Thiruvadhirai Festival / Arudhra Darshan

"Thiruvadhirai / Arudhra Darshan" is a famous Hindu festival which is celebrated on the full moon day of Margazhi month / Dhanurmasa. Lord Shiva is mainly worshipped on this festival. On this auspicious day, we make Lord Shiva's favourite "Thiruvadhirai Kali" and "Thalagam/ Ezhukari Kootu" and offer to him and get his blessings. Its believed that Lord Shiva gave Darshan to his sincere devote Manickavasagar on this day after he completed his Thiruvachagam. Also to commemorate his birth star "Arudhra", its also called as "Arudhra Darshan".  In all the Shiva temples, special prayers and Abhishekam would be performed on this day in order to cool down the turbulent shiva dancing the rudra dance. Its said that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati got united on this day.

We make "Thiruvadhirai Kali" ( a sweet dish ) and "Ezhukari Kootu / Thalagam" on this special occasion and offer to Lord Shiva.

For recipes, please refer to the following links:

Thiruvadhirai Kali :

http://sribhojanams.blogspot.com/2012/01/thiruvadhirai-kali.html

Thiruvadhirai Kootu / Ezhukari Kootu / Thalagam :

http://sribhojanams.blogspot.com/2012/01/thiruvadhirai-kootu.html

Sloka / Manthra

Krupasamudhram, Sumukhan , Trinethram,

Jada dharmam Parvathy vama bhagam,

Sad shivam, Rudram anatha roopam,

Chidambaresam hrudhi bhavayami.

I salute with all my heart, Chidambara,

Who is the ocean of mercy,

Who is always pleasant,

Who has three eyes,

Who wears tuft of hair,

Who is always peaceful,

Who is full of anger

And who is an endless shape.

Thiruvadhirai Kootu

Thiruvadhirai Kootu also called as Ezhukari Kootu or Thalagam is made on the day of  "Arurudhra Darshan" as prasadam and offered to Lord Shiva. This kootu is made out of vegetables, thuvar dal and spiced with a special grounded powder. This tangy, spicy kootu is a good combination with the Thiruvadhirai Kali on the festival day. Its a general tradition to include 7 types of vegetables into this Kootu but you can add as many vegetable variety as you like and make this Kootu more healthier and richer. I added more than seven variety while making this dish and offered to Lord Shiva.

Ingredients

Oil - 1 tbsp

Tamarind - A small Lemon Size

Thuvar Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi Pappu - 3/4 cup

Turmeric Powder - 3 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal / Minna Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 1 tsp

Salt - To taste

Powdered Jaggery - 2 tsp

Coconut Flakes - 1/2 cup

Vegetables

Beans - 12 cut into finger size

White Pumpkin - 12-15 pieces ( Cut into medium square )

Butternut Squash - 10 - 12 pieces ( Cut into medium square)

Brinjal - 3

Potato - 2 Medium ( Cut into Medium Squares )

Carrot - 1 Big ( Cut into finger size)

Raw Plantain - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

Mochai / Lilva - 1 Handful

Chow Chow / Chayote - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

Sweet Potato - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

Green Zucchini - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

For the Spice Powder

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 1 tbsp

Fenugreek Seeds / Vendhayam - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 7 to 8 ( Depends on your taste )

Method

• Soak tamarind in water and extract its juice and keep it ready.
• Cook the thuvar Dal in a pressure cooker to a fine paste and keep it ready.
• Wash all the vegetables and cut them into desired shapes and steam cook them in a big nonstick kadai. (Add very little water and cover the lid of the kadai while steam cooking the vegetables )
• Dry roast the ingredients for making the grounded powder and make a fine powder and keep it ready.
• After the vegetables get steam cooked to a desired level, add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder, jaggery powder, mashed thuvar dal, required amount of salt and mix them well.
• Cook them with the lid open for couple of minutes.
• Finally add the grounded powder and fresh coconut flakes and mix them well. Allow them to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• In a tempering pan, add oil and finish the tempering process. Pour them over the kadai and switch off the flame.
• Cover the lid and let the kootu settles down for few minutes.
• Now its ready for Neivedhyam.

