On August 20, 2013 is Rig Yajur Upakarma, the day when Brahmins change their yagnopaveetham or Poonal. On the following day (August 21st, 2013) is Gayatri japam. Those belonging to Samavedam have their Upakarma on September 7th, 2013.
‘The following are some of the recipes for Aavani Avittam:
- Poorna Poli
- Appam
- Vadai
- Aval Payasam
- Mor Kuzhambu
- Sathumudu/Rasam
- Chow Chow Kootu
- Paruppusili
- Kosumari/Kosumalli
- Pineapple Pachadi
- Idli
- Sambar
Poorna Poli
Ingredients:
- One cup of Kadalai paruppu or channa dal
- 3/4 cup of Powdered Jaggery
- One cup of Maida
- A pinch of salt
- A pinch of colour(optional)
- A pinch of Cardamom powder
- Ghee as required
- Oil as required
Method:
- Soak the dal for an hour.Pressure cook it for two whistles.Drain the excess water and add the jaggery to it and grind it into a smooth paste in the mixer. Heat the mixture in a non stick pan and let it thicken.
- Add the cardamom powder.let it cool and divide into equal portions.
- Mix maida,salt,kesari colour and water and make it into a soft dough and keep it aside for an hour.
- Take a small potion of the maida spread it on a banana leaf or plastic cover with some oil.place the poornam(filling)at the centre and close it from all sides.
- After closing it rub a little more oil in your hand and spread it to make in to a roti.
- Gently put it on the pan and cook on both sides till slightly brown(with some ghee)
Tips
- Take very little of the dough and spread it well. Only then the outer layer will be thin and taste good otherwise the outer layer will become thick and hard.The maida spreads really well.
Appam
Ingredients:
- Raw rice 1cup
- Jaggery 1 cup
- Ripe Banana 1 no
- chopped Coconut pieces 1/4 cup (fried in ghee)
- Green cardamon powder ½ tsp
- Dry ginger powder ¼ tsp
- Black sesame seed 1/2tsp.
- Ghee 2 tbsp
- Oil for frying
Method:
- Soak the raw rice for 4 hours. Drain it.
- Melt the jaggery with little water and strain.
- Smash the banana very well.
- Grind together with rice, melted Jaggery banana, elachi & dry ginger powder with just enough water to form a smooth batter.
- fry the coconut pieces & till seeds in ghee.
- Mix ghee and coconut pieces with it and mix well. Keep aside it for 2 hours.
- Heat the Unniappam mould, fill it ¾ of ghee (or oil), pour the batter into mould.
- When one side is cooked, using sharp ladle flip it.
- Once appam is cooked, drain the ghee (or oil) and set aside. Sometimes sugar is sprinkled on top to give that awesome black/brown and white contrast and add sweetness. Also it tastes far better if you take it after couple of days, instead of fresh.
Vadai
Ingredients:
- Urad dal 1 1/4 cups
- Finely chopped Green chilies 8 no
- Finely chopped Ginger 1 tbsp
- Pepper corns ½ tsp
- Chopped Curry leaves 1tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Method:
- Soak Urad dal for 30-45 minutes.
- Grind Urad dal with little cold water.
- Add chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, pepper corns, and salt and mix well.
- Heat Oil in a deep frying pan.
- Dip the hands in the water and take some paste and place it on the palm of the left hand and flatten it.
- Make a hole in the Center and Slide the Vada into hot oil.
- Fry till both the sides are crisp and golden brown.
Aval Payasam
Ingredients:
- Chemba Aval (Brown Aval) ¼ cup
- 2% milk 1 cup
- Evaporated milk 1 tin
- Cardamoms 6 no
- Ghee 2 tbsp
- Sugar ¾ cup to 1 cup
- Saffron a pinch
Method:
- Wash and clean the Aval. Fry the Aval in 1 tbsp ghee.
- Add milk and saffron into the Aval. Cook it in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles
- Take out the Aval from cooker and transfer into the sauce pan.
- Mash the Aval slightly. Add sugar, 1 tbsp of ghee, evaporated milk and crushed cardamoms. Stir well until Sugar dissolve into milk. Reduce the heat and cook it for 20 minutes until it thickens to the consistency of payasam.
Mor Kuzhambu
Ingredients:
- Plain yogurt – 2 cups
- Okra – 1 cup (chopped)
- Turmeric – ½ tsp
- Asafetida ¼ tsp
- Curry leaves – few
Grind to a paste
- Fresh grated coconut – ¾ cup
- Grated ginger – 1 tsp
- Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
- Curry leaves – 1 tbsp
- Green chillies – 4 no
For seasonings:
- Coconut oil – 1tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1tsp
- Red chillies – 2 no
- Black peppercorns – 2no
Garnishing:
- Cilantro – few leaves
Method:
- Grind the ingredients as mentioned above; keep aside.
