Puli Aval, Tamarind chipped Rice

Enough cannot be said of the wonderful chida dahi Mahotsav and the background to the festival. More can be read here http://caitanyacaritamrta.com/antya/6/en. Chiwda is easy to prepare and relished by the Lord. It was the gift that vipra sudama carried  when he went to meet the Lord in Dwaraka. This dish is called Puli, which is tamarind in Tamil and Aval is flat rice or chipped rice/parched rice.

This is a snap to prepare and tasty with a cup of dahi.

Wash well and drain 2 cups of Poha, the thick type. To the drained Poha,

Add  3  heaped teaspoons of Rasam powder

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

3 tablespoons of tamarind pulp

1 1/2 teasppons of salt and mix well.

Pour 2 tablespoons of sesame oil in a pan, on the stove, when hot, add a teaspoon of mustard,  1 teaspoon of split urad dal, 1/2 teaspoon of channa dal, 2 teaspoons of peanuts, 1 teaspoon of asafoetida, 1 sprig of curry leaves torn into bits, 2 dry red chillies broken into bits. when the dals turn golden brown, add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder, add the poha with the rasam powder etc, mix well and let it stay on the stove for about 4-5 minutes. Offer to the Lord.

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Mathura Peda

Some devotees asked me if I knew how to make Mathura peda,also called as Dharwad peda, to offer for their Radha Vrindavanchandra deities. So I experimented with some ingredients and came up with 2 methods, not very different from each other. Both tasted good, while i felt the second method came close to the taste of Mathura peda, my daughter went with the first method.

In the first method i used:

1 1/4 cup of Mava or whole milk powder

4 tablespoons of heavy cream

elaichi/cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon

brown sugar- 1/2 cup

granulated sugar and coconut powder for dusting/rolling.

Thoroughly mix the heavy cream and one cup of mava, cook on a medium flame, in a thick bottomed pan. Add the brown sugar and stir well to mix. Continue stirring and scraping till the mixture becomes a thick paste. Add the remaining quarter cup of mava and mix well, till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Add the cardamom powder. When cool shape into small pedas. Roll in coconut powder and powdered sugar.

The second method: This tasted more like the peda.

2 heaped tablespoons of chenna. (See rasagolla recipe on how to make chenna)

3/4 cup of mava/milk powder

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3 tablespoons of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of elaichi freshly powdered.

Incorporate the chenna into the above given method and follow all the steps adding the remaining ingredients in the same manner as above till the mixture pulls away from the sides of  the pan. Shape into pedas when cool, roll it in superfine granulated sugar and coconut powder.

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Cinnamon Rolls

The smell of baking and cinnamon definitely lends an air of cosiness to any home.Though you are not supposed to smell any offering before hand, there is no way in which you can stop this one from wafting into your nostrils…So our meditation has to be on the creator of spice and all things nice so that we do not end up drooling over these cinnamon rolls!

2 Cups All purpose flour
5 Tablespoons butter or crisco
2 teaspoons yeast, I used rapid raising yeast
1/2 cup luke warm water
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar.
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder.

Mix the flour, yeast, butter/crisco, sugar, vanilla extract and knead with the lukewarm water till the dough is soft and smooth. Coat with oil, cover with cling wrap and allow to rest for an hour or till the dough has doubled in size.
Punch down the dough,and knead it briefly on a dusted surface, Roll into a rectangle of 1/4 inch in thickness about 6″ long and 4 ” in width. This is an approximation, spread the surface with butter and sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon powder. Starting at the lengthy edge of the rectangle roll into a tight rope. seal the edges by tucking inwards. Cut the rope into equal portions using a pizza cutter or knife. Place them on a buttered baking tray and bake at 375 deg F for 15-20 minutes. Serve to the Lord!

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The Janmastami Spread at the temple

Mint/Pudina Rice

 

Palak/Spinach Pooris

Chikoo/sapodilla Shrikand

Paneer makhani

Maddur vada

Raita

Dhal Makhani

Beans paruppu usili

We  made the target 3500 Vadas..Wish you were here?

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Balarama’s Birthday pie!