Thiruvadhirai Kali

Thiruvadhirai Kali is a sweet dish which we make on the day of "Arudhra Darshan" and offer to Lord Shiva. This sweet is made with rice rava cooked in Jaggery syrup and flavoured with cardamom and fresh coconut flakes. With few drops of ghee/clarified butter, the taste is divine. You can substitute the raw rice with brown rice and try this out with the same procedure..if you wish to avoid white rice. I made this sweet dish by adopting a simpler method.

Ingredients

White Sona Masoori Rice - 1.5 Cups

Jaggery - 2 Cups

Cardamom Seeds - 5 to 6

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 3/4 cup

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method

1. Wash the Sona Masoori Rice and roast them in a frying pan till you get nice aroma and switch off the gas when it turns golden brown. Keep it aside.
2. When it cools down, grind them coarsely like rava and keep it ready.
3. Cook the grounded rice rava in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles by adding 3.5 cups of water.
4. Meantime, make the Jaggery syrup in a separate thick bottomed vessel. Switch it off and keep it ready.
5. Crush the cardamom seeds and make a fine powder and keep it ready.
6. After the cooker cools down, transfer the cooked rice rava into the jaggery syrup slowly without making lumps.
7. On a very low flame, add the cardamom seeds, coconut flakes, ghee and stir them thoroughly for 3-4 minutes.
8. Switch off the flame. Now the Thiruvadhirai Kali is ready for Neivedhyam.

Chow Chow Bath / Kesari Kichidi Combo

"Chow Chow Bath"  was first introduced to me in Bangalore. I never heard of this combo before. Initially I said no to that combo as I was unsure about its taste and ingredients. After I knew that its a combo of Rava / pineapple kesari and Rava Upma / Sooji Upma, I was quite happy and it became one of my favourites.  Whenever I go to any Darshinis, I mostly order this combo as its so yummy with a mixed taste of both sweet and salt. Kesari, a delicious mouth watering sweet always remind me of the Marriage Tiffin time and takes me to that occasion all the time. Though we all make Upma regularly, once a while we can make this combo to make the Breakfast time more special. Kids will definitely love this combo as its colourful and yummy. This recipe is dedicated to my dear daughter who loves this combo very much.

Rava Kesari :

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup ( Adjust according to your taste ) 

Water - 2.5 cups to 3 cups

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Cashewnuts - 12 - 15 cashews

Cardamoms - 3 or 4

Kesar Food Colour - 1 pinch ( For colouring )

Method

• In a heavy bottomed frying pan, heat little ghee and roast the cashews till golden brown and keep it aside.
• In the same pan, add the rava/sooji and dry roast them with little ghee on a low flame. Stir constantly till it turns golden brown.
• When you get a nice aroma, add water and a pinch of kesar food colour to the roasted rava and after its cooked to desired level, add sugar to the rava and allow them to cook for few minutes.
• When it slowly comes to a pudding consistency, add the crushed cardamom powder, roasted cashews and remaining ghee and stir them thoroughly for another 3 minutes.
• Transfer them to the serving bowl and enjoy.

Sooji Upma / Rava Upma / Rava Bath / Rava Kichidi 

This is the simpler version of rava upma which i always include while making this combo. Though we make different versions of Rava kichidi for breakfast, this goes well with a spicy chutney on its side.  I will post different versions in the following posts. 

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji - 1 Cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal / Minna Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal / Senaga Pappu / Kadalai Paruppu - 2 tsp

Green chillies - 3 ( slice it or cut into small pieces )

Crushed Ginger - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Peas - 1 handful

Red Onion - 1/2 cut into small pieces.

