My Favorite Festival – Ganesha Chavithi

Yesterday was an auspicious day for all Hindus. It was the day we celebrate Ganesha Chavithi, a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha. He is known to help people overcome obstacles in their lives and bestow great wisdom and wealth. It is important for this pooja and every pooja that we prepare prasad (offering to the God) and wear new clothes.

So our day started with making his favorite dishes, cleaning and decorating the place where the pooja will take place.

We also drew rangoli (colored chalk/powder drawings) in front of our house. Usually, we create more colorful drawings but we were really tired and just decided to keep it simple.


My parents told me that the story goes that Lord Ganesha's favorite dishes are steamed sweet rice dumplings, rice kheer (pudding), besan ka ladoo, and boondi ladoo.

However, we are health conscious and so we made steamed rice and lentil dumplings with ginger & coriander chutney, vermicelli & tapioca pudding, and beet root rice. Don't you just want to grab a couple of the balls off the screen.

Steamed Rice & Lentil Dumplings (Undrallu) Ingredients: 

- 2 cups of Idli rava/cream of rice/coarsely powdered rice 

- 1 cup of Moong dal

- 1½ cups of fresh grated coconut (frozen grated coconut can be used as well)

- 2 tsp of Salt or as needed

- 4 tbsp of Vegetable oil

  

Procedure:

1) In a pressure cooker or heavy bottomed sauce pan cook the moong dal with two cups of water until it is soft & firm (Hint: should be able to split it when pierced with the nail). Remove excess water and set aside.

2) Add 3 cups of water into the pan or cooker (including the water collected from the dal earlier). Add 2 tbsp of oil and salt and allow the water to come to a boil. Reduce heat and add idli ravva into it and mix.

3) If using cooker, close the lid and cook in medium to low heat under pressure for 5-6 minutes. If using pan, cook under low heat until the rice and dal is fully cooked (may require slightly more water in the pan).

4) Transfer the cooked mixture into a wider container and add remaining oil and spread the cooked rice to cool. When it is cooled down, add grated coconut and mix well.

5) Make lemon size balls with the mixture and put them into a container. Cook them under steam by adding 1-1 ½” height water and place the rice balls container in it. Close the inner container and the outer and steam cook in medium heat for 10 minutes.

6) When done, eat the dumplings with ginger chutney. 

Quick Tip: To enhance the taste of the dumplings, just add a drop of ghee on it.

Vermicelli & Tapioca Kheer (payasam) Ingredients:

- 2 cups of Vermicelli (sevia)

- ½ cup of Tapioca (sabudana)

- 1 liter of Milk

- ½ can of Condensed milk

- ½ cup of Sugar

- 6 pods of Cardamom, seeded and powdered

- 15-20 Cashew nuts, halved and roasted

- 15-20 Golden raisins

Procedure:

1) Roast vermicelli & sabudana separately in a 1/2 to 1 tbsp butter and keep aside. Soak the sabudana in 1 cup of water for atleast 1-2 hours (this will reduce the cooking time immensely).

2) In a heavy saucepan or crock pot add milk, vermicelli, and sabudana. Allow them to cook on low heat (15-20 min) stirring the contents frequently to avoid caking and burning at the bottom. Cook until the sabudana turns opaque to transparent and vermicelli is soft.

3) Now add sugar, condensed milk, raisins and cardamom powder and bring it to boil on low heat stirring continuously. Taste the kheer and add more sugar as needed. Remove from heat and then add cashew nuts.

4) This kheer can be enjoyed when hot or chilled and served as pudding (thickens when chilled).

Quick Tip 1: While use of condensed milk gives a rich taste, you can replace it with extra milk or evaporated milk and sugar if preferred.
Quick Tip 2: The kheer can be made with vermicelli only if sabudana is not available; adjust the milk and sugar accordingly.

Tater Tots Revived - Not Just 4 Kids!

My last entry about "Hot Summer Treats" featured this snack called Aloo Papdi Chaat that I have tried at many restaurants but I never liked it as much as when I make it at home. The ingredients are fresher and everything is still crispy when you are eating it.

Well today, I've got another treat for you to try. It's called Aloo Tikki Chaat and the main ingredient is none other than TATER TOTS!!

You're probably thinking, "is she crazy, those are for kids". Well, I'm not and they are perfect for this "off the street" snack. I say it's off the street because in India, specifically in Delhi and Bombay, there are street vendors that make this hot off the grill and serve it up with different sauces and people go crazy for them. You don't have to go to India to enjoy this snack, I will show you how to make it in the comfort of your home.

In the Aloo Papdi Chaat snack, you had to add crispy bits to make it more crunchy. For this recipe, you don't need to add those because you will use baked tater tots which you can make as crunchy as you want.
 

Here are the ingredients from left to right: Chaat Masala, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chutney, Yogurt, and Tater tots (or you can use Mini Potato Patties).  

Procedure:

1) Thaw the contents of the tater tots bag and place them in a greased baking sheet. Follow the baking instructions listed on the bag. If you want them to be a bit more crunchy, leave them in longer.  

 

(Hint: Make sure they do not get burned)

 

2) Take 5-6 tater tots or patties off the sheet and mash them up on a plate with a fork.

 

3) Dilute the chutneys with a little bit of water before adding to the potato mixture. Most of these chutneys are concentrated so they will have a strong taste. Adding water to them will tone the taste down and won't clump up your snack.

4) Next add yogurt to the mixture, and then sprinkle chaat masala and sev on top. The recipe is now completed.

I now present this scrumptious snack to you. Go enjoy it. Savor every last tot morsel.

***Quick Tip: Two of the ingredients in this recipe (such as tamarind and coriander chutney) are already found in most Indian households because they are used as condiments for other snacks and dishes. They are like ketchup or mustard sauce for American food.