Happy Diwali

Wishing all a Very Happy and Prosperous Diwali....



Today I gave Niwali (Mangala Harathi) to my brothers. Wanted to share that special tradition with everyone. This might be famous in other places also, but we Manthani people do it for sure in the following way.

The day before or the same day of Diwali(depending on the moon sign day), Sisters show Mangala Harathi (aarthi) to their brothers. The tradition starts early morning, before taking shower. Sisters apply coconut oil on the head of the brother for 3 times. Then comes the nazar utaro section, where the girl will take two laddoo type things (made from either besan or wheat flour with pinch of turmeric added), and turns them in one direction around the whole family. Same thing is done again with different set of laddoo type in the reverse direction. Finally they show aarthi to brothers and then to rest of the family.

Brother's give gifts to their sisters on two occasions for sure. One is Rakhi and other is Niwali, which I mentioned above. After the above thing is done, then we enjoy the special snacks prepared by mom. Peni, Madugulu (also called Jantikalu in andhra side), Chakkilaalu with Ghee and Tamarind Pickle. But the taste that we have on the food after niwali is total different from normal times.

Then the Diwali season comes, which everybody know that we all will have blasts.... new clothes, Special food, Crackers, Fire works .... Earthware Diya's.

Lot of unforgettable memories. As soon as the evening happens we wait to lite the earth ware diya's and decorate it around the home. Before the dinner have lot of fun with fireworks. and then finally the day ends with Laxmi Puja before having dinner. It is considered auspicious to do Laxmi puja on Diwali.

The following is a mangal aarthi which I am copying from another site, thoda modified so that we can sing it like OM JAI JAGADEESH HARE song:

Link: http://festivals.iloveindia.com/diwali/maa-lakshmi-aarti.html
GODDESS LAKSHMI AARTI

Jai lakshmi maataa, maiyaa jai lakshmi maataa
tumko nishadin dhyaavta, hara vishnu vidhaataa
brahmaani, rudraani, kamlaa, tu hi hai jaga maataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

surya chandramaa dhyaavata, naarada rishi gaataa
durgaa rupa nirantara, sukha sampati daataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

jo koi tumko dhyaavata, riddhi siddhi dhan paataa
tu hi hai paatala basanti, tu hi shubha daataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

karma prabhaava prakaashaka, jaganidhi ke traataa
jis ghar mein tum rahati, sada sadguna aataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

kara sake koii kara le, mann nahin ghabaraataa
tuma bina yagya na hove, vastra na koii paataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

khaana paana ka vaibhava, sab tumse hi aataa
shubha guna mandira sundara, kshirodadhi jaataa
ratana chaturdasha tuma hi, koii nahin paataa
Jai lakshmi maataa, maiyaa jai lakshmi maataa

aartii lakshmii ji ki, jo koii nar gaataa
ura aananda umanga ati, paap utar jaataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

Hope you all will also have blast on Diwali.....

My Items on Diwali:

Sweets we got from outside:


Cucumber Raita


Peel the cucumber and grate it. Squeeze the juice out of it. Add salt, green chillies, Dahivada raita powder(my fav), and ofcourse curd to it. Mix it well. Add tadka with oil, 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, curry leaves and 1 tea spoon urad dal on top.
Traditionally, we dont add the Dahivada raita powder, we use 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds powder. Try it..


Vegetable baath recipe from Asha's blog


Our Dinner:
Cucumber Raita, Mango and Amaranth leaves Lentil, Spicy Potato Curry, Vegetable Baath with white rice.

Tuvar and Turai Curry

I bought this turai(Beerakaya, Ridge Gourd) fresh from indian store. But problem was the curry becomes very less unless combined with something else, or if you have large quantity. This was one of recipes tried in the potluck. I liked the taste and wish to share it with everybody.

Ingredients
Turai - 1 long
Tuvar - 1-2 cups (I used one packet of frozen)
Mustard seeds - 1 table spoon
Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon
Chilli Powder - according to taste
Oil
Salt to Taste

Method of Preparation

1. Clean, Peel the skin and chop the turai. For tuvar you can either chop it or make small pieces by hand(if fresh).

2. Take a kadai, add mustard seeds. let them splutter and then cumin seeds.

3. Add Turai and tuvar cleaned to the kadai. Add chilli powder and Salt also.

4. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until both the vegetables are cooked. The curry is ready.

You can serve this curry with either hot rice or roti.

Terms
Tuvar - Goru chikkudu kaya (Telugu)
Turai - Beerakaya (Telugu), Ridge Gourd

Chocolate Cake (Eggless)

Here is a simple recipe for eggless Chocolate cake. This recipe is also from my cousin Hema. Thanks to her.

Ingredients
1 & 1/2 cups pressed all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
3 table spoons unsweet hershey's cocoa powder
3/4 table spoon baking powder
3/4 table spoon baking soda
1/2 table spoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable or any oil
1 table spoon distilled white vinegar or u can use lemon juice
1 table spoon vanilla extract

Method of Preparation
1. preheat the oven at 350F

2. Grease the 8 inch pan with butter and dust it with flour and keep it ready .

3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda,2 tablespoons cocoa powder together and keep aside.

4. Make room in the middle and add water, oil, lemonjuice and vanilla extract.

5. Beat very well until smooth and no lumps. Now pour this into the pan and bake it for 30-35mins.

6.Remove it from oven and let it cool fully .


Your chocolate cake is ready..... isn't that easy ??

Tomato Chutney - MIL recipe

This recipe was taught by my mother-in-law. This pickle/chutney stays for a longer time than the usual ones(which is generally 2-3 days).

Ingredients
Ripe Tomato's
Chilli Powder
Salt
Tamarind
Turmeric
Oil

Method of Preparation
1. Chop the tomato's (can be even bigger size too).

2. Add a Oil in a vessel. After the Oil is heated, add the tomato's to it.


3. Add Salt and Turmeric to it, and mix it. Add Tamarind also to it.




4. After the Tomato's are cooked, (you will know this, when the oil slowly starts showing up above the tomato's) spread the Red Chilli Powder on it. Mix it thoroughly so that the chilli powder mixes with the above mixture.



5. Let the mixture cool down and store it in a dry clean bottle.



Note:
If you want to retain taste and color through out the usage of long lasting pickles, put it in refrigrator.

Coming back again....

Hi all,

Its been really long time I posted something on the blog. We recently bought a home, and then India trip and good news of my pregnancy....

Lot of things were happenning around. So I am hoping to get back to post something on this blog again.. Good luck to me :)

Curry Powder or Kura Podi

Kura Podi or Curry Powder is another one that I liked it from Andhra people. Easy to make and ready to use to add nice taste to a simple curry. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
Chana Dal
Urad Dal
Red Chillies
Some Coriander seeds
Some Cumin Seeds
Very little Oil


Method of Preparation
Add very little oil to the kadai and let it heat. Add all the ingredients and let it fry for two minutes max.


Let it cool and grind the above. Your Curry powder is ready.

Add this curry powder to a simple vegetable curry to make it more tastier. I generally add it to Capsicum, Okra, Tindora, Bottle gourd curries. But this can be added to lot more.. so experiment yourself.

Note: I am not sure about the ratios but this is what I used.
ChanaDal - 2 cups
Urad Dal - 1 and 1/2 cup
Red Chillies - (you can add it according to your spice level.)I added around more than 1 cup of them.
Coriander Seeds - handful
Cumin Seeds - handful
Oil - 1 tablespoon