Kitchen-Kollections

Lakshmi Puja

Lakshmi was the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and took refuge in the ocean of milk when the gods were sent into exile. Lakshmi was reborn during the Churning of the Ocean. As soon as the gods saw Lakshmi, they all fell in love with her beauty. Shiva claimed Lakshmi as his wife, but since he had already taken the Moon, her hand was given to Vishnu, whom Lakshmi herself preferred.

Lakshmi is the goddess of light, beauty, good fortune and wealth. While Laxmi is generally worshiped to achieve success, she does not reside long with anyone who is lazy or desire her only as wealth.

Steps of Lakshmi Pooja

Spread a new cloth on a raised platform: Place a handful of grains in the center and, on this, place a kalash (pitcher) made of gold, silver, copper, or terracotta. Fill three-fourth of the kalash with water and place a betel nut, a flower, a coin, and some rice grains in it. Arrange five kinds of leaves or mango leaves in the kalash . Place a small dish on the kalash and fill it with rice grains. Draw a lotus with turmeric powder ( haldi ) over the rice grains and place the idol of goddess Lakshmi over it, along with coins.

Place the idol of Ganesha: In front of the kalash, on the right (South-West direction), place the idol of Ganesha. Also place ink and books related to your business or occupation on the platform. Light a lamp and begin the puja by offering haldi, kumkum, and flowers to the platform on which the kalash is placed. Then offer haldi, kumkum, and flowers to the water that is to be used for the puja. Invoke the river goddesses to be part of this water.

Invoke goddess: Lakshmi by reciting the Vedic mantras addressed to her. One can also recite the mantras mentioned in the Puranas or simply take some flowers in your hands, close your eyes, and think of goddess Lakshmi being showered with gold coins by two elephants standing on either side of Her and chant Her name. Then offer the flowers to the idol.

Place the idol of Lakshmi: Place the idol of Lakshmi in a plate and bathe it with water, panchamrit (a mixture of milk, curd, ghee or clarified butter, honey, and sugar) and then with water containing some gold ornament or a pearl. Wipe the idol clean and place it back on the kalash. Alternately, you can just sprinkle water and panchamrit on the idol with a flower.

Offerings: Offer sandal paste, saffron paste, perfume ( itr ), haldi, kumkum, abeer, and gulal to the goddess. Offer a garland of cotton beads to the goddess. Offer flowers, especially the marigold flowers and leaves of Bel (wood apple tree). Light an incense stick and dhoop. Make an offering of sweets, coconut, fruits, and tambul. Make an offering of puffed rice and batasha. Pour some puffed rice, batasha, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds over the idol.

Aarti: Finally, perform the aarti for goddess Lakshmi. Always remember that She abhors loud noise. So the aarti should be accompanied only by a small bell. Do not clap hands, as is the practice when performing aarti for other gods. A peaceful and sublime atmosphere should prevail during the pujan.

Its festival time and a time to indulge into tempting sweets. I miss the usual shor sharaba of my favourite shopping street..sarojini nagar..in south delhi. The entire market is decorated and almost every evening its jampacked with..people going here and there…shopping and eating at the same time! Then there is our good old green park which is quite famous for its sweets..specially Kaju burfi. Hyderabad is famous for its biryani and wide variety of sweets. One of them is double ka meetha. Traditionally, lot of ghee is used in making indian sweets, but I have limited the amount of ghee this time…

This my entry to Bayleaf Bread Mania event…

Ingredients

White bread 5 slices
milk 1 cup
sugar 1cup
cashew nuts 10 gms
kismis 10gms
Almonds 10gms
Pistachios 10gma
cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
ghee 1 tsp
water 1/2cup

Method

• Take the slices of bread and roast them in the toaster.
• Take a pan put sugar and add 1/2 cup of water and make a single string syrup.
• Fry cashewnuts,almonds, pistachios and kismis in ghee  on low heat and keep aside.
• Arrange the toasted bread slices in a dish.
• Pour the sugar syrup over the breads so that it is evenly coated with the syrup.
• Pour the milk in the same manner. Top it with fried nuts. Serve hot.

Mooli Parantha

Ingredients

1 big Muli or radish
Cumin seeds
2 cups wheat flour
pinch of tuermeric
Oil
salt to taste

Procedure

Mix some wheat-flour to dough consistancy. cover it and keep aside.

Grate mooli using a grater or a food processor. Make sure that you get fine shreds of muli.Sprinkle salt over muli and leave it aside for 5-7 minutes
You will see muli leaving out a lot of water. Squeeze out the water completely or as much as possible using cheescloth or by using a strainer.

In a pan, heat a 2 tsp oil and add some cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds begin to crackle, add grated muli and add more salt if required. Add a pinch of turmeric and mix well. After 10-15 mins , muli will begin to soften and reduce. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Make round balls of about 1 -1.5 inch diameter. Roll the dough into small circles and add add some stuffing [grated muli mix] and close the dough to make a closed pouch. Dust the closed pouch with flour and roll it into a chapati.Cook on pan to get hot and tasty parathas.

Rawa Dosa

Ingredients

1 cup rawa
1/2 cup rice flour
A pinch soda bicarb
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped coriander
3 chopped green chillies
Salt to taste

Method

Blend all the ingredients in a blender.  The batter should be of thin consistency. Add salt and soda bicarb and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Now take a griddle or a tava. Take a spoonful of the batter and spread it around. Apply some oil to the sides and keep turning it over till both the sides are gloden brown. Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambhar!