Happy Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand and Sajibu Nongma Panba!

May the flavor of raw mangoes, raw neem, and jaggery remove all bitterness and add sweet flavors to your life. Let's put the shadows of the past behind and look forward to a new beginning. Happy Ugadi!

If you follow the Gregorian calendar, you celebrate the New Year on January 1st. Did you know there are many people around the world that celebrate the New Year on a different day every year? 

My family follows the Lunar calendar and our New Year (Ugadi) was today, March 22nd. Ugadi is celebrated by Hindus from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Goa. 

On Ugadi, we celebrate the New Year by drinking Ugadi pachadi which is made with different ingredients, such as green mango, tamarind juice, fresh or dried neem flower, and banana. 

I made the 'pachadi' with the ingredients I had at home and then my husband and I drank it. It was more sour than sweet. 

We also make some dishes on the occasion. My mom made Halwa Puri, Mango Pulihora, and Sabudana Pakora. I am looking forward eating these yummy foods when I visit my parents in a couple of weeks. 

Mango Pulihora, Sabudana (Tapioca) Pakora and Halwa Puri

Did you know that a new year also started today for:

- Marathi people from Maharashtra and they know it as Gudi Padwa

- Sindhi people and they know it Cheti Chand

- Manipuris and they know it as Sajibu Nongma Panba

I love learning about new cultures and traditions. How did you celebrate the new year today? Share with us. 

2018 Ugadi Specials

I traveled two plus hours to get to my parents' place over the weekend to celebrate Ugadi with them. 

It was worth the travel! 

The aroma of sweet halwa puri hit me as soon as I walked into the house. I quickly took off my jacket and shoes and sat ready at the table. That was the signal for my mom!

 

I said "Mom, I'm hungry". She handed me a small bowl of Ugadi pachadi to drink so I can start off the "new year" properly. 

Then she placed a plate full of yummy food in front me. I was jumping for joy over the beautiful sight in front of me just like S.V. Ranga Rao's expression in the song, Vivaha Bhojanambu from Maya Bazaar (youtube link below). 

I enjoyed eating the mango pulihora, vegetable pakora, and of course multiple halwa puris. She also made mint chutney, green beans with moong, and Italian beans curry to eat with rice and chappati. 

I was all smiles by the end of my meal...hope to have a fruitful new year! 

                  From my family to yours... Happy Ugadi!! 

A Special Surprise, Just in Time for Ugadi!

It's always a delight when relatives come to visit, especially during the holidays. My grandma arrived a few days ago and just in time for Ugadi.  She makes the journey every year even though she's aged quite a bit. It's always a delight to see her nonetheless. 

I don't mean to sound childish but I always get excited when my grandma unpacks her things. She always comes bearing gifts...they are usually sweets and savories of all kinds. 

I collected all the sweets together to show you guys. Most of the Indian sweets are made from rice and lentil flour. 

The top plate shows all the sweets I grew up eating. Pootarekulu (also known as paper sweets) is a popular sweet from East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. Powdered white sugar or brown sugar is stuffed in between the thin sheets made from rice flour. 

Next to Pootarekulu is Pheni, which is shredded, flaky rice flour roasted in ghee. It is usually eaten with sugar and hot milk. We eat this from time to time for breakfast. We put a handful in a bowl, mix in sugar and pour hot milk on top. It is really yummy. 

Next to pheni is cashew nut brittle made with cashews and jaggery (Indian brown sugar). Last but not least is Arisalu, which is behind the brittle. These thin, round patties are popular in Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and are made from rice flour, brown sugar, and ghee. Arisalu are one of my sister's favorite Indian sweets. 

The bottom plate has an assortment of sweets made from lentil flour, rice flour, nuts and dates. Some of these sweets are Kaju Kattli, Milk peda, Mysore Pak, Bandar Laddu, Kajja, and Balushahi. Milk or doodh peda has become one of my favorite sweets. They pedas are heavenly and I can easily eat all of them in minutes. 

The first thing we do on Ugadi is pray and eat Ugadi pachadi. I did just that before leaving for work.  After work, I came straight home and indulged in more Ugadi specials like Halwa poori (a popular sweet from Telangana), and Green Mango Pulihora that my mom made. 

Wishing you Happy Ugadi from our family to ours!! 

A Sweet Surprise in my Puri!

I have many loves in life. One specific love is for Indian sweets (or desserts). There is so much variety of sweets all over India and in every region. Long time ago, I think people got bored of making the same sweet all the time and decided to create their own. They went on to share with everyone they knew and then those recipes spread like wild fire all over the nation...but that's just my theory.
One of the sweets that became popular in South India, which is unique to the region is Halwa Puri. I Googled it  to see if I can find more information about it but didn't find anything conclusive. The only results I found were Puri served with Halwa, which isn't the same thing.

So what is Halwa puri? Halwa Puri is a sweet that is prepared on Ugadi (South Indian New Year). It is puri (a kind of Indian flatbread) stuffed with halwa. There are many ways to make Halwa and it's popular in various countries. For this particular recipe, we make it with semolina, sugar, milk, butter, and water. Simple enough so far, right? 

I love the crunchy texture of the puri combined with the sweetness of the halwa, you taste in every bite. It's so hard to eat just one. I'll stop here so you can continue reading on how to make the rest of this dessert.

Ingredients for Stuffing:

Sooji (semolina) Halwa - Prepare halwa without nuts and set aside to cool. Once it cools, roll into small balls. 

