Happy Diwali 2011

Diwali/Deepavali is a "Festival of Lights". The significane of Diwali is that, it removes the darkness and brings light to the life.For food lovers diwali is "Festival of sweets".

Here are few shapes which we made with lights.

 

Diya or deepam is an oil lamp usually made from clay, with a cotton wick dipped in ghee or oil.

Clay diyas are often used temporarily as lighting for special occasions and religious festivals such as Diwali. 

 
Om is the mystic name for the Hindu Trimurti, and represents the union of the three gods, viz. a for Brahma, u for Vishnu and m for Mahadev which is another name of Shiva.
In all Hindu art and all over India and Nepal, 'om' can be seen virtually everywhere, a common sign for Hinduism and its philosophy and theology.

Swastikas is been used in various ancient civilizations around the world. It remains widely used in Indian religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, primarily as a sacred symbol of good luck.

 

                                                     Wish You All A Very Happy Diwali !!!

Carrot Halwa

                                                      
Ingredients:
Carrots ( 1LB)
Milk ( 2 cups)
Sugar ( 1 cup )
Elachi powder (cardamom)
Cashew nuts (7-8)
Ghee ( 3-4 tbsps )

Preparation:

• Peel the skin of the carrots and grate them.
• Heat 3tbsp ghee in a frying pan and add carrot to it and fry for 3-5 mins,stir continuously so that bottom is not burnt.
• Add Milk to it and boil till thick, stir occasionally add elachi.
• Once it starts thickening, stir continuously.Add sugar and cook till it thickens.
• In a separate pan add 1tsp ghee and fry the cashew nuts till they are golden brown.
• Add cashews to the carrots mixture stir on low heat for 2-3 mins.
• Carrot Halwa is ready to serve.

Mysore Bonda

Ingredients:
All-purpose-flour (Maida) -- 1 cup
Rice flour -- 1/4 cup
Onion --- 1/2
Ginger chopped --1 tsp
Green chillies -- 2 or 3
Cooking soda -- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds -- 1 tsp
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste
Yogurt(curd) -- 1 cup
Water -- 1 cup

Preparation:

• Take a small bowl mix yogurt (curd) and water, keep it aside.
• Take a bowl add maida,rice flour,salt,cooking soda ,cumin seeds mix them well.
• Add buttermilk and mix it properly, consistency of batter should be like vada batter .
• Now add finely chopped onion and green chillies mix them well and keep it aside for 30mins to 1 hr.
• Heat oil in a pan, make the batter into small round bondas and deep fry in oil on slow flame.
• Once the bondas are golden brown colour remove from oil and place it on paper towel so that extra oil is absorbed.
• Serve hot mysore bondas with coconut chutney.

Contributed by
Prathima Juvvadi

Peanut & Cilantro chutney

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1/2 cup

Green chillies - 3 or 4

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Cilantro - 1/2 bunch

Garlic - 2 cloves

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Red chillies - 2

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 3 tsp

Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Take a pan ,dry roast peanuts and keep them aside.Remove the skin if you can.
• Then add them in a blending jar with cilantro and salt.
• In then same pan add 2tsp oil, cumin seeds,garlic cloves and green chillies.
• Fry them for 2-3 mins and add in the blending jar.
• Grind them well add very little amount of water if necessary.
• Take a small pan add 1 tsp oil ,mustard seeds,Red chillies and urad dal fry for 2mins.
• Then add the tempering to the chutney and the peanut & cilantro chutney is ready to serve with Idli,Dosa and Bondas.

Bathukamma (Telangana festival) 2011

BATHUKAMMA festival is one of the most unique festivals of Andhra Pradesh especially of Telangana region.This festival is celebrated mainly by the women during Navarathri it honours goddess Gouri on the name of Bathukamma.

This is our first bathukamma festival in our new home ,so we celebrated the festival as we do in India. Festival is the time for family and friends get together so we invited our cousins.

We prepared food variates such as Palli muddalu, Pindi muddalu ,Pulihora,Karapuannam,Nuvvuannam & Peruguannam. These food varities are prepared in a way similar as the last day of bathukamma called saddulu. As bathukamma is festival of flowers we collected all the flowers from our backyard and prepared bathukammas.

In the evening we went to park and placed the bathukammas  and danced around them with synchronizing steps, claps and singing bathukamma folk songs.After singing and dancing for hours, bathukammas are taken to a pond and are set afloat in the water.

Note : For recipes please check festival spls.

Bathukamma (Telangana Festival) 2011

Bathukamma, a colorful floral celebration of Telangana and a unique tribute to nature.

This is my colorful Bathukamma

Note : For recipes please check festival spls.