చలిమిడి: Chalimidi- Traditional Rice Sweet

ANDHRA SPECIAL SWEET

INGREDIENTS:

Rice ---1 cup
Jaggery----1 cup( grated)
Coconut pieces ---- 1/2 cup (cut in small cubes)
Ghee-------1 tbs
Elachi/cardamom powder -----1 tsp


METHOD :

1. Soak the rice in water for one hour.
2. Drain the water and spread them on a cloth and dry.
3. Do not dry too much.
4.Grind finely and sieve to get very nice flour.
5.Cut the coconut in to small pieces and fry them in little
ghee until turns light brown.
6.Add little water to jaggery and make very thick syrup.
7.Test for syrup take a little syrup and drop in water.
If you can make fa ball out of that from water, that is right paakam.
8.Turn off the heat and add rice flour little by little.
9.while mixing thoroughly to avoid lumps.
10.then add coconut pieces , elachi powder and ghee and mix well.
11.Cover with lid.
12.When it is cool, make balls and store in a dry container.

variations: If you want you can make with sugar instead of Jaggary.

This traditional sweet dish is mandatory in the following occasions:

While seeing off the bride after wedding.
Offered to the pregnant woman at baby shower.
Offered to the young mother while leaving for her husband's home.

ఉండ్రాళ్ళు: Undrallu- Steamed Rice & Bengal gram balls

VINAYAKACHAVITHI SPECIAL

Ingredients:

Rice Ravva..................1 cup
Water..........................2 cups
Chana Dal..................1tbsp
Cumin Seeds.............2 tsp.
Black pepper seeds.......2 tsp.
Salt.................................for taste

Method:

1.Wash 1 and 1/2 cups of rice nicely.
2.Dry the rice on a cloth in the shade.
3.Make powder in the mixer.
4.Sieve that coarsely flour into a plate. u get ravva in the siever, fine flour into the plate.
5.Now measure this ravva as required.
6.Take 2 cups of water also chenna dal and boil.
7.when it is boiling, put cumin seeds,salt, pepper. then pour this 1 cup ravva in it. and stir it continuously.when it is getting to come together as a ball, switch off the stove.and cover with a lid.
8.When it is cool, make into medium size balls.
9. Now these balls have to be steamed. It can be done either by using the pressure cooker or keeping these balls in a covered container placing it in a bigger heavy bottomed vessel with water,which we call it as double boiling.this steaming should be done for 1/2 an hr.and then put off the stove.Let it cool.
10. Take out these from cooker and they are ready now for offering to God Ganesha and eat it with Tamarind Chutney.

మొదకలు: Modakalu- Steamed rice balls stuffed with coconut-jaggery

VINAYAKACHAVITHI SPECIAL

INGREDIENTS

Rice flour.....................1 cup
coconut grated............1 cup
Jaggery........................1 cup
water............................1 cup
oil.................................2 tsp for smearing

Method...

1.Take heavy bottom vessel put one cup water, boil it.then switch off.
2. Immediately add the rice flour. mix very well.
3.Add one tsp oil, the dough should be nicely mixed and not touch to the sides of the vessel.
4.make into small equal portions.
5.Take the grated coconut, put in the a vessel add jaggery cook till it is ready to make balls. remove from the stove.
6.Take the one portion of the dough press it on a platform keep the jaggery ball on it make in to an onion shape modakam.
7. Make all the balls in the same way.
8. Keep the cooker on the stove.using the idli plates grease with oil .keep all the modakams in the plate. close the lid,do not use weight. steam it for 10 mints.
9. when you remove them from the cooker after cooling, the modakams are ready.


These are liked by Lord Ganesha. so usally these are prepared on Ganesh Chathurthi.

ఉగాది పచ్చడి: Ugadi pacchadi- Ugadi (Telugu New Year) sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1.1/4 cup Neem Flowers
2.1/2 cup Thick Tamarind Pulp
3.1/4 cup Raw Mango Pieces
4.Three Green Chillies sliced very thin
5. Salt to taste
6. Jaggery Powder to taste

METHOD:

Soak the tamarind in little water.take out the pulp.
Cut the the raw mango into very small pieces.
also cut the green chillies into small pieces.
make jaggery into powder.
now mix the all 6 ingredients into a bowl.this becomes like chutney. u should not make into very liquid type.
taste it for all the six ruchis , the 6 tases of sweet/sour/salty/bitter/spicy/astringent
this is a very good for health. specially when the seasons are changing from winter to a hot summer,
children tend to get the diseases like, chicken pox, measeles etc. this helps to fight it,
it also works to improve resistance and in killing worms/germs in the stomach

It is rich in C-Vitamin and Calories

This is eaten early in the morning of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, to remind us that life is full of ups and downs and we should learn to enjoy all the various Rasas, emotions that come our way. Just as we learn to enjoy the taste of this pachchadi!