Ingredients for Dough:

- 2½ cups Maida*

- 1/8th cup Vegetable Oil (for mixing into dough)

- 2 cups Vegetable Oil (for frying)

- Handful of Sooji (Semolina)

- A pinch of Salt

Procedure:
1) Sift together maida, sooji and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Heat the 1/8th cup of oil and add it into the dry ingredients. Slowly add water to the ingredients until you form a soft but not firm dough ball. Put the dough aside and wait for at least 30 minutes to an hour for it to become malleable.

2) Take a walnut size dough piece and spread it on your palm. Place a small ball of halwa in the center of the flattened dough and wrap it with the dough by pulling from all sides. (Please watch video for demo) 

 Prepare all dough balls as described in Step 2

3) Heat oil in a deep frying pan on medium heat until you feel the heat when you place the over the pan. On a 6x6" paraffin paper, spread the halwa stuffed dough ball into thin puri by pressing with your fingers (as shown in video below). Hint: Apply a little oil on your fingers to avoid sticking.

4) Remove each flattened out puri from the paraffin paper and slide it into the hot oil. Fry until it's golden brown on both sides. Place it on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. 

***Quick Tips: If maida isn't readily available, try the recipe with All-Purpose flour. Note that the taste may vary due to the use of different flour. 

Discover the world, one dish at a time! Check out our blog feature on Wanderfood Wednesdays by Lauren Van Mullem!! 

~Ugadi Specials~

In addition to the Ugadi Pachadi, we made mango rice, garelu (mini cabbage and lentil patties), and halwa puris (also known as bhakshalu). Here are a few other suggestions that you can make for the holiday:

- Tamarind Rice

- Coconut Rice

- Sooji Halwa

- Carrot Halwa  

- Sweet Poha Balls (laddu)

- Vermicelli and Tapioca Kheer (Payasm)

~*March Into New Beginnings*~

What do sweet, sour, tang and bitter flavors have in common?

Vermicelli Halwa, Achari Chayote Curry, Tangy Tomato Chutney with Mini Idlis, Karela Curry

We're marching into Spring with a variety of exciting, new dishes! We're fortunate to celebrate two wonderfully colorful holidays that truly represent the spirit of Spring this month.
Of course, we're talking about Holi and Ugadi. Holi is a Spring festival and it's celebrated with lots of color. The Ugadi festival celebrates the start of a new year or beginning. If you think about it, Spring is a new beginning. And during Ugadi, we prepare this dish called Ugadi Pachadi and the most common ingredients found in this dish are dry Neem flowers, banana and brown sugar, green mango and tamarind juice. These ingredients were picked specifically because of their flavors, which relate to the emotions of life. We took it one step further and created dishes that exemplify each of these flavors. 

Pulihora (Tamarind Rice), Made Easy!

Happy Ugadi or Gudipadwa to all!

Ugadi/Gudipadwa is a Andhra, Karnataka, and Maharashtrian holiday which celebrates the arrival of the New Year, which also coincides with the beginning of Spring. This year it falls on a working day (3/16) and so my mom decided to make dishes that don't require a lot of time and happen to be our favorite. Yay for all.

The two dishes are Pulihora (Tamarind Rice) and Sooji Halwa (A Semolina Sweet). Both of these items are served as Prasad (offering to the god) at South Indian temples. Tamarind Rice is a very traditional delicacy which is often served at festivals and weddings.

One of the key components to making this rice dish so tasty, is Chaunk or Talimpu (seasoning). Also, traditional Tamarind rice making involves time-consuming method of soaking tamarind in water, squeezing the juice out, cooking it to make it into a paste, and then mixing it with rice. With semi-processed tamarind paste available these days, tamarind rice can be made in 10-15 minutes. It is a great way to turn your left over rice into a mouth-watering dish enjoyed by all.


Ingredients:
- 2 cups Basmati Rice

Ingredients for seasoning:
* 3 Tbsp Vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup Peanuts
* 2 Tbsp Channa dal (yellow peas)
* 1 tsp Mustard seeds
* 1 tsp cumin seeds
* ½ tsp (Asafoetida) Hing
* 1 tsp Turmeric powder
* 1 tsp Methi powder (fenugreek)
* 1 to 1-½ Tbsp Tamarind paste
* 6 small Green chilies, sliced into half  (3 Red chilies, broken into 1-inch pcs)
* 8 to 10 curry leaves
* 1-½  tsp Salt to taste
* ½ Tbsp Brown sugar (or gud)

Procedure:
1) Cook rice with slightly less water so that the grains are separated and not sticky. Then immediately transfer into a open dish, add a tbsp oil and spread it to loosen the grains.


2) In a small skillet add oil and heat it on medium heat. Hold your hand above the skillet and feel the heat. When hot, add peanuts and fry for 3 minutes. Add channa dal and continue to fry.


3) When peanuts and dal start to turn golden brown, add mustard and jeera and fry until the seeds start to splutter.
4) Add green chillies and a pinch of salt and fry for 2 min., then add hing, turmeric and methi powder. Add curry leaves and mix well.
5) Remove from the stove and add brown sugar. Transfer the seasoning onto the rice.

6) Add tamrind paste into rice and mix it well to a uniform color of deep yellow color. Allow the rice to absorb the seasoning for atleast 30min and serve.



4/26/2010:

Hey you all, just wanted to add that, you can also make this dish with rice noodles or vermicelli. Just follow the same recipe but with cooked rice noodles versus cooked rice:

To learn more about the spices used in seasoning, click here.