran poli , take all the drained water from the daal . Add 1/4 cup onion and let it cook. Add the paste, garlic, salt, chopped coriander leaves and cook till it boils well for around 5-6 mins. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it starts popping, add curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the saru . Mix well and cook for another 2-3mins.
Notes: Do not refrigerate this saru . In the night, heat it well, while heating, do not mix it with spoon ( I think this helps to set the daal , not sure). In the morning, heat it again to ensure it does not get spoiled. The taste of this dish increases as time passes. If it remains for the 3rd day, it tastes the best.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 20mins