- Whip yoghurt lightly to make it to a uniform consistency. Keep aside.
- In a deep pot, heat oil, and add the above seasoning items, when the mustard starts to pop and splutter, add the asafetida, curry leaves, turmeric, and okra.
- Fry for a minute, the add 1 cup of water and cook the okra till soften.
- Now add the coconut mixture and cook about for 2 minutes. Add the yoghurt to coconut mixture. Add sufficient salt now; let the mixture boil for one to two minutes and switch of fire. Stir gently and low heat for 3 minutes. Do not let the gravy boil once you’ve added the yogurt.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Sathumudu/Rasam
Ingredients:
- Ripe tomatoes 3no
- Rasam powder 1 tsp
- Turmeric ¼ tsp
- Hing ½ tsp
- Green chilies 1 no
- Sugar 1/2 tsp
- Salt to taste
Seasoning:
- Crushed Black Pepper ½ tsp
- Crushed Jeera (cumin seed) 1 tsp
- Red chili 1 no
- Ghee 1 tsp
- Curry leaves 2 stem
For Garnishing:
- Coriander leaves 2 tbsp (finely Chopped)
Method:
- Grind all together: tomatoes, curry leaves, green chillies, 1 tsp coriander leaves. Boil with rasam powder, Turmeric powder, Hing and salt and sugar.
- Heat a ghee in a frying pan add all above seasonings and fry them. Pour into the tomato rasam.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve Hot with rice.
Chow Chow Kootu
Ingredients
- Chayote/Chow Chow – 2 nos
- Moong dhal – ¼ cup
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
To Grind
- Coconut – 3 tbsp
- Jeera – 1/4 tsp
- Green chillies – 3 no
Seasoning:
- Red chillies – 2 no
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Urdh dhal – 1 tsp
- Hing – ¼ tsp
- Curry leaves – 1 stem
- Oil – 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Cook the moong dhal in pressure cooker.
- Wash and Peel the skin of Chow Chow. Cut small pieces and cook.
- Take a kadai add little water and add precooked chow chow.when chow chow is half cooked add the cooked moong dhal on it.
- Add turmeric and salt and cook for few more minutes.
- Grind coconut, Jeera, curry leaves together roughly. Add to the chow chow and cook for 3 minutes.
- Heat the kadai add oil and fry mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves,urdh dhal and Hing. Add to the vegetables.
Paruppusili
Ingredients:
- Toovar Dal – ¼ cup
- Chenna Dal – 1/4 cup
- Urdh dhal – 1 tbsp
- Moong dhal – 1 tbsp
- Red chillies – 6 no
- Curry leaves – 2 stem
- Hing – ½ tsp
- Salt – to taste
- kothavaraikai chopped – 1 cup
For Seasoning
- Oil – 4 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
- Urdh dal – 1 tsp
Method:
- Soak the all dals in a hot water for 2 hours. After 2 hours drain it and grind with curry leaves, Hing, red chillies, and salt. Grind them coarsely. Put it in the Microwave bowl and cook it for 3 minutes. Keep aside.
- Take a sauce pan add water, two pinch of turmeric powder, cluster beans and salt. Boil it for few minutes. Then drain well and keep aside.
- Heat a oil in a frying pan add seasonings, when mustard seeds crackled add the dal mixture and fry it for five minutes . Then add kothavarangai in it and mix well. Lower the heat, and stir it for few more minutes. The delicious Paruppu Usli is ready.
Kosumari/Kosumalli
Ingredients
- Cucumbers 2 cups (peeled and finely chopped)
- Green chillies 1 or 2 (cut into small pieces)
- Carrot ½ cup (Peeled and grated)
- Lemon juice 1 tsp
- Moong dhal 1/4 cup
- Salt to taste
For seasoning:
- Cooking oil 1 teaspoon
- Mustard seeds 1/4 teaspoon
- Asafetida a couple of pinches
- Cilantro 3 tbsp (finely chopped)
- Grated coconut 2 tbsp
- Fresh basil leaves (optional) 1 tbsp
Method:
- Soak moong dhal in water in a bowl for about an hour, drain the water and set aside. Using warm/hot water will speed up the soaking process .
- Add the finely chopped cucumber, cilantro, basil, green chillies and grated coconut to the moong dhal and mix well.
- In a small pan, heat oil, pop mustard seeds, add the Asafetida and fry for a second. And pour the mixture over the above carrot & cucumber mixture; add salt & Lemon juice. Mix well once again.
- The Kousmalli is ready to serve.
