Tamil Month Purattasi Began Last week (sep 17th). The Month of Purattasi is closely associated with Lord Venkateshwara. Normally in my Mom's Place we used to do 'Maavilaku' on First Saturday of Purattasi Month. But My MIL's place they dont follow such tradition.
But for my Satisfaction and for the Love for my Lord Balaji i do a small pooja and make Neivedhiyam for the Lord. It is actually very hard to find a saturday for the pooja, if you miss the first Saturday of the Month, Coz Next Saturday Maalaya Paksham or Pitru Paksham starts, and then the Brahmotsavam @ Tirupathi Begins and Navrathri Begins. So, it is always better to do the Purattasi Pooja for Lord Balaji during the First Saturday of the Month.
Luckily, My Mom Called up on Friday and reminded me of Saturday. The Next day made some Chakkarai Pongal and Urad Dal Vada as Neivedhiyam and Happily performed the pooja.
Here comes the recipe for Urad Dal Vada.
Ingredients (Makes 11-12 vadas)
1/4 cup Urad Dal
1/2 tsp Methi seeds
1 green chilli
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 sprigs of curry leaves
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Method
Soak urad dal with methi seeds for 1hr. Drain the excess water, add the rest of the ingredients and grind it to a smooth batter, without adding water. Excess water makes batter loose, so dont add water, if necessary add only 1 or 2 tbsp.
Let the batter sit for 10minutes. Heat oil in a Pan, Wet your hands, take a small ball of the batter, place it on the other palm and flat it using ur fingers and make a small hole in the center and slide it down in the oil.
Keep the Flame in Medium and Fry both sides. Drain on a Paper towel. Serve hot with any Chutney or some Tomato Sauce. First person to taste this even before the Neivedhiyam was my Son, since it was his Favourite "DoughNut Vada".
