Kothu parotta

I took frozen parotta b'coz its difficult to make parotta like parotta master (they are really trained )I really love to see how they flip fast and do parotta...Evening on the street side shop its really nice to hear the sound while making kothu parotta. In my native district ramnathapuram side it is called as ''muttai parotta''.

Ingredients

• Defreezed parotta - 2
• Onions - 2
• Tomatoes - 2
• Green chilli - 2
• Cuminpowder - 1/2 tsp
• Chillipowder - 1/2tsp
• Pepperpowder -1/2tsp
• Salt
• Egg (optional)-2

Method

Heat a dosa plate and pour some oil.

Add 2 chopped greenchillies ,2 chopped onions and 2 chopped tomatoes.

Mix well and fry for some time.Those who are interested in adding egg,break the egg and scramble them before adding parotta.

Crush 2 parottas into tiny pieces and add to that.

With two dosa karandis, you must smash these ingredients into pieces using force with your hands.

Sprinkle 1/2sp chilli powder, 1/2sp jeera powder and 1/2sp pepper powder and enough salt.

Mix well. Add chopped coriander. Put off the fire.

Serve hot with onion raitha.

Gajarchikoshimbir -Carrot Salad

Ingredients

• 2 fresh carrots
• 3-4 green chilies

• one handful peanut
• coriander leaves
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• salt,and sugar

For tempering

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida

Method

Peel and grate carrots. Grind peanut and greenchilies together as powder (or grind peanut as powder,cut green chili finely)
Mix the grated carrot,peanut powder,salt and sugar and lemon juice.mix well.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. As they start spluttering, add asafoetida.
Pour this tempering on the prepared mixture. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Vadaiparuppu

Rama Navami

"Shri Raama Raama Raameti Rame Raame Manorame

Sahasranaama Tattulyam Raamanaama Varaanane"

The seventh reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, Lord Rama was born on the ninth day of the Hindu month Chaitra and that is why this day is called Ram Navami.

For Sri Rama Navami, the "Prasadams" offered are Panakam, Neer Mor(Diluted Buttermilk),Vadai Paruppu and Panchaamirutham. These items are also prepared at the temples and distributed as prasadams to the devotees who come to seek the blessings of God.

All the above mentioned foodstuffs can be taken to bring down the body heat. They also make up for the loss of body fluids due to the excessive perspiration. Apart from the above, in olden days, there was a custom to gift hand-made fans to other people. Since there was no electric fans then, to reduce the effect of the heat, these hand-operated fans were very useful during the summer months.

Vaishak Pournima - Buddha Pournima

Buddha Purnima is marked as the most important day, commomerating the three most significant events in the life of Gautama Buddha that occurred on the same day. His birth, enlightenment and death (nirvana), all happened in the month of Vaishak, on a full moon night in April/May.

Thus, this makes the day - called Buddha Purnima Festival or Buddha Jayanti Festival- all the more sacred for Buddhists.

Maharashtrian Receipes

I would like to share easy and some traditional Maharashtrian receipes.

You will find nice dishes that you can prepare daily or on occasions.

Festivals

I would like to share some traditional festivals of Maharastrians.

In this busy world we are not able to follow all the customs elaborately.Persons who are interested in doing their customs and rituals without fail this will be very useful.

Gudi Padwa

In Maharashtra, the new year is celebrated as Gudi Padwa - a festival that heralds the advent of spring.Gudi Padva or Ugadi is one of the biggest events of the year.

Early on the morning of the first day of the Chaitra month, people finish their ablutions, wear new clothes and decorate their houses with colorful "rangoli" patterns. A silk banner is raised and worshipped, and greetings and sweets are exchanged. People hang "gudis" on their windows on this day to celebrate Mother Nature's bounty. A "gudi" is a decorated pole with a brass or a silver vessel placed on it.deepam is lit and show karpoora aarthi and neivedhya to the gudi and its mainly for the sun god.

Believed to the day that Lord Brahma created the world, it is viewed as one of the most auspicious days of the year and is a time to wipe the slate clean and make a new start.

Main dish on that day will be Puranpoli.

Akshaya Trithiyai

Akshaya Trithiyai falls on the third day after the new moon in the month of Vaishag(Suklapaksha Trithiyai ). On that day the sun, Surya, and the moon, Chandra, are simultaneously at their peak of brightness.Akshaya Trithiyai is a day when one finds happiness in giving.

The word Akshaya means that which never diminishes, hence beginnings made or valuables bought on this day are considered certain to bring luck and success. All over India people celebrate weddings, plan new business ventures, purchase gold, long journeys and other events on this day. Akshaya Tritiya is traditionally the birthday of Parashurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu.

