Kolam by Sudha Balaji

I would like to share some of the kheer (or payasam) types that I think are (un)common.  Since Rangoli-sans-dots is primarily on rangoli or kolam designs, recipes like kheer or payasam and rangoli are inseparable so far as festivals like Lakshmi Puja, Diwali and Sankranthi are concerned.   They are also important for festivals like Varalakshmi Vratham, Ganesh Chathurthi, and Fridays ( especially for Sravan month Fridays  or Sravana sukruvar and  Tamil month Aadi - Aadi Velli as we call in Tamil ).  So I thought that I should occasionally add some festival related recipes. Pumpkin (parangi) payasam for Fridays Required ingredients 1. Ripe pumpkin - 250 gram 2. Milk -1/2 litre 3. Sugar -as desired 4. Cardamom 5. Cashew nuts 6. Raisins 7. Optional (almonds and saffron) Cook the pumpkin pieces in a pressure cooker. Take them out, mash and keep separately.  Boil the milk for 5 minutes and add cardamom powder and saffron (optional). Th...

Navratri is one of the most important festivals celebrated for nine days , the tenth day being celebrated as Vijayadasami or Dusshera.  Different states of India celebrate it in different ways.  So I would like share how we celebrate the festival in Tamil Nadu.  Probably Andhra Pradesh and  Karnataka also have similar celebrations of the festival.  This post has been updated for Navratri 2016. Navratri 2016 dates are - Navratri starts on 1st of October the day after the new moon.                             Why do we keep Navratri golu Mythology has it that it is celebrated for the victory of Goddess Shakthi over evil. She became victorious on the tenth day and hence this day is celebrated as Vijayadasami and hence the belief that any auspicious deed commenced on this day will be successful.  That is why we find the advertisements Vijayadasami admission in schools and some private ...

The ingredients are besan flour , milk, ghee and grated coconut - each one measure , sugar two measures.  These add up to only six cups so nuts preferably cashew nuts are added to get the seventh cup This is a traditional recipe of my mother in law ,, no twist just a straight forward , simple and easy sweet that can be part of our Deepavali bakshanam or Navratri neivedyam. In our family we have the custom of preparing a sweet daily for Navarathri  Add besan flour one measure and then two measures of sugar. This is an easy sweet recipe , we can also make traditional jangiri for Diwali  Add grated coconut  and ghee - each one measure Stir with a wooden or steel ladle so that all the ingredients blend well Add cashew nuts or powdered cashew nuts , it is optional however to justify the name we need it ! Stir continuously for about twenty minutes with stove in medium position Apply ghee on a plate ,  this ensures that the semi solid swee...