 

The form of Lord Balarama
Powerful Lord Balarama is sixteen years old, full of the luster of youth and has a fair complexion the color of crystal. He wears blue garments and a garland of forest flowers. His handsome hair is tied in a graceful topknot. Splendid earrings adorn His ears and His neck is splendidly decorated with garlands of flowers and strings of jewels. Splendid armlets and bracelets ornament Douji’s graceful and very strong arms and His feet are decorated with splendid jeweled anklets.

Lord Balarama’s beauty is enhanced by the earrings touching His cheeks. His face is decorated with tilaka made from musk, and His broad chest is ornamented with a garland of gunja. Balarama’s voice is very grave and His arms are very long, touching His thighs

The splendor of Lord Balarama’s transcendental form eclipses many millions of glistening rising moons, and the slightest scent of His boundless strength is sufficient to destroy many armies of demons. Although He knows the supernatural power of His younger brother, Krishna, still, out of love for Him, He never leaves Krishna alone in the forest even for a moment. Balarama is Sri Krishna’s dearest friend and is a great reservoir of the nectar mellows of many kinds of transcendental pastimes.

Balarama’s birthday pie- Mango pie glazed with HONEY!

This pie base recipe is from rambhoru Mataji’s book Food for Peace.

Pie Base:
1 cup white flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teasp. bicarbonate soda
1 Tablesp. sugar
1/2 cup butter, ghee or oil
2 Tablesp. cold water
Pie Base:
1. Sift flour, salt, soda and sugar.
2. Rub butter into flour evenly.
3. Knead water into flour until a pliable dough forms.
4. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch thick.
5. Press neatly into a greased, 9-inch pie pan.
6. Cut away excess dough from rim.
7. Bake pie base in moderate oven 20 minutes until golden brown.
8. Remove from oven. Set aside.

Make double the quantity of pie crust.

For the filling I used 2 cups of fresh mangoes sliced

2 tablespoons of potato starch, you can substitute with corn starch

4 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of mava/milk powder

1 tablespoon of butter

cook all the ingredients in a pot on a low flame for just about 5 minutes. Allow to cool,

Once cool spoon over your pie crust

Roll out another portion of the crust, cover the pie, flute and trim the edges. Bake at 375 deg farenheit  for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown. You can glaze it or dust with granulated sugar. Alternately offer it with whipped cream or fresh vanilla ice cream.

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Chiroti

Chiroti, also called as padhir Pheni, Pathir pheni etc

Chiroti- This is yet another dish from Karnataka, served at wedding feasts.  Its traditional and delightful. While making Khajas recently this idea crept up on me of trying Chiroti. I want my daugter to be able to taste all things traditional and since we do not buy things made outside, I try making everything at home  and offer it our wonderful and most merciful deities.

For the chiroti:

2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

 a pinch of salt

2 teaspoons of powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter, softened

a paste of rice flour and ghee

about 1/4 cup of rice flour and 1/4 cup of ghee

oil to fry.

Powdered sugar for dusting on the finished chiroti

Knead together the all purpose flour, baking powder, salt,sugar and butter with water , into a smooth dough. Roll out the dough into chapati like circles, Spread the paste of rice flour and ghee on the upper surface of the chapati, place another chapati. Layer about 7-8 chapatis in this manner. Spread the surface of the topmost chapati with the paste, roll it into a rope. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut off portions of the rope.Place the surface with the concentric circles facing downward on your rolling surface and roll lightly into a puri about 3 inches in diameter. Heat the oil for frying and when ready fry the pooris one by one till light golden in color.

Just before offering to the Lords, dust it with powdered sugar. Offer hot badam sheera or badam milk along with the chiroti. The chiroti is broken in a shallow plate and the hot badam milk is poured on top of it. The poori absorbs the milk and the flavors of cardamom and saffron and is then eaten with a spoon…

For the Badam powder

Rinse and sun dry 1 cupof badam/almonds

Dry roast it lightly on a heavy bottomed pan.

Once it cools down, powder it with 1 1/4 cups of sugar, some cardamom and roasted saffron strands.

Use this powder to make badam milk, by adding this to warm milk and boiling it till the milk thickens. For badam sheera, I additionally soak and wet grind a few more almonds to make the milk thicker.

