Navaratri and Navaratri Festive Food Event

Many thanks to Purva and Priti for giving me an opportunity to celebrate Navaratri with you all. Visit our previous festive food round-up's of Rakhi, Krishna-Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam from Priti, Purva and Priyanka.

Navaratri is a hindu festival where goddess Durga in her nine avtars/forms are worshipped for 9 nights and 10 days. Navaratri in sanskrit means nine nights in its literal translation. Vijayadashami marks the end of Navaratri celebrations enaction the destruction of evil (Ravana destroyed by Rama) is displayed with the lighting of dolls representing Ravana and forces of evil. Navaratri is 'nada habba' (state-festival) for the people of Karnataka

2008 Navaratri calender for you all :

28 Sep 2008 - Mahalaya Amavasya
30 Sep 2008 - Navaratri Begins
5 Oct 2008 - Durga Pooja Begins
6 Oct 2008 - Saraswathi Pooja/Prayers
7 Oct 2008- Durgasthami
8 Oct 2008 - Navaratri Ends/Ayudha Pooja/Mahanavami
9 Oct 2008 - Vijayadashami

Navaratri is celebrated through out India in different ways.

Northern Part of India - it is celebrated with much fervor by fasting on all 9 days and worshiping the Godess Parvati in her different avtars.

Southern Part of India - States of Karnataka, AndhraPradesh, TamilNadu and Kerala celebrate Sharad Navaratri (Sharad = Hindu Month) is celebrated by keeping a doll house and chanting lalitha sahasranama on all 9 days. It is believed that when godess Durga was fighting against evil forces she was given extra powers by rest of the gods and they stood still like dolls. To mark this event with much respect a doll house with all gods with the idol of Chamundeshwari (Durga) is placed in every house.

Gujarat Celebrations - Traditionally either the lamp (the garbha deep), or an image of Amba is placed in the middle of the concentric rings as an object of venration, thereby delineating the dance. People dance aroudn the diety clapping rhythematically. At every step they gracefully bend sideways, the arms coming together in sweeping gestures, up and down, left and right, each movement ending in clap.

While every Hindu follows different ritual based on their culture but they all pray godess Durga on these 9 nights and 10 days.

Do you celebrate Navaratri? Or you have memories attached to it Or enjoy it with other hindu frieds who actually celebrate it. We would love to learn the offerings made by you to godess Durga to appease her and the celebration style.

What can you send?
1. Festive Food and its recipes - 2 entries per blog/non-blogger
2. Picture Essay or a Picture of Navaratri Celebration - 1 entry only
3. Rangoli - 1 rangoli per blog/non-blogger

What should you have in your entries :
1. Festive Food - detailed recipe of the food along with a photo of the dish cooked
2.Picture Essay - Essay of 150 words. Photo details : 1. Place taken 2. Day of Navratri it corresponds to ex-Durgasthami pictures, Vijayadashmi Pictures etc
3. Rangoli - Rangoli Picture with a instruction of 'how to draw it'

Any blogger/non-blogger can send their entries for all categories. Please include the following details to identify yourself and your entries :
1. Your Name :
2. Your Blog Name :
3. URL of the post :
4. Attach a photo of W*L - 250*250 px
Send it to navaratrifestivefood(at)tasteofmysore(dot)com from now until 11 Oct 2008

Please link back your entries to this post and stamp our logo of the event :

Pudina flavored Adai Rotti

As we all know Adai is native to Tamilnadu. This 'Adai dosa' of Tamilnadu was given a make over when it entered Karnataka :D esp in the hands of my MIL. She turned it to 'rotti', flavored it with pudina, coconut and added green chillies and made rottis. Result of this is Pudina flavored Adai Rotti (PFAR). This was another favorite (god knows how many fav's I have listed down... :P) at my in-law's place.




One rotti is enough to keep your hunger at bay for next 4 hrs. Pudina adds nice flavor to rotti and mixed dals of adai gives superb taste to it. We all love it.

