Saturday, October 20, 2007

RCI-Varalakshmi Vratham...

A day for Ladies, with the yellow sacred threads, kumkum, flowers and the Kalasam with the face of the Goddess atop, decorated with jewellery and flowers is a never to miss sight.Offerings or Neivedyam like white payasams, tamarind rice and some traditional sweets are made for the goddess Varalakshmi along with the offerings of fruits, coconuts and betel leaves and nuts.Pushparchanai or flower offerings is done along with the sacred Ashtothram chants with the 108 names of the Goddess!. The day falls on a Friday, every year according to the Tamil Calendar.



I had posted about Varalaksmi vratham a few weeks back, giving importance to Arisi Upma or Raw rice Upma.Find the recipe and details here.

In this post, let me add along the recipe for the Dosai and the accompanying Chutney which were again the part of the main menu for the day..

Pacharisi / Raw rice dosai.

Fermentation for the Iddly or Dosa batter requires 8 to 10 hours in normal room tempature of 25-30deg C. Parboiled rice and Urad dal in the ratio 4:1 is generally used for the purpose.

When it comes to the day of "vrutham", raw rice(pacharisi)becomes the substitute.Fermentation is avoided as it is considered “making ready the previous evening”and believed to be “unfit”!!.
Therefore the soaking is done early in the morning for an hour on the same day and ratio for the raw rice and the urad dal would be 2:1 so as to acquire preferably a “softer” output :)..

Ingredients:

Yeilds 10-12 medium dosas

Raw rice -1cup
Urad dal-1/2 cup
Salt-to taste.
Oil, you prefer,(use fresh and unused)-for making dosas

Method:

Soak together, rice and dal for an hour and a half.Grind it to a smooth batter using the required amount of water,just as you prepare the normal idly or dosa batter.
.Spread the batter on the hot tawa, meant for making dosas. Let the dough be slightly watery .Pour along in a circular way and avoid spreading into flat circles using the back side of the round ladle as you make the normal dosas.Just “pour” round and it spreads itself.Take care to fill the gap and resemble a dosa J..Flip over and cook the other side.Try to make soft and whiter dosas as this batter has the chance for making dosas harder.So avoid overcooking on the griddle or keep on flipping over and over.


Kadalai paruppu / Bengal gram dhal Chutney.

Ingredients:

Serves 2-3

Kadalai paruppu/bengal gram dhal-1/2 cup
Red chillies-4-5 or according to your preference
Oil for roasting-2 tsps
Oil for tempering-1 tsp
Mustard seeds and urad dal-1/4 tsp each
Kayam/hing-1/4 tsp
Curry leaves-a few
Salt-to taste

Method:

Heat oil for roasting in a kadai.Roast the dhal till unform golden colour.add the chillies and fry for a few seconds.Remove from fire,transfer contents to a flat dish and cool.Grind with salt adding enough water.See the picture for the consistency.Heat oil and temper using the mustard seeds and urad dal.Add hing and curry leaves.Pour it over the chutney and serve with the above hot dosas.Do not attempt to heat up the chutney.

Sambhar was also prepared, with pumpkin pieces in it. I am not going in depth with the recipe of Sambhar here as Viji had requested us to avoid regular sambhars or rasams :).

The recipe is already posted here.
The only difference with the sambhar recipe is that, onions are avoided for the day or on any such auspicious days.

The food is served on a banana leaf soon after the morning poojas and women generally skip lunch or dinner as they observe fasting for the day..

This goes to RCI-Tamil festivals hosted by Viji of vcuisine.

29 comments:

  1. It looks so good, especially the thamboolam. Echi ooruthu to see dosa and paruppu chutney on banana leaf. Nice entry for the event.

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  3. Slurp!! Great lunch Bharathy.
    She requested that we don't send her Rasams or Sambhars? I didn't know! WHY?!:D

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  4. Bharathy, Lovely presentation on banana leaf. Lu the dosa and paruppu chutney.

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  5. I like that chutney...will be making it soon. Thanks, Bharathy:-)

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  6. I suppose a lazy person cannot prepare such a wongerful virundu!:)) Don't be tough on yourself dear!:)) Nice entry for the event!:))

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  7. wonderfull entry Bharathy! it looks lovely

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  8. Paruppu chutney is new to me...Thanx for sharing the recipe..:))

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  9. lovely write up and pics sis :) atleast you celebrate all these functions ;)

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  10. hai,
    south indian's main breakfast is this dosa with chutney or sambar....presentation looks gr888t...looking forward for more recipes...

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  11. Awesome Bharathy, Nice presentation.

