Sweet Pedas for Sweet Krishna

Shri Krishna Janamashtami also known as Krishna Jayanti, Shri Jayanti and Gokulashtami amongst many names. It is the most revered festival in our house.

Janmashtami, (as it is casually known) is one of the most popular festivals of Hindus which celebrates the birth of their beloved God, Sri Krishna. Detailed story of Janmashtami or Lord Krishna's birth has been narrated in Puranas. Please read here for details.

Sri Krishna was born in the month of Sravana more than 5000 years ago. According to some scholars, Krishna was born on Wednesday, the eighth day (Ashtami) of the second fortnight in Sravana month in the year of Visvavasu around 3227 BC, also known as Dwapur Yug. He lived for 125 years and his departure was the onset of the current corrupt age known as Kaliyug (that we are in right now). Source: here

Shri Krishna has uncountable names and forms that devotees pray to. In Kerala Krishna is prayed in the form of Guruwayurappan.

The word Guruvayurappan, meaning Lord of Guruvayur, comes from the words Guru referring to Brihaspati, the Guru of the Devas, Vayu, the God of Wind and Appan, meaning father or Lord in Malayalam. Since Guru (Brahaspati) and Vayu Deva is said to have installed Lord Krishna's statue, the name Guruvayurappan was given to the lord. Although many temples of Guruvayurappan exist, the oldest and most famous of them all is located in the town of Guruvayur, Kerala, India.

Guruwayoorappan pic source

Lord Krishna at Guruvayur, a city located in Trichur district in Kerala, India, is worshipped as Lord Guruvayurappan. It is believed that the idol of Lord Guruvayurappan was worshipped by Vasudeva, father of Lord Krishna and represents the full manifestation of Lord Maha Vishnu. The idol is made of a stone called "Patala Anjanam" or black bismuth and is in the standing pose with 4 arms carrying the shanku (conch), the chakra (discus), the gada (mace) and padma (lotus). Guruvayur is also hailed as "Bhooloka Sri Vaikuntham" where the Lord reveals himself to his devotees in the same majestic form in which he welcomes them in Vaikuntha, his celestial abode. Source: Wikipedia

See the beatiful oil lamps that are lit around the temple ay Guruwayoor here

Since Krishna loves sweets things made of milk and milk products, so a post on his favourite ‘pedas’ was inevitable on Soul Food. This is also a very easy recipe, as its made in the microwave. This Krishna prashad is a regular at Ramayan poojas and Janamashtami at our house.

What you need:

- 4 cups full cream milk powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups milk (full cream)
- 2 tsp elaichi (cardamom) powder
- a few tsp ghee to combine the pedas

What you need to do:

1. Dissolve the sugar and elaichi powder in the milk to make a syrup. Microwave it until the sugar dissolves.

2. Use the syrup to combine the milk powder to make a very soft dough. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Use a knife and spoon to cut into the dough to see if it has changed colour. It should slightly darken( go from cream colour to light caramel). The mixture will also get drier as you go along.

3. Microwave for another 4 minutes and check again, if the dough has cooked or not. If it has not, microwave it further in 2 rounds of 2 minutes, checking to see if the peda mixture is cooked. At the end of these rounds, it would definitely have been cooked through.

4. Let it cool until it is warm enough to handle by hand. Grate it finely with a grater. Use ghee in your hands and shape into pedas and keep for bhog. If the mixture is too wet, dry dessicated coconut can be added to firm them up. If the mixture is too dry, you can add splashes of milk to soften the mixture.

The pedas can be decorated with silver vark. Put pedas for bhog on Krishna Janmashtami and then feast on them later! This makes about 25 – 30 pedas.

1. This is going to Latha of The 'yum' blog for her lovely festival series: Janamashtami.

2. This is also going to Srivalli of Cooking for all seasons: as a gracious late entry for her lovely microwave event.

Onam: Thiruvadira Kali

Let me just add in my very first line that this is a non-food related post.

Onam ashamsakal (onam greetings to you)

Onam is such a special festival for me, every year I thoroughly enjoy taking part in activities, whatever I can, that make this beautiful festival so unique. I love making the athapoo/pookalam (flower carpet), I absolutely love making the sadya (which I plan to on the weekend). I love the whole story of mahabali coming to visit his land, his people from exile. It even amazes me on the way I have fallen head over heels in love with the kerala culture. Some malayalees may even doubt me. But I know I do it for myself, not for anybody else.

For the past couple of years I was lucky to learn and be part of the thiruvadira kali dance that is performed at this festival time every year. It is usually organized by the kerala samajam of Botswana. Oooh this dance is not easy at all, your knees need to bend and you end up getting a good work-out.

This bending knee business is a big joke with my mallu girlfriends, because our dance teacher would shake her head and tell me…

“..BEND Rajne (Rachna), bend!!!”, and I would bend my back and lean forwards….and she would say
“NO NO …… bend rajne….bend”

…. hearing that phrase from our teacher at every dance practice after a month or so I realized I had to bend my knees (not my back) and squat… and she began to say…

“ade…ade (yes yes) rajne…”

And after practice all my girlfriends would be on the floor in splits…

Seriously this is beautiful dance. You need to be in a semi-squat position, sway your hips and hands, to the left and right. All the dancers need to move in a circle in a rythmic motion. See the dance here.