Pudina Flavored Adai Rotti :

(Use same cup for measuring all ingredients)
You need :
Kadalebele/Chanadal : 1/4 cup
Togaribele/Toordal : 2tbsp
Hesarubele/dhuli moong dal : 2tbsp
Uddinabele/Urad dal : 1tsp
Rice : 1cup

Pudina/Mint : 1.5cups
fresh/wet coconut grated : 1/2 cup
Green Chillies : 8 (8 chillies makes rotti very spicy, so adjust according to your taste)
salt
Onions : 2 Chopped

Soak Rice separately. Mix all bele/dal's and soak them. Soak for about 4hrs.
Remove water from rice and dal and grind them separately using very little water. Let the mixture be coarse, do not grind it like dosa batter.
Grind Pudina, coconut and green chillies to a smooth paste. Mix it with rice and lentil batter and add salt. Refrigerate the dough for 1 -2 hrs.
Remove the dough from refrigerator add chopped onions. Mix.
Smear little oil on non-stick paper. Take a handful of dough and pat it into 1/2" thick circle.
Transfer this to hot tava with rotti side facing the tava. Peel off the paper.
Roast rotti on both sides till is red.
Enjoy Hot! Eat it with ghee.

Note: Make only as many as you want. You can refrigerate the dough and use whenever you want.

I am a huge fan of rottis. We had a rhyme in Kannada on rotti...Click here to watch the Video

"Rotti Angadi Kittappa
Nangondu Rotti Tattappa
Putani Rotti, dundage tatti, Kempage sutta tarappa..
Rotti angadi kittappa bisi bisi rotti tarappa.."

A little girl is asking the rotti shopkeeper Kittappa to make her a small and neat round rotti which is roasted red and she would like to eat it hot!

There are many versions of the rhyme and the above lines are what I remember. You tube video has a different script :)

PFAR and Chutney Rotti goes to SunshineMom who is celebrating GREEN dishes this month.

Chutney Rotti

Got some left over pudina& coriander chutney at home? Easy peasy..just add rice flour and salt to left over chutney and mix well to make a soft dough. Pat them on a non-stick paper. Smear little oil on the paper and then pat them into thick round circles and transfer the rotti with paper to hot tava with rotti side facing the tava. Peel off the paper. Fry on both sides till it is red. Chutney rotti is ready. :)

Biscuit Rotti

Biscuit Rotti :D there is no biscuit in rotti ! Rotti made this way was very crisp so amma named it oven fresh biscuits to lure us ..She had to lure us once and we became ardent fans of these biscuit rottis. It was her creative way of doing-away with left over holige skin dough or we call it 'kanaka' in kannada. You can see the procedure for making holige and its skin on TOM here, here and here.

You need the following :
Left Over holige skin dough, soaked moong dal (split moong beans), Rice flour 1tbsp, chilli paste, salt, grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves (if u have them)
Mix all these using very little water to make a firm dough.
Divide them into equal number of balls. Make thin chapathis on a non-stick paper. Transer it to hot tava along with paper with roti side facing the tava. slowly peel the paper away.
Roast rotti on a medium heat till it is crisp. Leave it in a plate for 2-3 mins before you start munching it..and it is hard to stop...munching :P try it out!

Continued SWC - Part 2...

Sorry folks I had to stop writing yesterday ...I hope you all had a gastronomic and interesting reading of Yesterday's round-up. Let us continue the culinary journey again..

If Muruku is famous in all south Indian states, Kodubale (deepfried crisp doughnuts) and Nippattu (deepfried crispy discs) are world famous in Karnataka :D . Easy, Cham, Anuradha treated us with Kodubale Fare!

 

Pick up that cup of hot filter coffee and start munching kodubales while we move into next set of snacks...

  

Bengaluru was the first city to get electricity in India. It is fondly called IT capital, Silicon Valley of India for having largest number of IT companies and IT Professionals. 

Buns..anyone? not those baked Iyengar bakery buns no..no..not at all...These are tasty deepfried Mangaluru Buns made from over ripe bananas....take a look and you might fall in love at first sight! Maya brings us these buns from the world of Konkan 

Want to have a "local" market feeling in Bengaluru munching varieties of crispy snacks? Do take a leisurely walk on the roads of Chickpet! Explore every nook and corner of the place..don't worry you will not get lost :D just ask a autofellow or a shop keeper if u feel you are lost. Keep a fast day before you go there and you might end up fasting 2 days after eating those delicious varities of food you get there!  