Method

• In a heavy bottomed frying pan ( preferably Non-stick), dry roast the sooji/rava till it turns golden brown. Stir constantly so that it does not turn black. Transfer them to a plate and keep it ready.
• In the same pan, add oil first. When it gets heated, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Hing, urad dal, channa dal. When its roasted, add the cut/sliced green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and red onion. Fry them for about 3 - 4 minutes. Add the frozen peas to the contents and fry them for another minute.
• Add 3 cups of water and required amount of salt to the pan. Cover the pan and allow them to boil for 3-4 minutes. While its boiling, reduce the flame and slowly add the rava/sooji into the water. Stir continuously while adding in order to avoid lumps in the upma. After adding the rava/sooji, mix all the contents uniformly and cover the lid till the sooji/rava gets cooked. Remove the lid and add a tsp of ghee into the upma and serve this with a side of spicy chutney. 

Vaikunda Ekadashi

Taken at the Ganesha Temple, Salt Lake City on Vaikunda Ekadashi Day 2012

"Vaikunda Ekadasi" is the most important festival celebrated by Hindus in India. Its the most significant vaishnavite festival and it falls during the month of Dhanurmasa ( Maargazhi in Tamil ). This festival is celebrated in a very grand manner in all the Vishnu temples. On this auspicious day, the "Swarga Vasal" ( Gateway to Heaven ) will be opened in all the temples. Generally the gateway will be placed in the nothern side of the temple.

Generally devotees observe fasting on this auspicious day and chant mantras to Lord Vishnu and recite Vishnu puranas and sahasranama. They visit the temple and stand in long queues to see Lord Vishnu and to walk through the Gateway.  I used to like this festival a lot during my childhood days as we would see lots of stalls around the temple premises and could eat more sugar candies.

"Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya

  Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya"

Black Eyed Beans Vada / Vellai Karamani Vengaya Vadai / Alasanda Ullipaya Vadai

During this vacation, I felt like making some healthy snack for the kids. Meantime, I did not want to spend more time too. Black Eyed beans vadai suddenly flashed in my mind which I made couple of times before. As black eyed beans is a good source of protein, dietary fiber, its a good choice for making the vadas. Taste of these crispy vadais is unique and to me, it has a mix of both Dal Vada and Medhu Vada. I added a bunch of spinach leaves to add more nutrient value to the snack. Try this out and serve this delicious crispy, tasty vadas to the kids..

Ingredients

Black Eyed Beans /  Alasanda / Vellai Karamani / Lobia-- 2 Cups

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1 tbsp

Rice Flour - 1 tbsp

Red Onion shredded - 1 to 2 cups depending on your taste.

Spinach Leaves shredded - 1.5 cups

Salt - To Taste

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Ginger - 1 small square

Green Chillies - 3 or 4

For Extra Punch to Adults

Crushed Garlic - 2 tbsp

Sombu / fennel seeds / Somfu - 1 tbsp

Fine cut green chillies - 5 or 6 big ones

Method

Soak the Black eyed beans and urad dal in warm water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain the water and grind the black eyed beans along with urad dal, ginger, green chillies to a coarse paste. Add rice flour, salt, red onion pieces, shredded spinach leaves , hing to the vadai mixture and mix everything together.  Meantime, heat oil in the frying pan. When you see some slight fumes on top of the oil, start dropping the vadas into the oil carefully. Fry them equally on both sides and drain them out of the oil when they turn into golden brown. Serve hot with hot chutneys.

Variations / Tips

No need to add water at all while grinding. If required, just sprinkle some water on its top and grind.

For adults, add the extra ingredients to the vadai mixture and make them. The vadais would exactly taste like street side hot vadas...

Happy New Year 2012

Wishing you all my blogger friends a very Happy and prosperous New year. May God gives you and your family good health, peace, tons of happiness and joy. You will find success in all your trysts like water flowing through the rocks of tribulation.