Pancha Kajjaya / Panchakajjaya / Sihi Avallakki

Pancha Kajjaya is a speciality of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka This naivedhya (an offering to God) is a favourite of God Ganesha and a must for Gana Homa i.e. Ganesha Pooja.  This panchakajjaya is prepared as prasadha or an offering in Tulsi pooja also.  Sugarcane pcs. are required to be added in this panchakajjaya for Tulsi Pooja. This prasadha is prepared for other pooja’s also.   Pancha means five and Kajjaya means sweets, a naivedhya which is prepared with five ingredients i.e. Beaten Rice, Coconut, Jaggery, Black Sesame seed and ghee are most important one and rest are optional. A very easy to make recipe…

Ingredients:

Paper Beaten Rice (Avallakki / Bajil) – 1 Kg.

Coconut – 3 Nos.

Jaggery / Bella – 850 gms.

Black Sesame seed / Yellu / Kapu yedme – 100 gms.

Ghee / Thupa – 50 gms.

Cardamom – 10 Nos.

Puffed paddy powder (Aralu hudi)/ Podhol pudi / Rajgira – 100 gms. (optional)

Sugar cane / Kabbu / Karmbu pcs. – 100 gms. (optional)

Method:

Clean and sieve beaten rice well so that any powder or dust is removed.

Clean and roast black sesame seed till you get a nice aroma.

Powder cardamom, grate coconut and jaggery.

Take a deep vessel; add coconut, jaggery, cardamom, ghee and mix well till jaggery melts a little add beaten rice and mix well till all beaten rice are well mixed with jaggery and coconut. Add sugar cane pcs. and mix again.

The offering is ready.

Things to be taken care:

Can increase the quantity of coconut, it gives further smooth texture to beaten rice.

Always use black sesame seeds for extra aroma and flavour.

Either or both sugarcane or puffed paddy powder can be excluded.  

This can be kept for 3-4 days in fridge.

Corn Pulao / Jola Pulao

Corn pulao one of the easiest and can be prepared in no time. It is a tastier and healthiest too, low in saturated fat, no cholesterol, low in sodium, high in dietary fiber, high in magnesium, high in phosphorus, high in thiamin, high in vitamin C (refer http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-corn-sweet-yellow-i11167). Kids just loves it.

Ingredients :

Basmati Rice / sona masoori – 2 cups
Corn kernels (Fresh / frozen) – 1 cups
Onion – 2 medium size
Bay leaf - 2
Oil – 3 tbsp
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon – 1 inch
Star anise / dagad phool – ½
Green chillies – 2 (as per taste)
Coriander leaves – ½ cup
Ginger - Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp.
Salt – as per taste

Method :

Wash rice, drain out the water and let it remain in colander. Wash corn and drain out the water. Boil 4 cups of water and keep aside.

Take a cooker (I prepared it in a cooker this can be cooked in any well covered pot) add oil, when oil heats up add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, add thinly sliced onions and saute till it turns transparent add chillis and ginger - garlic paste, sauté till raw smell disappears.

Add corn and fry for a minute, add rice and fry till water disappears taking care rice doesn’t breaks. Add little less than 4 cup hot water, add garam masala and salt and stir carefully. Cover the cooker and let it cook till 2 whistles.

Open the cooker after 15 minutes, toss the rice with fork. Garnish with coriander and serve with raita, pickle or plain.

Things to be taken care :

There is no need of cooking corn separately or frying it much. Corn tastes better when cooked less.

Manjoldha Eeretha Gatti/Arisina Ele Kadubu/Patholeo

Manjoldha Eeretha Gatti means 'Turmeric Leaf Dumplings', one of a tradional recipe of Mangalore and also my all time favourite recipe. This gatti is prepared during different festivals in Karnataka i.e. Nagrapanchami, Ganesh Festival & Deepavali.  I just wait for ‘Shravan Month’, as per the Hindu calendar this month is highly auspicious and Hindus do observe fast and perform different types of pujas. Therefore, locally grown vegetables like Ladies finger, Cucumber, Drumstick leaves, Bitter gourd, Turmeric Leaf, Plantain leaf etc. are easily available.

Turmeric leaves is very well known for its mesmerizing taste and its unique flavor.  The rice used for making this gatti in Mangalore is ‘Brown Rice’. I used both steam rice/ short rice and brown rice. I remember even my grandmother used to love this recipe. We sisters used to relish whenever amma, or dodama (grandmother) used to cook this.

Ingredients :

For covering :

Turmeric leaf - 12 to 16
Brown Rice - 500 gm.
Steam rice/short rice/sona masoori rice - 250 gm.
Salt as per taste

For stuffing :

Coconut – 1 big
Jaggery - 250 gm (as per taste)
Cardamom - 7 (optional)

Method :

Covering :

Run Brown Rice and Steam Rice under water till the water comes clean. Soak these rice for 4 hours and grind thick, adding less water, if it turns watery it is hard to apply it on the leaf. Add salt as per taste.

Stuffing :

Scrape coconut and jaggery and mix well add powdered cardamom. Jaggery can be increased or decreased as per taste.

Now, clean the leaf well under running water, pat them dry, spread the dough (we call it as bandha in tulu) evenly with hand taking little dough at a time all over the leaf. Spread the jaggery mixture on half part of the leaf leaving a bit of corner all over the sides so jaggery won’t come out when it get melted while cooking. Fold it well on the halfway of the leaf.

Place this gatti in the idli vessel for steaming approximately 20-30 minutes (depends on the size of the vessel).

It tastes very good if served hot with ghee!

Things to be taken care :

While grinding rice add little water at a time so that the dough doesn’t get watery. I grinded this rice in wet grinder.

After folding, I trimmed both the end part of the leaf for two reasons, one being the leaves had to set properly in my small idli vessel ( thondur/steamer) other being trimmed leaf gives fresh aroma while being cooked (one can experience this practically).

These gatti’s should be arranged in such a way that the steam passes through each and every gatti’s while cooking.

                          Shree Ganeshaya Namaha