Kartigai Pori - Sweetened Puffed Rice

KAARTIGAI PORI

The Red Mountain is spewing fire ! The flame seems to pierce through the sky above! The natives are awestruck by the magnificence of the enormous column of fire ! This must be The Lord ! The Lord whose crown Lord Brahma could not access ! The Lord whose feet Lord Vishnu could never reach! Their heads bow in devotion to the Supreme Lord Of The Red Mountains,  Lord Arunaachaleswara -who is none other than Lord Shiva Himself in the form of fire !

The Lord is enshrined in a temple at the foot of Mount Arunaachala. Great  saints sing in praise of the Lord. Over a period of time the kings of various succeeding dynasties improve and expand the temple complex.The legend of the Lord of the Red Mountain lives on to this day.

The Red Mountain which spewed fire once upon a time is now a dead volcano . But its sanctity still remains. Tiruvannaamalai where Arunaachala  or the Red Mountain lies,  is considered to be the seat of concentrated spiritual energy on mother earth.

Every year the festival of lights - Kaartigai deepam -is celebrated in honour of the Deity on the full moon day of Kaartigai month. It occurs between the middle of November and December. Annaamalai Deepam - a gigantic lamp is lit atop the Arunaachala  using tons of ghee.

Hundreds of lamps are lit in each and every house on this auspicious occasion. Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Jyothi / flame. Sweets like kaartigai pori and appam are offered to the Lord during the pooja.

The vapour arising out of the sesame seed oil lamps helps in clearing out any negative energy from the surrounding energy field. It helps us to keep warm by driving away the chill and the dense fog which are characteristics of the  month of Kaartigai.

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INGREDIENTS

Puffed rice - 4 glasses ( Rice is made to pop out of Paddy at a high temperature, similar to pop corns. This is called Nel Pori in Tamil and Battada Haralu in Kannada. )

Powdered jaggery - 1 glass

Cardamom powder - 1 pinch

METHOD

1. Clean the puffed rice / nel pori /battada haralu, remove the husk and keep aside in a bowl.

2. Dissolve jaggery in a glass of warm water and filter.

3. Cook the jaggery water till you get a thick syrup of two thread consistency / hard ball stage, mix in the cardamom powder.

                                               
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4. Add the thick syrup to the popped rice and mix well.

5. When it cools down break down the lumps evenly.

Some people have the custom of making the pori into urundais / balls. Make them soon after the 4th step. Take a handful of pori coated with jaggery syrup and form balls while still warm.

Offer the Karthigai Pori to the Lord and enjoy the prasaadam with one and all.

Kale Pappu/Dal/Lentil

Now that I have used kale once....I am bit comfortable trying another/few recipes out of it as it's healthy and it's a green....what more do you need.

I love spinach dal and so thought of making the same with kale. Since kale takes more time to cook, I added this green along with the dal in a pressure cooker and then added the seasoning.

Ingredients:
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3 cups Kale, washed, thick stems removed and chopped.
1/2 cup Toor Dal washed
1 Onion chopped
2-3 Garlic chopped or crushed
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp Chili powder
1 tbsp Tamarind pulp
1/2 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1 pinch Asafoetida
1-2 Dry Red Chili
Salt as needed
Water as needed

Method:
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1. In a pressure cooker add toor dal/lentil, kale, 1/4 tsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and water as needed to cook the dal. Pressure cook it for 1 whistle, off the flame, let it come to room temperature, then open the cooker.
2. In a sate pan add oil, when it's hot enough add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when the mustard starts to sputter, add asafoetida, dry red chili and garlic, stir for 30 secs.

3. Now add the onions, sate it for about 3-4 mins or until the onions are slightly golden brown. Now add the pressure cook dal/lentil to the seasoning and then add the tamarind pulp and bring it to a boil and add enough salt and mix well and cook it in medium flame.
4. Serve this healthy lentil with steamed rice or roti.

You Might Also Like:

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	Lentil Dal
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Vegan Banana Bread - Sweet Punch Challenge

Its December already, time really flies. Its Sweet Punch time, this month we can bake something of our choice. I chose to bake Vegan Banana Bread from Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen. Bakes with banana are always moist and it has that chewy nature. But this Bread, trust me, was fluffy!!! We loved the texture and the taste!! thanks to Champa for a wonderful recipe

Ingredients:

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour 

1/4 Cup All Purpose flour

1/3 Cup of Canola Oil

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/8 tsp of Nutmeg

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

3 large Banana's mashed about 1 and 1/2 cups puree

2 tbsp Flax meal mixed with 6 tbsp of warm water

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Line a Loaf pan with Parchment paper.
• sift together Whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• In a bowl, combine banana puree, sugar, oil, Cinnamon and nutmeg and flaxseed meal water.
• Combine Dry ingredients into Wet ingredients. Mix to Combine.

• Pour the batter in to the prepared tin and Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes clean.
• Once done, Take it out of the oven, cool on the wire rack. Slice and enjoy.

Sending this to Bake Fest Event Happening @ Spicy Treats, an event by Vardhini of Zesty Palette, Lets Cook #10 - Baked Goodies Happening @ Tickling Palates, Serve It - Baked Sweet, Happening @ Krithi's Kitchen and Dennys

Wishing all my friends a Very Happy Kaarthigai Deepam.