Edible Gum Laddu - Good For Overall Health

Generally all of us love to eat sweets, but also few of them unwillingly avoid being health conscious. Here I am going to instruct about a simple sweet that can be prepared in-house which I learnt from my Rajasthan friend and can be consumed by everyone.

Here the sweet, "Gond Ke Laddu", an popular Rajasthani recipe, which is good to consume in winter as it keeps body warm because of an special and main ingredient, Gond also known as "edible gum" used in making of sweet. Gond is a natural gum obtained from "Babul" tree, which is abundantly available in Indian villages. Edible gum is known with different names in different parts of India, like:

• "Thumma Jiguru" in Telugu
• "Gondh" in Tamil
• "Gond" in Hindi

Making of this laddu is simple and takes less time. So, let's see what ingredients are required.

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 3 cups
• Gond(Edible Gum) -1/4 cup
• Powdered sugar or Bura(if available) -1/2 cup
• Ghee - 3/4 cup
• Almonds -1/4 cup
• Cashews - 1/4 cup
• Raisins -1/4 cup
• Elachi or cardamom powder -1/2 tsp

You can also add various dry seeds like Pumpkin seeds & Watermelon seeds for good taste.

Procedure:

Break almonds, cashew into small pieces.

Add ghee in frying pan or kadai as required to fry gond with medium flame and remove once it fluffs up. Set aside the fried gond, and continue to fry raisins till they fluff up. Lower the flame and fry almond & cashew pieces for a minute. Take fried gond and blend in a jar into a coarse powder.

Now heat remaining ghee and add the wheat flour on medium flame. Continue to stir the flour so that it fries without lumps and till it turns to light golden colour with nice aroma and make sure the flour is not sticky. Keep fan aside till it becomes luke warm and add powdered sugar, gond, dry fruits and mix it well.

Finally take hand full quantity of mixture in your palm, roll it to get laddu(round shape) and put in air tight container.

Benefits:

Since we add dry-fruits, nuts & seeds, it is very good for new mothers and children. It provides instant energy and as said these laddu's are very good during winter

So why wait,  prepare homely, delicious and healthy sweet.

Let me know if anybody needs more details.

Iron Rich and Healthy - Spinach Almond Curry

Spinach-Almond, a delicious & iron rich curry for all age groups and especially good for people with iron deficiency. Serve with rotis or rice.

Ingredients:

• Spinach -1 bunch
• Onion -1 (chop into small pieces)
• Green chillies -2
• Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Tomato -half(1/2)(chop into slices)
• Roasted badam powder - 5 spoons
• Turmeric - pinch
• Salt to taste
• Ginger and garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves - finely diced
• Oil - 3 spoons

Preparation & cooking time: Approximately 20 minutes.

Procedure:

Cut the fresh and washed spinach and keep aside. Take a pan/kadai and put oil as mentioned on a stove with medium heat. Then add onions, chilli and fry until they turn light brown or translucent.
Add turmeric, ginger & garlic paste, fry till the raw smell goes away then add spinach and tomato pieces and cook for few minutes closing pan with lid. Next add chilli powder, salt and cook for few more minutes. After that add little water and cook for a while. At the end turn off the heat add badam powder, coriander leaves.

Share this recipe and let me know what you think of it.

History And Significance Of Diwali

Diwali or Deepavali, also known as “Festival of Lights”, is the major hindu festival celebrated across India with different historical significance on the day of “Karthika Amavasya”. It also symbolises the victory of “Good Over Evil”. Here are few beliefs, mythical stories or historical reasons which are possibly behind the festival.

• ‘Ramayana’: Rama went on exile with his devoted wife Sita and faithful brother, Lakshmana for word of his father. During the period Rama killed Ravana and returned to Ayodhya after fourteen years. On return, people of Ayodhya felt very happy and lit up their houses with earthen lamps (diyas), and decorated the entire city. The festival gets its name Deepawali, or Diwali, from the rows (avali) of lamps (deepa) that the people of Ayodhya lit to welcome their king. Although many believe it wrongly related to festival.

• Hindu epic, 'Mahabharata', where Pandavas lost to Kauravas in a game of dice for which they are required to be on exile for 13 years. When the period was over, they returned to their birthplace Hastinapura on 'Kartika Amavasya' (the new moon day of the Kartik month), hence celebrated diwali.

• According to the hindu scriptures, its believed that during “Samudra Manthan" or “Samudra Madhanam” or ocean churning the goddess Lakshmi arose from the ocean on the new moon day (amavasya) of the Kartika month. That very night, lord Vishnu married her. On the occasion lamps were illuminated as called diwali.

• Another epic related to the 'Bhagavata Purana', was that lord Vishnu took Vaman-avtaara form and defeated Bali Chakrawarthy by asking three feet land on the kartik day. Also lord Krishna killed Narakasura on the day before Diwali. So the people celebrated Diwali on occasion of victory.