Pineapple Pachadi
Ingredients:
- Pineapple 1 tin
- Turmeric Powder a pinch
- Mustard seeds crushed 1 tsp
- Water 1/4 cup
- Salt to taste
- Well beaten Yogurt 2 cups
For grinding:
- Jeera 1/2 tsp
- Grated coconut 1/2 cup
- Green chillies 3
For Seasoning:
- Mustard Seeds 1/2 tsp
- Dried Whole Red Chillies 2
- Curry leaves a sprig
- Oil as needed
Method:
- Chop the pineapple into small pieces. Mix together chopped pineapple, turmeric powder , crushed mustard seeds, salt and water in a pan and cook till pineapple are soft and well cooked.
- Grind coconut with Jeera and green chillies. Add the ground mixture into the cooked pineapple.
- Lower the heat and be cook for 10 minutes till it becomes thick.
- Remove from the fire and add the yogurt and mix well. Not to boil it after adding yogurt.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan, add mustard seeds when its starts to pop, add dry red chilli, and curry leaves and sauté it for few minutes.
- Pour this into the cooked pineapple mixture.
Idli
The key to making soft idli is:
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Using handful of rice/Poha while making the Urdu Daal batter.
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Let the dal soak in water overnight inside a fridge.
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When grinding dhal and rice use only cold water.
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Not running the blender continuously, but in short bursts
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Making sure that the batter (before fermentation) does not have too much water.
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When you grind the idly batter, the rice should be ground to a fine sooji rava consistency and not to a fine paste.
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To aid fermentation in cold countries, preheat your oven to 200F and put it off. Place the vessel containing the batter on a plate (to collect the overflown batter in case it pours out) and keep oven closed overnight.
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You can use idli rava instead of grinding rice. Just grind the urad batter and mix with idli rava! However, the idlis will be like the udupi style ones, not like the smooth chettinadu style idlis.
Ingredients
- Idli Rice – 4 cups
- Urdh dhal – 1 cup
- Aval (beaten Rice) – 1 cup
- Salt to taste
- Oil (for greasing the pans)
Method
- Wash and soak the Daal, Poha and rice overnight or for 8 hours.
- Wash and drain the rice. Grind it coarsely in a grinder.
- Proceed to grind the Urdh Daal, with poha and required amount of water and make a fine frothy paste.
- Do not add too much water; the water should be sufficient just so that the mixer/grinder motor runs smoothly.
- Now mix the ground rice and Daal together into a batter.
- Mix salt and set aside in a warm place for 8-9 hours or overnight for fermenting.
- Idli’s are ready to be cooked when the batter is well fermented.
- Grease the idle holder or pan well and fill each of them with 3/4th full of batter.
- Steam cook idlis on medium flame for about 10 minutes or until done.
- Use a butter knife to remove the idlis.
Sambar
Ingredients:
- Toovar dhal 2 tbsp
- Moong dhal ¾ cup
- Tomato 3 no
- Green Chilies 3 no
- ginger 1tbsp
- Jalapeno chili 1 no
- Cut vegetables ¼ cup ( carrot , potato )
- Sambhar Powder 2tbsp
- Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
- Asafetida (Hing) ¼ tsp
- Coconut ¼ cup
- Aniseed (Snafu, Sombhu) ¼ tsp (optional)
- Salt to taste
- Oil 2 tsp
- Mustard seed ½ tsp
- Curry leaves 1 stem
- Cilantro (coriander leaves) 2 tbsp
Method:
- Cut the tomatoes, vegetables, chillies, curry leaves and ginger
- Heat oil in pan; fry the tomatoes and vegetables for few minutes.
- Then add Sāmbhar powder, turmeric powder and Asafetida (Hing) on it and fry for 2 minutes.
- Cook all above ingredients with dhals in pressure cooker till 3 whistles.
- Grind coconut with aniseed very nicely. Keep aside.
- Take out dhals from pressure cooker. Add salt, coconut masala and boil for 5 minutes.
- Heat the oil in pan adds mustard seeds, curry leaves and fry.
- Pore over to Sambhar and decorate with coriander leaves.
- Serve with Idlis
Courtesy: Smt Sadhana and Smt Uma
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General guidelines for healthier food – Both body and mind:
- One should be thinking about Perumal (Nama Smaranam) while cooking, and the purpose should be to offer the preparation to Him.
- Once the food is prepared, it should be offered to Perumal first. While offering, one should make sure that the food is neither too hot nor cold. It should be offered with love and affection.
- Please do not offer either pre-cooked food bought from outside or any pre-consumed food.
- Please follow thiruvaradanam kramam as instructed by your respective acharya. (http://anudinam.org/2012/03/08/bhagavad-tiruvaradhanam/)
- Follow ahara niyamam as much as possible. Atleast make sure that onion and garlic are not used at all.(http://anudinam.org/2012/06/11/srivaishnava-ahara-niyamam/)
- Please ensure that food which are not prasadams are not consumed.
