Anitha Jayaraman

One should appreciate their traditions & customs for giving us a wide range of festivals with one thousand reasons! V.V is celebrated on the first friday before Pournami in the Avani month. This is for the goddess Lakshmi in the name of Varalakshmi Amman. I followed a book and also my MIL’s words -:) to prepare dishes for this pooja. The below are the required ones for Pooja.

1) Kuzhi-Appam

Required items – Raw Rice, Jaggery, Half banana, Cardamom powder for preparation of the batter.  AppaKaral (special pan with molds), Oil, Appa Kuchi(optional) for cooking.

• Soak the raw rice in water for 1 – 2 hours.
• Powder equal amount of Jaggery stones.
• Using a mixie, grind the rice, Jaggery and a half banana. Also add little cardamom powder to it.
• Add water until you get a watery consistency like thin dosa batter.
• Pour oil in each of the molds of the Appakaral. Heat the pan.
• Once heated well, you can start pouring the batter in each mold.
• Once the batter turns to an appam, use a fork or Appa kuchi to turn the appam upside down
• Once cooked again, you can remove the appams
• Continue the process for the remaining batter

2) Kozhukattai (sweet, salt)

Rice flour is required. It is better to prepare the pooranams first.

Required items for sweet pooranam – Equal amounts of Jaggery & Grated coconut, Cardamom powder.

• Melt the Jaggery in a pan on the stove. To this add the grated coconut and cardamom powder.
• Fry them until they reach a sticky consistency for stuffing.

Required items for salt pooranam – I cup Urad, green chillies, seasoning items.

• Soak a cup of Urad dhal for an hour or so. Grind them with few green chillies.
• Steam the Urad dhal mixture using an idly vessel.
• Break the steamed mixture to pieces. Fry them with seasoned mustard seeds.

Kozhukattai

• Fry(warm up) the rice flour using a pan.
• Heat water in a vessel. The quantity of water should be the same as that of the rice flour you will be using.
• When it is boiling hot, add the rice flour slowly and stir strongly.
• Add a pinch of salt to this mixture.
• Once its ready as a dough, remove from stove and cool it for a while.
• Make shapes out of it to stuff the pooranam.
• Steam the stuffed items using an idly vessel. Your kozhukatai is ready.

3) Sweet Pongal (Chakarai Pongal)

This is an easy dish that I would prepare for any occasion but anyway to this festival it is a must.

Required items - 2 cups rice, 1 cup moong dhal, 3 cups jaggery, cashew, raisins, cardamom, ghee

• Wash the rice and dhal. Fry the dhal using little ghee.
• Using a pressure cooker, cook the rice and dhal. Add double the amounts of water.
• In this case 6 cups of water is required. I minus a cup of water and substitute with a cup of milk.
• Cook for 3-4 whistles depending on the power of the cooker. It has to be cooked really well and cannot look dry.
• On the other burner, take a non-stick vessel and melt the jaggery to liquid by adding little quantity of water.
• To this add the cooked rice and dhal. Keep stirring until they mix up well.
• Add little ghee while stirring in order to bind.
• Finally add the ghee-fried cashew, raisins, cardamom.

4) Parupu Payasam

This is kinda same as Chakkarai pongal. Oops I forgot the instructions, will check at home and will be back to write it out.

Required items - 2 cups of moong dhal, 1/2 cup of chenna dhal, 2.5 cups of jaggery, thinly cut coconut pieces, milk, cashews, cardamom.

• Fry the dhals again in low flame using little ghee.
• Pressure cook them adding double the quantities of water. Substitute 1-2 cups of water with milk.
• Melt the jaggery using little water.
• Mix the cooked dhal with this. It has to be little watery being Payasam(supposed to drink!!)
• Fry cashews, cardamom and cocconut pieces in ghee. Add it to the payasam.

5) Medhu Vada

I am hoping Aliya can refer back to this section as she pointed me out to write it down instead of recommending the readymade pack which I did for a quick dinner special -:)

Required items -2 cups of Urad dhal, 2 Green chillies, Pepper, Asafoetedia, Salt, Oil, Corinader leaves, Curry leaves, Ginger.

• Soak Urad dhal in water for  4-5 hours atleast.
• Grind it using a grinder or mixie without adding water. Its difficult to grind it hence suggesting a grinder. Sprinkle little water whenever it annoys you while grinding.
• Using a mixie, grind the chillies, pepper, curry  leaves, corinader leaves.
• Mix this with the batter. Add salt, asafoetedia.
• Take a small banana leaf or a thick plastic cover. Apply oil to your hand and the leaf.
• Make shapes of the vada on the leaf and start frying them in oil.
• Wet your hand everytime in water so that the batter doesnt stick onto your hand.
• Fry themuntil the oil stops bubbling and the vada changing to brown color.

6) Raw rice Idly

Idly is not a big deal but this is the first time I am making Idly with Raw rice and without boiled rice. Ladies(wives) are not supposed to eat boiled rice on this day and hence this gets useful for lunch and dinner.

Required items - 2 cups of raw rice, 1 cup of Urad dhal and salt.

• Soak rice and urad dhal separately for 3-4 hours.
• Grind them separately adding required quantity of water. I used a mixie being less quantity.
• Mix them and ferment it overnight.
• The next day, Idly is sure to come within shape and not sticky.

To complete the cooking on this special day, I made aracha vita Pudalangai(Snake Gourd) Sambar, Potato-Methi fry, Parupu rasam and applam.

I had invited people for dinner on this special day.