All You Need to Know About Five Days of Diwali

Irrespective of religious significance varying regionally within India, Diwali is celebrated for five consecutive days at the end of month of Ashwiyuj and usually occurs in October or November.  During these five days different hindhu communities from different part of India worship different gods. Diwali comes exactly twenty days after Dussehra or Dasara.

The festival starts with Dhanteras, followed by Naraka Chaturdasi on second day, Diwali on the third day, Diwali Padwa dedicated to wife–husband relationship on the fourth day, and end with Bhau-beej dedicated to sister–brother bond on the fifth day. Significance of each day:

• Dhanteras or Dhanatrayodasi, the first day, means wealth which comes on 13th day of Karthika month as per hindu calendar. Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped to provide prosperity and well being. This day is significant to business community due to purchase of gold metal.

• Naraka Chaturdashi, the second day, narrates that the asura (demon) Narakasura was killed by Krishna and is celebrated on 14th day of Karthik month.On this day people of Bengal and eastern part of India perform Kali puja with a prasad made from sesame seed, jaggery and rice flakes (poha) with added ghee and sugar.

• Diwali, the third day and main festival, where goddess Lakshmi is worshipped for wealth, and prosperity.  After the puja, people go outside and celebrate by lighting up fireworks. The fireworks signify celebration of Diwali as well a way to chase away evil spirits. After fireworks, people head back to a family feast, and eat sweets.

• Padwa, the fourth day and the day following the amavasya, the first day of Karthik Masa, This day newly married daughters with their husbands are invited over to their parents. This day is treated as most auspicious day to start any new work. This days is also auspicious for the love and devotion between the wife and husband.

• Bhai Beej or Bhai Tika, the fifth day of festival is celebrated mostly in northern parts of India. On this day sisters pray for the long and happy life for their brothers, by performing Tika ceremony, tilak of seven colors is applied on their forehead. The celebrations on the day are similar to that of Raksha Bandhan festival.

Simply Healthy: Beet Root and Grape Mixed Juice

Want to be healthy? Then lets have Beet Root and Grape juice on everyday morning.Beet Root in recent years has been hailed as super food by doctors and experts.

So, lets prepare two glasses of juice. There is no exact measurement as a depends on individual taste.

Ingredients:

• One Beet Root, washed and cut into cubes
• Grapes, wash with salt water
• Honey, as required
• Half glass water

Procedure:

Peel the beet root and put into juicer, not extractor,  along with grapes and water.Blend until smooth and add honey, instead of sugar, and serve chilled.

Health Benefits:

• Beet Root is packed with nutrients and vitamin C and Iron.Beet Root leaves can be eaten raw when young and better source of Iron than spinach.
• It boosts immune system helping us better fight of infections.

Its good for children and adults, especially women.

Capsicum Mushroom Pepper Fry

Heard of mushroom! Is your mouth watering? So, lets see a pepper flavored mushroom fry today which gives a solid spicy taste. It's not only tasty but is also healthy. It can be served with either 'roti' or 'rice'.

Now let's see what's required to prepare it.

Ingredients:

• Mushrooms - 250gms
• Capsicum, cut into cubes -100gms
• Green chilli, cut into slices - 3
• Ginger, cut into very little pieces - 1 spoon
• Pepper powder - 2 spoons
• Salt, as required
• Vegetable oil - 2 spoons
• Curry leaves
• Coriander leaves - 1/4 bunch

Procedure:

Clean the mushroom with lukewarm water and put aside. Cut the green chilli into slices, ginger into little pieces and capsicum into cubes.

Heat oil in a pan add chilli slices, ginger pieces and stir thoroughly and add curry leaves. Now add capsicum and sufficient salt for fry and cook for few more minutes till the raw smell disappears and capsicum becomes soft.

Now add mushrooms, pepper powder, close with lid after mixing it well and put it on low flame till its properly cooked.

Finally garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with 'roti' or 'rice'.


More details on mushroom & black pepper .

'Atla Taddi' - My first article

Atla taddi, a festival celebrated by women both married and unmarried alike. Married women pray for the wellbeing of their husbands and unmarried women to be blessed with good and caring husband for a great married life.

Atla Taddi as the name suggests is based on Atlu which means Dosas. Taddi is nothing but the short form of tadiya or third day after the full moon (pournami), in Aswiyuja month of Telugu calendar, and falls in either September or October. It is the Telugu equivalent of Karva Chauth, which is celebrated by north Indian women the following day.

On the day before

• Women apply Gorintaku (Mehndi) on their palms.  
• Prepare rice cooked at night (will be used next day)

On eve of the day

• Women and children wake up in the early morning before the sunrise, and have suddi (rice cooked day before night) with perugu (curd) and Gongura chutney (Andhra Matha).
• women swing in the uyyala (Swing (seat)) and singing atla taddi songs.
• People watch the moon in nearby pond or lake after the sunrise welcoming the day.

