Bommala koluvu

When me and my brother were kids, every year during Dasera we had bommala koluvu at our house. My grand parents also had one. Infact pretty much everyone in our family had one. We used to have fun setting it up, decorating and everything. We usually had holidays all 10 days of Dasera. So, we used to set it up in our place and go and compare it with the one at my grandparents place. It was so much fun.

After I got married, I was not sure if I could still continue doing all this. When I asked my MIL, she told me that we did have the tradition in the family. So, I took it upon myself to do it. I have been doing it almost every year. I might have missed a year or two in between. This year, I was. not sure if I wanted to have the koluvu all 10 days. I was thinking about setting it up on Saturday evening and have it for only 7 days. But, Sarath wanted to set it up yesterday. He did help me with the setup and decorations. I was a bit sad that we only have a few items to put in the koluvu. I wish we had more so that I could set up a bigger one. Hopefully I will collect more over the next few years.

Sarath is now starting to learn more about our festivals and traditions. So, I am planning to make these 10 days of Dasera kind of special. I have plans to make a different sweet everyday and also make some yummy foods over the weekend. Hopefully I will be able to blog about it. Happy Dasera to everyone who celebrates the festival!!

Vada Pappu

This is one of the dishes made for Lord Rama on Sri Rama Navami.

Ingredients:
(These quantities are all approximations.)

Moong Dal: 1/2 cup or even less
Raw Mango: 1/4 cup
Shredded Coconut: a little
Green Chillies: 1 (adjust according to taste)
Oil: 1/4th tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/4th tsp

Soak moong dal for a couple of hours and drain all the water. Cut raw mango into small pieces and add it to the moong dal. Add green chillies, salt and shredded coconut.

In a small pan, add oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds and hing (asafoetida). You can add curry leaves too if you wish. When the mustard seeds splutter, add it to the moong dal mixture and mix it. You can even add some lemon juice to it. It tastes amazing. This also serves as a healthy snack for kids.

Panakam

This is usually made on Sri Rama Navami.

Ingredients:

Jaggery, Black pepper, water

Mix jaggery with cold water. It takes time to dissolve. After the jaggery completely dissolves, filter the water. Then add some finely powdered black pepper. I prefer to grind the pepper myself instead of store bought pepper powder. This gives a very nice flavor.

When you taste it, you should be able to taste the sweetness of jaggery and the spice from the pepper.

Sri Rama Navami

Today is Sri Rama Navami. It comes on the ninth day of the the Chaitra masam (first month according to the Telugu calendar). This festival is celebrated through out India. In south India, today we celebrate the day with marriage of Rama and Sita. It is performed in all the temples and especially in Bhadrachalam. It is very auspicious. My grandfather reads the Sundarakanda parvam of Ramayanam starting from Ugadi to Sri Rama Navami. When my grandmother was alive, they used to do it on a larger scale and more authentically. We usually used to go for lunch to their place on Rama Navami.

We mainly make two special dishes today – Panakam and Vada pappu. These are very simple to make and very tasty. It is said that lord Rama was a very down to earth person and it does not take much to please him. I always like to know why certain dishes are made on certain days. So, I found that Panakam and Vada pappu are very good for the summer heat. Panakam is made with jaggery and black pepper which helps ward away the heat. But, at the same time, if you drink lots of it, you will get an upset stomach. That is probably why we make it once in the beginning of summer. Vada pappu is made with moong dal. It is also very good for health.

I am happy to be in India today. It just feels nice. I got to watch some nice old movies today and took lots of rest. Since Sarath still has the jet lag, we just stayed home and took rest.

Ugadi – Telugu New Year

Today is the Telugu New Year. Ugadi marks the first day of the Telugu calendar – Chaitra Sudhdha Paadyami. Every year has a name. This year is called ‘Vikruta’ (Vikruta nama samvatsaram).

Ugadi is also celebrated in other states with different names.  Ugadi usually comes around March or April. By this time, there are no traces of winter and we can already feel the heat of summer. There are fresh green mangoes everywhere. All the trees are blooming with new leaves and flowers. This is the season for Jasmine (mallepoolu). The fragrances of Jasmine, Neem and Mango fills the air.

Traditionally, we wear new clothes, go to the temple, and make Ugadi Pachchadi(chutney). Ugadi Pachchadi is a mix of six different tastes (shadruchulu). It is made with tamarind, mango, jaggery, salt, chilli powder and neem flowers. This symbolizes the different emotions and experiences of life and prepares us for the year ahead. It tastes very good. We usually add banana and sometimes even coconut pieces. We also make pulihora (Tamarind Rice), payasam (Kheer), bobbatlu (Puran Poli)  etc. When me and my brother were young, we used to eat a lot of the pachchadi all day. That was our favorite part of the festival.

Being away from India, I miss all the fun of the festivals. In India, everybody around you is celebrating it. You get a day off from work (if you are in AP of course) and we can feel the festive air around us. I miss all that here. But, I want my son to learn about all our festivals. I make it a point tell him what festival it is, what we do for the festival and other things related to it. He is too young to understand, but, it is important to us that he knows Indian cultures and traditions.

The Ugadi pachchadi I made today came out very tasty. My son did not like it though. I also made pulihora. My son was very happy to wear a new dress and eat pulihora. Hopefully if we keep following the traditions year after year, he will eventually learn and remember our culture.