Churumuri brings "haalu kova" a "local" stamped sweet to all of you! 

Slurrrrrrrrp isn't it! After that sweet treat let us enjoy the crispy goli baje/mangaluru bajji from Tasty Curry Leaf

Have you travelled in train? probably answer is YES but the train which commutes btw Bengaluru and Mysore. Take Tippu Express which departs Bengaluru at 2 PM. Journey starts with roasted peanuts...and as you approach Maddur you can see various vendors walking up and down and looking at you dozen number of times, carrying fragrant vadas which makes you buy atleast 1 ! yaareeee......... "Maddur Vade" ..

you have to taste it to believe it. Sowmya tells us how these vades can be made at home..

In case you have little time read pudina flavored maddur vade with a twist on Taste of Mysore

Priyanka whips up instant wheat dosa for us with tomato gojju! Let us stop buy to re-charge our stomach here...

Who says there cannot be a fusion Karnataka style food? Priyanka combines UP and Karnataka and came up with Aloo Sabji with Rasam Powder!  which she ate with Poori ..Check it out!

I am not sure about the usage of dill leaves in a quantity that we use in Karnataka homes. Aroma of dill leaves makes you grab that plate especially if you are given Dill Leaves Ambode (dal wada) Check out Anuradha's version of fragrant Ambode :-) 

Tingle your taste buds with tangy Raw Mango Gojju and Akki Rotti from Sowmya, Veda and Easy

 

  

 

Badanekayi palya is a yummy combo with Chapathi, Jolada Rotti or Akki Rotti. Learn from Smitha and  Sheetal(photos in order)

Did you know? that Karwar beach inspired Sri.Rabindranath Tagore to pen his first play...so are the beauty of Karwar beaches..

Bell peppers! Do you want to know how to make Karwar style capsicum Curry..? Eat it with any main dish and you have a satisfying meal.. Priti cooks up Karwar style capsicum curry..check out her recipe ...

Snake Gourd..this vegetable has a unique taste. stirfry it, curry it with bengal gram dal or make a coocnut paste based curry Snake Gourd tastes good in all these forms. Check out Anuradha's way of Seekootu with Snake Gourd.

Nuchina Unde is yeat another healthy snack of  Karnataka. Eat them steaming hot! or suspend them in yoghurt coconut sauce, or sir fry the steamed unde with onions and garnish with coconut. Delicous treat and a 3-1 usage from one dish isn't it good? Nuchina Unde is sent to us from Anuradha's Kitchen

Now that there is Ragi Mudde making machine under 'construction phase' check my manual mudde making process till the machine comes out to market...bringing spongy ball from Taste of Mysore. Do not chew Mudde, just gulp it down with little massoppu ..

My sincere thanks to one and all especially Mangala and Anuradha from our women's club and fellow bloggers Priyanka, Priti, Vanisri, Sowmya for taking part in this event with lots of enthusiasm. Special thanks to Sheetal of My Kitchen for hosting the event. 

A special treat to all International Bloggers for participating..Please help yourself to a holige each before you leave Taste of Mysore! Do come back and let us celebrate Mysooru Dasara together :-)

ahahaaa...Mysuuuru Sundara..ahaha sundara..lalalalllaaa..... (a song which says oh..Mysore you are so beautiful...)

SWC-Karnataka Round UP 2 - Republished for TOM

Trust you all enjoyed a good meal in round up part 1. Let me take you all through a jolly ride of Karnataka with delicious breakfast. The journey may take bit too long so we will stop by at Chikkamagaluru to sip a cup of freshly brewed coffee from Cham with some crispy quick Kodubales from Anuradha

Do you know : Chikkamagaluru (younger daughters city) is where coffee was first cultivated in India.

Do feel free to enjoy crispy lacy Rave Dose and Chutney from Taste of Mysore. Do sip in a cup of coffee here to get a caffeine boost to enjoy rest of the culinary and cultural journey..

