Maa Vilakku

Cooks in: 20 Minutes Serves: 2 People

Maa Vilakku or Pindi Deepam is a lamp made of rice flour and jaggery dough into which cow's ghee is poured and wick made of cotton is lit in it.The tradition of lighting such lamp came from ancient times. The Lamps are lit during the Tamil months of Aadi and Thai  for Ambal, in Purattasi for Lord Venkateswara Perumal and  during Karthigai Deepam for Lord Murugan. I used processed Samai/Little Millet flour for this recipe. Millet is washed and soaked in water for 2 hours, then drained and dried on a clean cotton cloth for 30 minutes in shade. The semi dried grains are made into fine flour. This is known as processed flour. After the puja is over and the light is exhausted, it is distributed to all. It is believed that the positive rays from ghee reaches the abode of Divine Mother and she showers her kindness on the earth. 

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Meetha Chawal

Cooks in: 20 Minutes Serves: 2 People

Meetha Chawal is a traditional  dessert of North India mostly served during pujas and functions. It is prepared using cooked basmati rice and carefully selected mild Indian spices and ghee. I have used Little Millet for this recipe and substituted sugar with jaggery for health reasons, and it was equally aromatic and tasty. 

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Tilgul Poli

Cooks in: 30 Minutes Serves: 2 People

Makar Sankranti is one of the important festivals celebrated in different names in different parts of our country. Different sweets like  pongal, poli, ubbattu, payasam or chikkis are made using jaggery. According to Āyurvēda, eating sesame seeds in winter is beneficial for our health. Spiritually, sesame seeds and sesame oil have the ability to absorb and emit Sattva frequencies more than any other oil. On the day of Bhogi, traditionally Poli is made in all homes. I made poli with til (sesame seeds) and Gud ( jaggery) as stuffing and used jowar flour for the outer layer. 

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