Happy Makar Sankranti

Happy Makar Sankranti/Pongal to all my readers !!

Ugadi Pachadi And a Happy Ugadi/Gudi Padwa to all !!

Yug-adi. Ugadi. Gudi Padwa. It is the beginning of the spring season and also marks the start of a  new year. It is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra with great fervor. Each of these regions have their own specialty which they prepare on this day but I will only be covering the 'Ugadi Pachadi' as it is something that I miss the most (owe it to the years spent in Hyderabad). My team-mates never forgot to get some of this yummy stuff to office and I remember making frequent trips to their workstation till the container got emptied.

The 'Ugadi Pachadi' comprises of the ingredients - raw mango, jaggery, tamarind juice, salt, green chillis and last but not the least, neem flowers. Each of these are said to reflect the 6 flavors (Shadrachulu) of life -

Raw Mango - Excitement/Surprise
Salt - Fear
Green Chilli/Pepper - Anger
Jaggery -  Happiness
Tamarind Juice - Disgust
Neem/Methi - Sadness

It tastes quite unique and I can still remember it tickling my taste buds. The Karnataka version is called 'Bevu-Bella' and it used neem leaves instead of flowers. Read on :

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 raw mango (finely chopped)
• 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
• 2 tbsp powdered/crushed jaggery
• 3 green chillis (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp neem (Margosa) flowers.
• salt to taste

Preparation - Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup water. Crush and take out the pulp.

Add the jaggery and stir till it dissolves. Add the remaining ingredients and serve immediately.

Note - You can also add a few pieces of ripened banana, grated cococut, suagrcane, or even put a little tadka with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

[Imp- The Detox Mondays post will be published on Tuesday for this week.]