Janmashtami / Krishnajayanthi 2011

 

Diwali suzhiyan - Deep fried dumplings with coconut, lentils and jaggery

Dear friends!

"A foodie n her cooking hat" wishes you all a "Happy Diwali"! Hope you all had a lovely time with family and friends and also with sweet treats, crackers and "diya" (lights).

Diwali is a much awaited festival in India and it depicts the mark of a happy beginning. During the growing up days, it was more exciting as Diwali shopping begins a month before the actual date. It is celebrated with the entire family at grandparent's place, hence every kid will look forward spending time with cousins and getting cash from elders (It is a ritual in India to give cash when one seeks blessings from elders by touching their feet). It is also the time where moms, aunts and grandmothers prepare delicious savorys and sweets at home.We buy new clothes, start bursting crackers nearly a couple weeks before the festival and start munching all the delicacies from the day it is made. Every diwali has been special to me since childhood and this time its more special as I am spending it with S.

I couldn't make those complicated stuffs but I tried creating suzhiyan, vadai and gulab jamun for the festival. The post for today is suzhiyan. It is a simple dessert made with jaggery, coconut and channa dhal and deep fried by coating with a maida-rice flour batter. It is super simple to make and it is super delicious in taste.

Serves: 8 balls
Ingredients

For the stuffing
1/2 cup coconut shavings
1/2 cup jaggery
1/2 cup channa dhal
1 cup water
1 tsp cardamon powder
Oil to fry

For the batter
1/2 cup maida / all purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
A pinch of salt
1/4-1/2 water

Method
Mix the maida, rice flour and salt in a bowl. Pour in the water little by little till it forms a pancake batter or dosa batter like consistency. Set them aside.

Pressure cook the channa dhal with 1 cup water for 3 whistles. Once done, drain the water completely and mash them.

Heat a non-stick kadai with 1/4 cup water. Once the water bubbles, throw the cardamon powder and jaggery and let it dissolve. Add the coconut shavings and channa dhal and give it a complete mix. They should roll into a dough. Remove and cool. Roll them into small balls and cool it in the freezer for 10-15 min. Heat the oil for frying. Once heated up, dip the balls in the batter and fry till golden brown. Serve hot.

Aval Payasam

Janmashtami / Krishnajayanthi is a festival for Lord Krishna, which falls between mid August to mid September of the Gregorian Calender.

In order to prevent the dreaded Kamsan(Krishna's maternal uncle) from killing Krishna, Vasudeva (Krishna's father) placed him in a basket on the river and sent him to his foster home for safety.The ritual is to fast the previous day and at midnight, the deity of the infant Krishna is placed in a decorated Mantapa or cradle and worshipped.The fast is completed after a special prayer and offerings. Krishna loves aval (poha/ flattened rice flakes), butter and fruits (esp Nava pazham or Jambolan) and Bhakshanam (snacks & sweets in Tamil) like appam, murukku, seedai. The celebrations is done late in the evening after the Moon rises.Footprints of infant Krishna is drawn with rice flour batter from the front of the house to the pooja room. There is a belief that the god enters the devotee's home, blesses them and eats your offerings.

This is my first Janmashtami after my wedding and I wanted to celebrate it. With carpets in the living room, I could draw Krishna's feet just from my kitchen floor to the Pooja shelf. I prayed in the evening with aval payasam, few apples and butter. My mom had given me a cute little infant silver Krishna idol. I gave him a bath, placed manjal-kumkum (red-yellow scared powder) on his forehead and also a small red flower from my patio on his head. :-).

Here is a display of my simple Janmashtami celebrations and my little adorable nephew Shama (also our dressed up Krishna for this year).


Kuselan (Mythological friend of Krishna) was very poor and Krishna was very rich. When he didnt have enough money to run his family, he decided to visit Krishna and seek some help. He didnt have anything to take with him to give Krishna. They had little bag of Aval/poha in their house and Kuselan's wife suggested to give it when he visited Krishna and it seems Krishna ate it with all the happiness and love. This was one of story which was narrated in my dance classes and I can never forget the way we enacted it. That's when my dance teacher told me that Krishna loves aval/poha. Somethings get registered so well that you can hardly forget them in your life :-) :-) :-)

The post for today is Aval Payasam. Aval/Poha is one of the most favorite dish of Krishna. This is a simple dessert made by cooking poha and milk together on a low flame. The addition of sugar and ghee-fried cashewnuts makes them so delightable. Slurp!

