Kolam by Sudha Balaji

Quick and easy sweet appam This appam is prepared for Krishna Janmashtami as an offering or neivedyam to Lord Krishna in our family circles.. Usually prepared with jaggery,  I have done with sugar to make it easy to justify the title ! We need, one cup boiled milk, one cup sugar , one cup maida and cardamom seeds or elakkai powder . Mix all the three , sugar, maida in milk.  Wait for around 10 minutes so that the sugar is completely dissolved in  milk. Add cardamom powder ,  the image below shows what is correct viscosity of the batter to get perfect appams. Heat the stove > When oil is hot turn the knob on the stove to sim position the batter is poured in hot oil using a ladle or spoon.   When  the appam becomes brown turn to the other side .  This ensures that it gets cooked evenly and completely. One important point to be noted is that we should  fry the appam one by one otherwise they will stick together in the oil This...

In the month of Sravan (Aavani) on the eighth day (ashtami ) after full moon is celebrated Janashtami or Gokulashtami.  For some the birth star of Lord Krishna is important and so they celebrate it on the day Rohini star falls.  Both come within a few days of each other, invariably.   As I have written earlier,  the customs and traditions followed are many even for the same festival.  So I would like to share here how I celebrate this festival.   In the morning, we perform puja to the Lord Krishna idols we have.  He is in the famous crawling pose.  After performing archana, we offer five types of fruits that include jamun (Jambul in Hindi or naga pazham in Tamil ).   My father  offered Jambul leaves also for Krishnashtami puja. We also offer, milk, curd, butter and ghee.   In the evening we perform puja to the picture of Lord Krishna for more than five decades, now ( I am told).  It is a Thanjavur painting that w...

Whether it is Gokulashtami , Vinayaka Chaturthi or Varalakshmi Nombu ( Vratha ) there is a tradition of placing the idols in a mandap and decorating the mandapam (as we say in Tamil) .  We can have a blend of traditional and new and unique ideas too for decorating the mantap.   First the modern methods of decoration.  I have made a Hridaya kamalam or Lakshmi Hrudaya rangoli and a rangoli border using OHP sheet, glass colours, 3D glitter and decorative trinkets.  These two can be placed before the mantap for decoration. A close up of the Pooja in progress We can use OHP to decorate the top of the mandapam also.  I have an old mandapam made from rose that is being used in our family for various festivals.  Old is gold, as they say, so we are using this mantap for Krishna Jayanthi, Pillaiyar Chaturthi and Varalakshmi Nombu. I use a combination of kaavi or geru and limestone giving alternate white and kaavi colours to the mantap , this probably...

Traditional method of tying roses is tricky and needs practice, among most flowers rose petals are the most delicate and hence we have to handle the flowers carefully.   Even while tying it is possible that the petals can get separated. Still rose is one of the most beautiful flowers and many of us cannot resist the temptation of making a rose flower garland. (poo malai) What I have shown is a simple method for making a rose garland .   As usual, since this blog is mainly about traditions, customs and festivals, this decoration can be used for Varalakshmi Vratham or Navratri. We need lace ribbon that has holes as shown in the picture below.   Insert the roses one by one giving enough gap between any two roses.   The roses being inserted.  Even this we have to do carefully to preserve the petals. After completing one side, insert the flowers the next side between the stalks of the roses already in place. A beautiful garland is getting ...