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Maddur Vada

This is yet another dish from Karnataka, from a place called Madduru. One of the items on the menu of our Janmasatami feast, its beginning to give me nightmares. We are to make 4000 of these vadas for our feast on Saturday 15 August. Praying to Balarama for strength and mercy of all Vaisnavas to carry out this seemingly insurmountable task, I present here the onion free Maddur vada.

 Ingredients:

1 sooji/semolina

1/2 cup rice flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

about 1/4 cup of hot oil

7-8 green chillies finely chopped

1 tablespoon jeera

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 sprig curry leaves

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon asafoetida

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

1 tablespoon broken cashew bits, washed

oil for frying.

Mix all the ingredients together with about half a cup of water, knead into a soft pliable dough. Pinch off small portions, roll it out into balls, and with your palms press to flatten into small circular patty like discs. Once the oil is ready, fry the vadas till golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

As you must have noticed devotees of Krishna do not use onion or garlic in their preps. Onion and garlic are in foodstuffs that promote the mode of passion and ignorance and are deterrent for a spiritual aspirant. So, Food is carefully prepared bearing in mind how it affects our consciousness and hence onion anfd garlic and some other unofferable food are avoided. There is no change in taste and the proof of it is in eating..

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Mango Thokku

This is a kind of pickle which tastes good with parathas or with yogurt rice. Made with raw green mangoes, it can last for weeks if stored well.

Ingredients.

4 cups mangoes, peeled and grated

Sesame oil, about 1/2 a cup

asafoetida 2 teaspoons

mustard seeds – 2 teaspoons

methi/fenugreek seeds- 1 teaspoon

chilli powder – 5 teaspoons

salt- 8 teaspoons

turmeric  powder- 1teaspoon

1 sprig of curry leaves, washed and torn into bits  

Dry roast 1 tsp of mustard seeds and the methi seeds and set aside. Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan. When hot add the remaining mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing, turmeric and mix well. Add the grated mango, salt and chilli powder and stir well. Cook without covering, on  a medium flame, till the oil separates out on the top. Powder coarsely the roasted methi and mustard seeds and add to the pickle. Allow to cool.  Store in clean dry bottle/jar. Keep refrigerated for longer shelf life.

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Thattai, Nipattu

This salty south Indian Snack features on the list of Bhakshanam -dry bhoga that is offered to the Lord especially on Janmastami.

 Ingredients

2 cups rice flour

1/2 cup puffed gram dal or dalia – powdered

3 tablespoons of oil, butter or ghee melted and hot

2 teaspoons of asafoetida

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

a handful of raw peanuts soaked in water till soft/ or blanched and peeled and halved

2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons  chilli powder.

Oil for Frying.

Mix all the ingredients till you get a crumbly mixture. Add water slowly to the flours, mixing well. Knead into a smooth non sticky, pliable dough. Pinch off small rounded balls. Grease a plastic sheet with oil. Flatten the dough on it. Prick the surface with a fork to prevent air bubbles from forming while frying. Peel the thattai slowly taking care not to break it. Slide in two or three at a time into hot oil. Fry on both sides till hissing noise subsides. Drain and store in airtight containers.

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Ekadasi-Rajgira/Amaranth flour cookies.

Amaranth considered a weed is a valuable source of nutrition. While the Aesop’s fables and poets write about thebeauty and value of Amaranth flowers and seeds, the devotees of Krishna do not use grains or beans on Ekadasi days. They use Amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa etc on Ekadasi fasting days, to prepare rotis, puris, halava etc.

I tried making cookies from this flour on the recent Kamika Ekadasi. The devotees who tasted this appreciated the crisp coconutty taste. Since some asked for the recipe, here it is.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dessicated coconut powder or shreds

1  1/2 cups Amaranth flour

I used 3/4 cup Amaranth flour and 3/4 cup potato starch

2 teaspoons of yogurt

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder- optional.

Cream together the butter and sugar, till fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients.  Pre -heat the oven to 350 deg farenheit. Roll out the dough into small balls, flatten and place on a cookie sheet. Bake till the edges begin to brown.

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