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.

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