Omapodi / Sev.

  I am guessing the name itself is derived from the main ingredient that differentiates this fried snack from its other variations – Omam/ Ajwain. Omam is an excellent aid in digestion and a cure for low appetite and colic and flatulence. Omapodi is a delicious snack in itself and also aids as a main [...]

Read Full Post »

Deepavali Special – Madras Mixture.

  Every year Deepavali has been a special occassion for the entire family to get together and celebrate the festival of lights. These days, there is a lot of TV involved, but when we were little kids, Deepavali was getting up early in the morning and having oil bath and then wearing new clothes and [...]

Read Full Post »

Thattai – Diwali Festive Treat Series – (Spiced rice balls flattened and deep fried).

Deepavali always brings in festivities and goodness to an already vibrant occassion. Preparations for Deepavali would start at least a week ahead of the festival with all of us pitching in for the making of the various sweets and savories all overseen briskly by Maduraiamma. She would keep ready large aluminum tins, washed and dried [...]

Read Full Post »

Deepavali – Significance and Melee – Deepavali Sweets & Savouries.

Deepavali – the name itself conjures up memories of early morning oil baths, new clothes, sweets and savouries, families getting together to celebrate the occasion of the vanquishing of good over evil.Deepavali as a festival signifies, the conquest of light over darkness.To Hindus, darkness represents ignorance, and light is a metaphor for knowledge. Therefore, lighting [...]

Read Full Post »

Navarathri Neivedhyam Day 5 – Sweet & Succulent Gulab Jamuns.

Today was Sri Chakra Pooja at the local temple and I had been wanting to witness one for some time now. Today also happens to be my mother`s birthday. So I wanted to make some thing sweet for her, as well as offer some thing to Devi. I am not sure if this is very [...]

Read Full Post »

Festival Treats – Boondhi Ladoo.

Every year we loved and enjoyed Vinayaka Chathurthi as it was always the first of the many hindu festivals. It heralded the onset  of the other religious festivals like Sri Krishna Jayanthi, Navarathri, Saraswathi Pooja, Vijayadasami, Deepavali, Karthikkai Deepam, Thiruvadharai etc. Every festival was important in it`s own right and had its own religious significance. [...]

Read Full Post »

Ten Minute Ellu Urundai – Sesame Laddoo.Indian Cooking Challenge – August.

Sesame seeds have been one of the most commonly available ingredient in our pantry. It has been a very deglamourised spice in my home. Since I assosciate the spice with one served in the “Shradham” offerings, I never had much of an interest in it anyway. The ICC gave me an opportunity to relook at [...]

Read Full Post »

Sweet Cheedai/Vella Cheedai.

The Sweet Cheedai is a variant of the salted one, only using jaggery. The trick is to maintain the consistency of the dough to be moist and non sticky at the same time to render it pliable.By using  this method, I find that the balls come out smooth and do not crack up when they [...]

Read Full Post »

Uppu Cheedai ( Roasted rice flour mixed with salt & spices and fried in oil)

Preparation of Uppu Cheedai, one of the Neivedhyams offered to Lord Krishna has been a real learning experience for me. The thing about Uppu Cheedai is that there was never uniformity or consistency in my preparation. This was because there would no uniformity in the rice that we used, in the way it is ground [...]

Read Full Post »

Nei Appam ( Spongy soft balls made from rice and jaggery fried in ghee)

Festivals have been an integral part of our lives and they usher in so much of redundant goodness and positive vibrations. Every festival has its own significance and I try to capture as much as I can with what I have lived with, in my childhood. It`s more an effort to showcase to my daughter [...]

Read Full Post »