 Woman mark Atla Taddi by keeping a day-long fast without food or water. Hence this is also called “Nirjala Vratham”.


Before decoration of mandapam we will prepare the kalasam .
items for preparing kalasam:-
coconut
Blouse
water is filled in a medium sized vessel with round bottom (Sombu).(raggi/bronze/copper)
betel leaves/mango leaves
flowers
raw rice
white towel

arrange kalasam:-

 A mandapam for Goddess Parvathi should be arranged in the east direction. Prepare kalisam on rice, coins (inside kalasam
water, kumkum, turmeric, coin, and flower with 5 mango leafs or just water) .Make pasupu ganapathiWorship Lord Ganapati
 first and then worship Goddess Parvathi or Gowridevi according to the customs. Shodasopachara Pooja where in Ashtothra
satanamavali or Sahasranamam can be recited.
first clean area with water and put rangoli(like padma) where ever you do pooja.Then place the towel on padma and pour rice.after that take vessel with water,turmeric,kumkuma,sandal,coins,flowers
and five betel leaves are placed on top of rice and top of vessel arrange coconut with blouse saree and flowers.after that make pasupu ganapathi and do normal pooja.In this way we will decorate mandapam on the eve of morning:-

Pooja ceremony:

• Prepare kalisam on rice, coins (inside kalasam water, kumkum, turmeric, coin, and flower with 5 mango leafs or just water)
• Make pasupu ganapathi
• Gauri ashtotram
• Lalitha harathi/gauri harathi
• Story

on the eve of evening:-

the evening take bath and worship Gowri. Tie Toranam for hand (with 11 nots for atla tadde n 5 nots toranam for Undralla tadde) Offer 11Atlu to Goddess.then read story of atla taddi and  distribute 11 Atlu and 11 fruits to married women.

Atla Taddi Nomu Katha:-


Once there was a princess and her friends who was observing  the Atla Taddi Nomu, and as the process she had to fast the whole day and eat only after seeing the Moon. She fell unconscious after few hours, as she was not used to fasting.  Her brothers asked their mother the reason of unconsciousness of the princess. Her mother replied that she was observing a fast and as she was not used to it fell unconscious. As per the process the princess had to eat only after seeing the Moon.

The brothers tied a mirror to a stick and held it high. They prepared a fire and arranged as if the reflection in mirror made the mirror look like Moon. The brothers woke their sister and showed her the fake Moon and made her break the fast.

The princess grew up and attained the age of marriage. Her brothers searched for a suitable match, but they were only getting profiles of old persons. They searched for a long time and finally as they had no choice and finalized a match of one of the old persons.

Knowing that her brothers have fixed a marriage with an old person, the princess was shocked. She thought that she had performed the Atla Taddi Nomu and as a result of performing the Vrat she should get married to an young person only. She refused to marry the old man. The brothers insisted that she had to marry the old man. Seeing the situation, the princess left for the forest without informing anyone.

She started penance under a banyan tree. Once Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati saw the princess performing the penance. They approached her and asked the reason for performing the penance. The princess replied that she explained them the whole story.

They understood and explained her that even though she observed the Atla Taddi Nomu, she had not performed the fasting properly and told her how her brothers cheated her by showing a fake Moon. They further told that it was because of the improper fasting that she was getting matches from older men only. They advised her to return to the palace and perform the Atla Taddi Nomu properly, by fasting until the Moon was visible.

The princess returned to the palace and narrated the whole story to her parents and performed the Atla Taddi Nomu as per the ritual. This time she took care not to overlook any of the process and performed the Atla Taddi Nomu to perfection.

By performing the Atla Taddi Nomu perfectly she got a good young prince match. She was married to him and lived happily.

Specials on the day

• In the evening, prepare sambar (with 11 varieties of vegetables).
• Palathalikalu (sweet made with rice flour, jaggery, and milk)
• Mudda pappu (plain dal)
• Perugu (Curd)
• Gongura pachadi (Andhra Matha)
• Kudumulu (5 for gauri devi) (for yourself and other muttayuduvu 5 each and on 4 kudumulu you place one on top of the 4 and make it as deepam and eat the same after pooja when the deepam is still lighting)
• 11 small Dosas (for each)
• Tamarind pulihora
• Toranam for hand (with 11 knots for atla tadde and 5 knots toranam for Undralla tadde)

Health or Scientific Facts

• Among the nine planets mars (Kujudu) likes Dosas, if we put dosa as naivedyam then kuja dosha is reduced and relation grows between couple. Dosas has to prepared with rice and black gram(minumulu) or urad dal as they are charity for moon and rahu as per astrology.
• Applying gorintaku (Mehendi) reduce the harmful bacteria on skin.
• To overcome problems during pregnancy atla taddi vayanam has to be given.
• Fasting is observed during this day as it results in autolysis a biological process. 
• The Food for dinner consists of pulihora(yellow tamarind rice) that reduces the impact of kuja.