I am showing you dance pictures from 2004 and 2005, the one we did in 2005 was also aired on the Malayalam television channel Asianet (which automatically makes me a TV star anyway). See if you can pick me, especially from the last picture. I may not blog hop for some time as I am on tiny holiday visit to South Africa to tie rakhi to my dear brother for rakshabandhan on 28th and celebrate my bday on the 29th with him… later later then, c ya

Here at the end of the dance we are trying to make a traditional villaka (traditional kerala lamp) by joining the small lamps in our hands, can u see it?

Dance from 2005

ok pick me from this pic

Methi and Leftover dal ki missi poori with aaloo

Ok, I give in. This whole week, I said to myself I wudn't fry, and be on this 'healthy' salad diet. And what do you know? There's an event, more like an invitation to a party to encourage us to fry pooris and to have it with the ever tempting aaloo sabzi...grrrr

So yesterday I said, what the heck...I might as well make it :) which made hubby the happiest person on the planet. Anita, this whole week you are shining on my blog :), you sure are good at tempting others to cook. With blogging about food like this, for sure we will never loose our tyres....

Since its raining poori aalo in the blogosphere and everyone was making pooris with plain aata, I thought I should make my dal methi poori. Using leftover dal? u ask; yup, I say.

I have two aaloo bhaji recipes here, one which I've always had in my parents house with poori, kachori, etc and the second one is a southie version, my mallu friend taught me. Each is in its own league. I made the second one yesterday which was devoured before I could take any pics :S

I usually make these pooris whenever there is any kind of leftover dal, and my hubby always encourages me to make excess dal so that I make his dal pooris!! For the pooris I made yesterday I had lots of dal palak (mung dal split with spinach and onion tomato tadka) left from the previous day. The dal should be a mushy mushy consistency. Offcourse these methi pooris can be made on the tava with lesser oil too, but Anita said F R I E D, so we fried, :p.

Image : The dry ingredients before kneading with the dal

For the methi missi poori you need:
-1 cup aata (any brown bread flour)
-1 cup besan (chana flour)
-2 tbsp dried kasuri methi
-1 tsp dry dhania powder (optional)
-some leftover dal

what to do
1. In a bowl throw in the aata, besan and methi. Optionally add a tsp of dry dhania powder. Use the leftover dal to knead the dough (dont use any water). If you run out of the dal, use milk to combine the rest of the flour. Make a fairly stiff dough. Even if they dont rise while frying, they will be moist because of the besan and dal. No chance of getting any cluries (cardboard like poories)!!

2. Take enough dough to make a 10cm round which is 1/4cm in thickness (it should not be too thin, else you run the danger of them becoming cluries; it should not be too thick, else you run the danger of them not getting cooked through).

3. Deep fry them, in hot oil until they are pink in colour. Alternately toast them on a tava like missi roti, painting with a little bit of oil on both sides.

4. Find any bhaji to eat with and devour quickly. Also you can have them just like that rolled with mango or lemon pickle. Its excellent tiffin and picnic food. (Makes 12 small pooris)

Aaloo bhaji 1 (northie version)- has more gravy
what you need
- 3-4 boiled potatoes finely chopped
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1 tsp methade (whole fenugreek seeds)
- 3 tsp oil (any vegetable oil)
- salt and chilli powder to taste
- 3/4 tsp haldi (tumeric)
- handful of finely chopped green coriander

what you need to do
1. Heat the oil in a deep pan. When hot, throw in the jeera and methade. When they change a few shades darker (which takes a few seconds), put in the tomato and saute briefly. Add three of the chopped boiled potatoes and add 3 cups water.

2. Whilst it starts coming to the boil, mash the one potato that was not added. Add salt, chilli powder, and tumeric. Dont think the tumeric is too much, we need a deep yellow colour. When it comes to a strong boil add the mashed potato and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve with poori or kachori.

Aaloo bhaji 2 (southie version) - is a semi dry consistency
what you need
- 3-4 boiled potatoes coarsely chopped
- 1 onion coarsely chopped
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 4-5 green chillies split
- 1 tsp rai (mustard seeds)
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 3 tsp oil (any vegetable oil)
- salt and chilli powder to taste
- 1/4 tsp haldi (tumeric)
- 4-5 sprigs of mint

what you need to do1.
1. Heat the oil in a deep pan. When hot, throw in the mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustard seeds starts to splutter(which takes a few seconds) add the urad dal and ginger and green chillies; saute until they change a few shades darker (which again takes a few more seconds) or when you hear people in the adjacent room coughing. Put in the onions and saute for some more time, until the onions become translucent. Add the chopped boiled potatoes and add 1 and a 1/2 cups water.

2. While it starts coming to the boil, add salt, chilli powder, tumeric and mint. Here we need a light yellow colour and I promise you the mint is the king in this dish. When it comes to a strong boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve with poori.