Sir M.Visweshwarayya, who was diwan of Mysore, who built Krishnaraja sagar dam, an eminent, honest, punctual,...Engineer was rightly called "father of modern Mysore". Every year 15th of September is celebrated as "Engineers Day" in India in his memory. Read his contributions to India here and here. Kingdom of Mysore is proud to have a Bharat Ratna like him.

Ragi Dose..eat ragi in the form of porridge, make it a spongy ball (ragi mudde),  make malted drink, anything tastes equally good. Veda sends her crispy pudina flavored ragi dose to our feast!

The Kingdom of Mysore was one of the 3 largest princely states within the erstwhile British Empire of India. It was re-named as Karnataka in the year 1973. 

Enjoy Lubna Karim's Masala Dosa. Lubna rightly says a genrous helping of butter on these crispy crepes served with coconut chutney and sambar is difficult to deny anywhere anytime. Mysore masala dosa adds additional zing with red chutney (redchillies+garlic chutney) spread on dosa. Don't forget to taste benne (butter) masale dose in your nearest outlet. White butter on hot dosa is a treat to your taste buds :-) We have Davangere Benne Masale outlets which serve only butted masala dosas..

Shravanabelagola which has a huge Bahubali statue is one of the important Jain pilgrimage centers. It is considard as one of the tallest monolithic stone statues in the world. Do watch this Video of Mahamasthakabhisheka. Shravanabelagola is in the Hassan district.

 

Thatte idlis are very popular among the people of  Hassan & Tumkur. Soft and tasty plate idlis are served with hot red chutney made of redchillies and coconut. Dibs share a similar memory that I have with this particular hotel on Tumkur highway. If my mama (maternal uncle) drove us from Bangalore to Chitradurga he made sure that we ate at this particular hotel. Enjoy the  lovely thatte idlis with  uddina vade and sambar  from Taste of Mysore.

 

Karnataka weddings are incomplete without Chiroti Badami Haalu. Tee of Bhaatukli made these yummy flaky pastries for RCI-K. Chiroti rava which is the key ingredient of Chiroti is used for making may other dishes too and one such dish is Rotti! Dunk them in spicy n tangy tomato gojju and your early morning breakfast is taken care of :-) Rave Rotti with Onion Tomato Gojju for you all from Taste of Mysore

 

Mangaluru is a chief port city of Karnataka. It handles 75% of India's coffeee exports and the bulk of nation's cashew exports. Many classical dance forms and folk arts are practised in this city. Yakshagana, Hulivesha, Karadivesha are few popular dance forms and folk arts. The cuisine boasts one of the bestest fish dishes of its style. Dali-thoy, upkari, neer-dose, patrode, paagilla podi, sanna khoto are few of the authentic dishes from this part of Karnataka. 

Mangala, a non-blogger& a member of SWC has contributed her recipe of Sanna Khoto, Dali-thoy and Paagilla Podi for SWC-K. Do take a peek into her recipes here. Sincere apologies for not posting the pictures. I will publish them once I am able to download them.

Geeta of Fragrant Kitchen has sent us Neer Dose. To visit her to make lacy thin crepes for your breakfast.

Priyanka sends Mangalooru style Gobhi Gashi, Chicken Curry and Chicken Sukka

Malenadu covers the western ghats or Sahyadri mountain range. The cuisine here is a cocktail of Mangalooru and Kodava Cuisine because of its geographic placement. Taro leaf dishes are very popular among these people and you must taste it to believe it. Do visit famous Jogfalls virtually and you will know how beautiful Malenadu is.. :-)

Sheetal of My-Kitchen brings us Patrodo from this part of Karnataka.

The Western Ghats is an area of great biodiversity. and is one of the Conservations International's hotspot for biodiveristy. Bhadra Wid Life Santuary in Muthodi is one the India's Project Tiger Santuaries.

Cauvery is our mother! She gives water to the thirsty lands of karnataka and keeps our rice bowl full. Dance with Kodavas and bow to mother cauvery (picture below- Talakaveri, birth place of the river Cauvery)  in this scotland dubbed land of India, yes it is Coorg!

