Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

Vaina Pooja 2010

My first Vayana Pooja

Godu Pova

Wishing you all a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi. 

We also celebrate Gowri pooja or Vayana/ Vaina pooja before Ganesh Pooja (Chavati in Konkani). Gowri is also known as Ganesh's mother and Lord Shiva's wife. For the Gowri pooja we use coconuts to symbolize the goddess. The coconuts are soaked in turmeric water to purify and then all the fiber is scrapped off the coconuts to smoothen the surface. Then it is marked with chalk or wet rice powder with a circle mid way around the coconut. I decorate the coconut with haldi and kumkum but traditionally they are decorated with sindhoor on the mouth of the coconut and sandal wood paste in between the two eyes. Kajal is applied to the eyes of the coconut and they are decorated with flowers. My garden flowers came handy to decorate my Gowri's :) I got the gowri puja samagri from the Indian store. It consists of black bead magalsutra, the red colored mangalsutra thread, comb, bangles, mirror and haldi and kumkum. The diyas are placed on top of the coconut, but due to the carpets in my home, I place them in a separate plate. I chant the 108 names of Gowri as mantra and with every name chant a pinch of rice and flowers is sprinkled as offering. After the Gowri puja, Lord Ganesh is worshiped. 

I made godu pova as offering to Gowri and Ganesh. It is very similar to Panchkadayi, but a lot simpler to make. We don't make this in my home and this recipe was given to me by one of my good friends C when she made this for her son's birthday.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup jaggery or gur

1 cup grated coconut

1 teaspoon powdered cardamom

2 cups thin pova

Method:

Cut the jaggery into small pieces. Heat the jaggery in a pan with 4 teaspoon water till the jaggery melts. Cool it completely and add the cardamom and coconut. Mix well and add the pova in 2 or 3 batches. 

Mix the pova well into the jaggery so that all the pova is coated with the jaggery. 

Curd Curry/ Takka Ambat

I tasted this curry at my friend C's home and I got this recipe from her. This ambat is another twist to the normal "Randayi" or coconut curry made in a typical Konkani home. Ambat means "sour" in Konkani and curd is added in the end to give this curry a tangy taste.

Alsando or chawli (long beans), raw banana, magge (also called Konkani cucumber or lemon cucumber), ashgourd (called kuvale in Konkani and petha in Hindi), yam or suran and ghosale (ridge gourd) can be used to make this curry. Which ever vegetable is on hand can be used individually or in a combination with the other vegetable. I used raw banana and long beans to make this curry.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetables cut in cubes (choose from the above mentioned vegetables; I used raw banana and long beans)

 1 cup grated coconut

 1/2 cup curd or yogurt

3-4 red chilies (byadgi or kashmiri chili will give the curry a rich red color)

4 pea-sized piece of tamarind or 1/4th teaspoon tamarind concentrate

1 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil or any other oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

5-8 curry leaves or karipatta

1 teaspoon jaggery or gur or 1 teaspoon sugar

Method 

Boil or pressure cook the vegetables in a little amount of water and a pinch of salt. Fry the chilies in 1/2 teaspoon oil. Grind into a fine paste with tamarind, jaggery and coconut using as little water as possible. Mix the paste with the boiled vegetables and get the curry to a boil. Mix curd with water need to get the curry to a desired consistency. Remove any lumps in the curd. Add the curd to the curry and salt the curry as per taste. 

Cook on low flame for another 2-3 minutes. 

Seasoning:

Heat coconut oil in a seasoning pan and add mustard. When the mustard starts to splutter, switch off the gas and add curry leaves. Stir and add it to the curry. Cover the curry for 5 minutes so that the flavor from the seasoning gets infused into the curry. Serve hot with rice. 

Reposting for Event "Dish Name Starts with: A"

I saw this unique event organized by Akila of Learning To Cook. It was interesting to see which of my recipes start with an "A" :)

Aebleskiver

Alu Gobi

Alu Methi

Alu Palak

Alu Tikki Chole Chaat

Making Chappati using Chappati Maker

When I was in Coorg, I saw G Aunty make chappati and Akki roti or rice roti's using this chappati press. I got a press when I was returning to US and it has made chappati-making much simpler. It is so easy to press chappatis rather than roll them. It saves me a lot of time as there is no mess created by the dry wheat flour used while rolling the chappatis as the pressing process does not require the dough to be rolled in dry flour. Also the chappatis remain very soft even when they cool down. I also use 1 teaspoon of ground flax seeds and wheat bran for every 3 cups of wheat flour to make it healthier.

Method:

1 teaspoon ground flax seed, 1 teaspoon wheat bran

Add the wheat bran and ground flax seeds to 3 cups of whole wheat flour. Add 2 teaspoon oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Add water (it should eb at room temperature) as desired and mix the flour into a dough with your fingers. Instead of water, 50% milk and 50% water can also be added. Keep the dough aside for 20-30 minutes.

Two plastic sheet are needed to keep the chappati from sticking to the press. I cut the ziplock into half and use it to line the press. Apply a drop of oil and spread it on the inner side of the sheets. Keep a piece of chappati dough between two plastic sheets.

Press the dough using the press.

Move the chappati around and make sure to press it on all sides. If the dough sticks to the plastic apply another drop of oil to keep it from sticking.

 Roast the chappati on the griddle till spots appear on both sides. As I add oil while making the dough,  I don't apply ghee on the chappati. But if desired ghee can be applied on the chappati.

Yana's Chicken Hawaiian Salad

This is a recipe inspired by the Chicken Hawaiian salad at Yana's Restaurant in Pune. I have very fond memories of going to Yana's with my office colleague and sometimes with my sister. The sizzlers's at Yana's are out of the world and incomparable to any other sizzler joint. 

This is very simple to prepare the salad, but the sweetness of the pineapple and flavor imparted by the two varieties of bell pepper make a great combination with the chicken. Those who don't eat chicken can substitute it with paneer or tofu.

Ingredients 
4 chicken breast pieces
1  cup mayonnaise
1 cup thick yogurt or curds
1 green pepper or capsicum
1 red pepper or capsicum
1 yellow pepper or capsicum
1 pineapple or add as per taste 
salt for taste
pepper for taste
1 tablespoon sugar (only if the pineapple is not sweet)


Method  

 Cook the chicken breast pieces in water added with little salt. Cool down and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. De-seed the peppers and cut them into elongated stripes. Cut the pineapple into small chunks and mix in sugar if the pineapple is not sweet. Mix yogurt and mayonnaise well. Add the cut peppers, pineapple and chicken pieces. Add salt and pepper as per taste. Serve immediately. 

Reposting for Flavours of Gujarat Event

I am re-posting these two recipes for Flavours of Gujarat event organized by Nayna of simply.food. Thanks Nayna for organizing this event!

 Undhiyo

Handvo

Khichidi