Ingredients
1 cup aval/poha/ flattened rice flakes (Available in Indian Grocery Stores)
3 cups milk
3 cups water
2 cardamons - powdered
2 tbs sugar (adjust according to your need)
20 cashewnuts
1 tbs ghee/clarified butter
1 teaspoon saffron strands soaked in 2 tablespoon warm milk
Method
Place the aval/poha in a colander and run it through tap water. Do it real quickly, if the poha absorbs too much water, they become soggy. Remove from the colander and place it over a kitchen towl/ tissue.

Heat 2 tsp ghee in a kadai. Once they get heated up, saute the cleaned aval/poha. Cook till they become dry and flaky.

Increase the heat to high, throw in 3 cups of water and cardamon powder and bring to boil. Now turn to medium heat and cook covered for 15min till the poha/aval are well cooked. Test with a spoon and they should be soft now.

Pour in the 2 cups of milk and cook on low flame for 20min. Constant stirring is required. Add the sugar and give it a complete stir. Allow the milk to thicken.

In a separate kadai, heat the remaining ghee and fry the cashewnuts. Add this to the boiling payasam. Check for sugar and adjust it to your need.Garnish with the soaked saffron.

Yummy hot payasam is ready to serve.

This is my entry for Sanghi's Milk event

and

Purva's Festival Food

Paal payasam (Indian pudding) to celebrate Rahman's Oscar

JAI HO! (meaning "let there be victory" in Hindi) --- This famous track in Slumdog Millionaire begins with the lovely sound of guitar, grows into an opera with a Bollywood touch and ends with the notes of Violins.The more I listen to it , the more I feel proud about Rahman.

Indian music maestro A.R.Rahman became the first Indian to bag two Oscars for his mind blowing work in "Slumdog Millionaire". He received the much-awaited Oscar on the night of the 81st Academy Awards.

He ended the acceptance speech by saying "Yella pugazhum Eraivanuke" (meaning "All praise for the Lord" in Tamil). Congrats to Rasool Pookutty as well.

Its a proud moment for every Indian and especially for Chennaites!

My humble city - Chennai was so colorful with fireworks last evening. There were proud smiles every where and Rahman's famous tracks was heard in every tea stall/auto/bus stand. There was a celebration time in Chennai.

I kept watching Rahman Oscar acceptance speech in every news channel possible and it was indeed an emotional moment for me.I wanted to celebrate this in my own style.

For the Tamilian in me : What more than a simple bowl of warm Paal Payasam will convey my happiness?



The post for today is Paal Payasam, condensed sweetened milk dessert cooked with little dash of Indian rice. Its a famous Tamil delicacy. Paal means milk in Tamil and Payasam means pudding inTamil. This recipe was taught to my mom by her sister S and its our all time favorite one for festivals and birthday celebrations.

This dessert is one of the favorite of Lord Krishna and is cooked during Janmashtami (Lord Krishna's Birthday). It is deliberately slow-cooked and involves constant stirring. The mild aroma of the cardamoms are beautifully infused into incredible rice cooked in milk.The smell of the boiling milk adds a divine smell to the kitchen air. At the end of it, I am sure its worth the wait and the silken creamy milk pudding is sure to rekindle the hidden Tamilian taste bud of yours.Slurp!




Ingredients

• 2 tsp long Indian rice (No basmati rice)
• 500ml whole milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 2-3 cardamon pods
• 8-10 saffron strands
• 10-12 roasted unsalted cashwenuts

Method

Heat the milk in a large cooking vessel and bring it to a boil. Add in the rice. Once boiled lower the flame and cook for 1 hour with constant stirring. Spoon out few rice grains and mash it with curved end of the spoon or finger. The rice should get mashed by this time and thats the right texture we want.

Now add in the sugar and cardamon and cook on a low flame for 15-20min.Garnish with saffron strands and roasted cashewnuts. Serve warm. Enjoy!

or you can follow this easy method:

Clean a cooking pan and set the lid with gasket and whistle. Clean the rice in running water.Drain the water and keep the rice aside.Pour in the whole milk along with the rice, sugar, cardamon and cook for 10-12 whistles.Switch off the flame and let it cool. Transfer it to a clean vessel. Add saffron strands and roasted cashews. Serve warm.