There we have Dill Leaves and Rice Rawa Kadubu from the land of Coorg from Sowmya Tripurant..

Moving up north we have architecuturally rich and culturally rich land. Belur and Halebidu represent architectural hallmarks of Hoysalas. Hampi tells you the story of great Vijayanagara Empire. Aihole, Badami and Pattadakallu are the historical evidences for Chalukyan architecture.

Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, ... states of Karnataka is a basin of Millet. Groundnut is also abundantly grown along with Sugarcane. Cuisine here has more of flat breads of Millet. Jolada Rotti, Sajje Rotti, Wheat Chapathis with stuffed vegetables like Stuffed bell peppers, aubergines are devoured by these people. Ranjaka is a extremely hot chutney which is very famous in these states. If you are offered rotti and red colored chutney do take sometime to taste a pinch of this chutney before you plunge and feast :D

Stop by to take a look at thise rustic Jolada Rotti and Tumbida Badanekayi Palya from Taste of Mysore. 

 

 Dry Chutney powders esp peanut powders are a delicacy here...again concluding the meal with curd rice

Part 2 will be continued after a short break..till then enjoy the ride and come back for a continued Part 2 .....

SWC-Karnataka Round UP 1 -Republished for TOM

Karnataka, land of mother Cauvery/Kaveri, land of beautiful palaces, land of varied cuisine style from rustic raagi mudde of South Karnataka to Jowar/Sorghum rotti/flat bread of North Karnataka, land of rich coast line which boasts some best fish dishes; we have Mangalooru Cuisine, Coorgi/Kodava cuisine which stands out different and distinct of them all while Malenadu Cuisine is a cocktail of Coorgi and Mangalooru styles.

I believe that every cuisine depends on the availability of food grains locally. Karnataka cuisine revolves around Rice, Ragi and Millet, you can call them staples.
An agricultural map of Karnataka for you all to show the influence of food grains on cuisine style:
You can see a bigger & original version of the map here

It would not be wrong if I say, SouthKarnataka is rice bowl for Karnataka and North Karnataka is a basin of Millet. As we move from south to north rice consumption starts reducing and millet takes over in the form of flat breads/Jowar rotti, Sajje Rotti, chapathi with vegetables like aubergines/brinjals, peppers etc., Ragi and Rice enjoy popularity among the people of South Karnataka.We grow abundant sugarcane too and hence you can see many sugar factories and ಆಲೆಮನೆ/Aalemane/आलेमने/ a place where jaggery is made :-) You can see the pictures of Jaggery making on Flickr here and here . A pictorial presentation of Jaggery preparation with memories attached to it is very well written by Anil P here . Although South Indian states share common culinary tradition, one needs to have good taste buds to differentiate between their subtle flavors.

Since SWC was initiated for our Women’s club members, I take this opportunity to thank non-members and bloggers who became part of this event and for their enthusiastic participation. Thanks to Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine for her brilliant idea of Regional Cuisine of India which is very popular in Blogworld and much appreciated too. Do pay a visit to the previous round-up of RCI-Karnataka done by our dear Asha of Foodies Hope. You can see an exotic round-up in 4 episodes.

Thanks to Sheetal of My Kitchen who is a Kannadiga by heart for hosting this SWC-Karnataka event and allowing me to republish this article for TOM. You can visit her to see round-ups done by her in two episodes.
Round Up Part 1- A complete Meal

Let me walk you through the round up in an order in which dishes are served on a platter in Karnataka. First item which is served after salt and pickle from the left hand top corner of a banana leaf (tip of the leaf facing to left) is :

S - Salt ; P-Pickle, K-Kosambari, Pa - Palya, To - Tovve, Pay - Payasa

ಕೋಸಂಬರಿ /Salads

Kosambari of Karnataka is a mixture of freshly grated vegetables like carrot, coconut, Kohlrabi..with lentils like ಹೆಸರುಬೇಳೆ /split mung beans/moongdal, sprouted mung beans/sprouted saboot moondal, split bengal gram/chanadal.
Deepthi of Vegetable Platter has sent us yummilicious Raw Carrot and Lentil Salad

You can take a peek at sprouted moongdal kosambari on TOM here

Carrot Kosambari from Priti of Indian Khanna

Next on plate is Palya...