There is a tale in the Mahabharata to highlight the importance of Akshaya Thrithiyai.When the Pancha Pandavas along with their spouse Draupati were in exile, a bowl (Akshaya Pathram) had been given to Draupati by Lord Krishna, with the help of which she was able to serve food to the Pandavas. It was just sufficient to satisfy their hunger."One day, Sage Durvasa, who was known for his short temper, wanted to test the Pandavas. He along with all his followers reached the forest where the Pandavas were living and asked Draupati to keep food ready for them when they would return after a bath in a nearby river. By then she and the Pandavas had already finished their lunch, and the 'bowl' was almost empty, with just a grain of rice left in it."Fearing the wrath of the Sage, Draupati prayed fervently to Lord Krishna, her saviour. Her prayers were answered. Lord Krishna ate the one grain of rice that was still there, and lo! Durvasa and the other guests returned from the river just to tell the Pandavas that already they felt as if they had had a good lunch and their stomachs were full." No wonder, Draupati heaved a sigh of relief! The belief is that, it is good if we buy something like gold, silver or new clothes.

Puranpoli

Ingredients

For making Puran:

• 2 cups bengal gram dal
• 2 cups grated jaggery, (take 2 1/4 cup if jaggery is less sweet)
• Cardamom powder

• Nutmeg grated

For making dough:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• some rice flour for rolling puran polis.

Sieve all purpose flour and salt twice. Make a soft and pliable dough with water and some oil. Keep it under a wet cloth for an hour.

Boil bengal gram with plenty of water. Drain it while it is still hot. Use colander for this purpose.This water can be used to make Katachi Aamti .Now add jaggery to this hot boiled bengal gram and cook over medium heat. Keep stirring constantly so that it will not burn or stick to the vessel. The exact consistency is reached when it leaves sides of the vessel and gets thicker. Remove from the heat now. Allow it to cool and grate in a puran machine or a grinder. This helps remove the lumps.Then add cardamom powder and nutmeg. Now Puran is ready.

Knead the dough with hands. Use oil as well as water for kneading.Make round balls of this dough. Roll one ball a little bit and make a flat disc. Place some puran (about twice the quantity of outer dough) in the center of this flat disc.Seal the ball tightly. Roll again to make thin puran polis . Use rice flour for smooth rolling.Heat a flat griddle. On a medium flame, roast one side. Flip it and roast another side. Do not flip the sides over and over. Roast till golden brown.Smear ghee on top and serve hot.

Variation:you can use sugar instead of jaggery.

Katachi Amti

Ingredients

• 2 cups stock removed from the boiled chana dal when used for Puranpoli
• 1/4 cup dry shredded coconut
• 2 cloves
• 1 small piece cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon tamarind pulp
• 2 teaspoon Maharashtrian garam or goda masala
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2-3 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 4 teaspoon jaggery or 4 teaspoon sugar
• coriander leaves
• salt to taste

Method

Just as for Puran Poli, pressure cook chana dal with plenty of water. When it turns soft, remove from the cooker and use only the water for making aamati. Add tamarind pulp, Maharashtrian masala, salt, chili powder, jaggery in the water and bring to boil.

Roast coconut and cumin seeds together till golden brown. Grind them to form a coarse paste. While the water is boiling. mix in the ground masala and simmer.

In a pan, heat 2 teaspoon oil. Add mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaves. When they sizzle, add turmeric powder, asafoetida and curry leaves. Pour the tempering over the boiling aamati and stir. Cook for some time. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Chaitra Pournima

The full moon day of Chaitra (March-April) is also observed as a sacred day in honor of Chitra Gupta (who is the record keeper of Yama and who
reads out the balance-sheet of each person's deeds, which are recorded in his great register Agra-sandhaani). On this day Chitra Gupta is worshipped. It is Chitra Gupta who maintains the accounts of our good and bad actions in this world, and we are rewarded or punished accordingly in the afterlife. The good and evil deeds
are reckoned and judgment passed by Yama. The good are then sent to one of the higher Lokas or worlds, and the sinful are sent to hell to receive their deserts.

Hanuman Jayanti

On Chaitra Shukla Purnima, i.e., the full moon day of March-April the birth anniversary of Hanuman, the son of the Wind-god Maruti and Anjana Devi, is celebrated. People visit the shrines dedicated to Lord Hanuman, observe strict fast, offer prayers and puja, read the Ramayana and the Hanuman Chalisa.

On this occasion the idol of Hanuman is given a new coat of vermillion colour mixed with clarified butter and then richly decorated. Fairs are also held at some places near the shrines and charity feasts are also organized. Hanuman is considered to be one of the greatest embodiments of strength, speed, agility, learning and selfless service to Lord Rama.