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  12. Bharathy thank you so much for the entry. Appreciate your interest. Yours is the first entry for this festival. Viji

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  13. Dal chutney looks delicious and the dosa too. Just felt like tearing a piece of dosa and dipping into the chutney. Pity one can't just grab things from the computer :-)

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  14. Bharathy.....The items look so delicious and lip-smacking dear.......Posted my meme dear....
    The fell in love with ur thamboolam......the fresh jasmines lifted up my spirits.......How much I miss those :-)

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  15. very beautiful pics! hats off to you:) the dosa/ chutney and the flowers cracked me up:)

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  16. wow!!!very very tasty and delicious dosai ....i will try it soon

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  17. the kadalaparippu chutney looks so delocious! both the dosa recipe and the chutney are new to me. i want to make the chutney for sure...

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  18. hey Bharathy deary..sorry , my meme will come out only sometime next week...kurachu panikooduthalundu....and, hey, u know onida b4?..how do u know she is from ekm?

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  19. wow!!! lovely spread...dosa and chutney looks delicious..my mom makes this... wannna taste ur also...really mouthwatering...

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  20. Bharathy, Thanks dear for the message. I hardly find time to sit and write down recipes but I do blog- hop and try recipes. It is easier that way:):). Infact I tried your Plantain upperi recipe for Onam and it came out well. My 3 year old loved it. Thanks for that.

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  21. The pics are very fresh and beautiful. Have heard so much about this Pooja and in fact attended one at my neighbour's home too :)

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  22. thanks, golden girl, for the extension of time..actually, Ashaji has also tagged me, so planning to write up both together...and busy, ennu paranja, verae onnum alla..eppo danceloru kai nookuva..hee heee..(schoolilum, collegilum polum cheyyatha karyanghal, eppo kettikayinju kochum aayikayinjappoyaa cheyyunathu..lol)..having our Keralite Eng's Forum day this friday, so all practise..this..that..full behalam..yesterday came back home at 11 pm....husband also there for a regional dress theme, wearing rajastani dress, so he too came with me yesterday, ....vannappo mon maid indae kudae kidanuranghi !!..but she looks after him well, so no worries!

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  23. reach bak near to 6pm, leave again at 7...but, its fun..!!..and as for onida, aarum ariyathe, give me her name..so i can surprise her, enthu parayunnu?..enghanae yundu endae kidneyyy???

    Nags name is bindya?..then why is it the "fearful" nagalakshmi?..hee hee

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  24. your fantastic four meme was really fantastic ... sorry i am late in leaving a comment there! it was nice to know about you.....more:)

    this edition's kadalaparippu chutney is book marked. I 'll surely try it!

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  25. edo, we can never do without a maid here..leaving home at 7 am, coming back at 6. luckily, ours is fine...a nepali, live in...Shayne like her very much...by the way, have u seen shayne?..if u need to see him, go to orkut/nags/easy way to find me will be in her scrapbook, with a comment made yesterdaysaing her fotos are coming well ,. then u land in my profile, and his album-link in flickr is given there...

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  26. Thankyou Kribha :)

    Asha, I have replied in your place, dear!:)..

    Thankyou rina,tbc,and lathamma :)..

    Roopa and Raji,thanx for those sweet words..:)..

    Thanx sis..yes I do celebrate..:)..hope you too will do the same,soon ;).

    Thanx Suma..why not you start yours soon??:)

    Thankyou,shiva :)

    Viji you are one of the best hostesses I have come across..It's a pleasure to submit to you..:)

    Thanx,MT and happy cook..

    Over to ambrosia, Sirisha..:)

    Sharmi, Deepa and Lissie..thanks to you too girls..do try it out..it's easy and tasty..;)

    Thankyou,remya and sandeepa :)

    Reena..hope to see you back with your updated recipes :)..thanx for visiting and trying it out,dear :)

    Nandu,it's easy and I am sure you will like it :)

    Eda..scientiste..ithentha g-talk mssnger box a??..orkut scrap book a??visheshangalu parayan??;)..mm..ayikkotte ayikkotte...nadakkattteee

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  27. I was looking for a chutney recipe without coconut. Your bengal gram daal chutney is perfect.

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  28. attractive piece of information, I had come to know about your blog from my friend arjun, ahmedabad,i have read atleast eleven posts of yours by now, and let me tell you, your website gives the best and the most interesting information. This is just the kind of information that i had been looking for, i'm already your rss reader now and i would regularly watch out for the new posts, once again hats off to you! Thanks a lot once again, Regards,
    Varalakshmi Vratham

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