We have Sia's Carrot-Beans-Chanadal Palya, SMN's Southekayi/Cucumber Palya, Kaalu Palya from Smitha, Batata Song from Home Cooked and pictures are in the order mentioned above :

Tovve:

Tovve is a a mixture of Split pigen peas/Togaribele/Toordal with vegetables like ridgegourd, bottlegourd, snakegourd, tomato...any one of these vegetable is used to make tovve.

Meera sends us her Daal-Palak, Dalithoy from Mangala(a non-blogger, picture of this can be seen in Sheetal's round-up)..

The serving on top part of leaf is ended with Payasa

Hesarubele Payasa from me :

Chaler-Paysam from Sudeshna of Bengali Cuisine

Purva has sent us Kheer from her lovely Daawat

Other variety Sweets that we make on festive occasions are :

Maledi Unde for Shravana Somaravara Vrata from Sheetal of My Kitchen

Chigali from me for the occassion of Nagara Panchami

Tambittu Unde from Sheetal of My Kitchen

Besan Unde for any occassion from Veda Iyengar of Iyengar's Kitchen

Chitranna/Lemon Rice /Rice Varieties which are typically served on Banana leaf :

Lemon Rice from Priyanka of Asan Khana

Instant Puliyogare from Deepthi of Vegetable Platter

Puliyogare from Sheetal of My-Kitchen

Have you heard of heralkayi aka rough-lemon? Deepthi brings us rough-lemon/heralekayi chitranna :

Sireesha sends us a platter of Nimmakayi Pulihora aka lemon rice to us

Vangibath from Vani's 'Illatharasi' :

Vangibath from Divya Vikram of 'Dil Se'

As I thought earlier, we did get quite a few BBB yes Bisibelebath entries ...here they are to feast your eyes :

Priya Evani's way of BBB making :

Sowmya sends us BBB with papad as accompaniment..yeee..

Sireesha loves to eat BBB with Chips and Raita and that is exactly how I love to eat :-) too..

Sukanya feels that BBB is the most exotic tasty rice treat of Karnataka...

Anuradha Kashi, a non-blogger makes BBB from Pressed Rice..you must check out her recipe....

Saaru/Huli

Plain rice is eaten with Saaru and /or Huli. Kannadiga style saaru is made of 1 vegetable and split pigeon peas. It is more watery than Huli. Huli is often made with 2 or more vegetables with split pigeon peas and the masala is often grinded with coconut and onion. Different households have different methods of preparation so let us discover the styles from various bloggers around :

Simple Bele Saaru from me :

Mixed Vegetable Huli from Priyanka of Asan Khana

Pepper Rasam from Veda-Iyengar's Kitchen :

Priti of Indian Khana has re-created Huli and Garlic Rasam from Taste of Mysore and she has given Thumbs up for Huli and double thumbs up for Garlic Rasam..in case you wish to try it out :-)

We have a recipe for Dalithoy from Mangala Prabhu (non-blogger)

After showing those items in separate category I am sure you would love to see a whole platter..few of our bloggers feasted on K-style thali and they have shared their FULL PLATE MEALS with us.. take a look..

Gowri Oota Sheetal of My Kitchen presents festive platter ......

Mysore Oota from Priyanka of Asan Khana

Priti of Indian Khana presents Karnataka style meal ..

A simple south K-style dinner from me

Before you burp away to fullness..let me serve you with little Curd Rice. A south Indian meal does not end without eating curd and rice, so does Karnatka meal.. so do enjoy curd rice ...

Mosaranna from me :

Curd-Rice from Sheetal of My-Kitchen

Isn't it fantastic to have wonderful ladies around cooking variety of cuisines accross India and getting to know the cuisine of their neighbouring states ? I think it is awesome :-) Do check back for hot hot Breakfast and crispy and yummy snacks in Part-2