Above is the picture of Lord Panduranga (Lord Krishna) and Rakumayee at Sri Panduranga Bhajanashram, Govindapuram.How to make it:
Fry Aval in little ghee until it turns light brown. Add 2 cups water to it and cook until the aval becomes soft and well cooked. Now add sugar, cardamom powder and food colour and mix it thoroughly. Add ghee little by little and cook until it thickens. Heat 2 tsp ghee in a small pan, fry the cashews and raisins and add it to the kesari. Mix well. Decorate with a pinch of saffron on top for a great flavour.
The second photo has a recipe too... Those Nut Drops are really simple to make.
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Soak cashew nuts and almonds in water separately. Remove the skin of almonds. Grind the almonds and cashew nuts into a fine paste with little water. Add flour, milk, coconut and sugar and mix well to a batter consistency. Drop them onto a baking sheet with a spoon and bake at 350 degree Fahrenheit until done.
For seasoning: Mustard seeds, urad dhal and oil.
How to make it:
Pressure cook moong dhal and masoor dhal with little turmeric powder. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry until golden brown. Now add the green tomatoes and green chillies and cook until tomatoes become soft. Add the cooked dhal, coconut, salt and curry leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes. Do the seasoning with mustard seeds and urad dhal. Serve hot. Goes well with rotis and parathas.
How to make it:
Preheat oven at 300 degree Fahrenheit. Mix all purpose flour, butter, baking soda and sugar together. Add coconut and dates. By adding orange juice ( Orange flavour adds a kick to the crunchy taste) little by little, mix it to form a dough. Roll the dough and cut into equal portions. Make balls out of it and press to form a round shape. Or use a cookie cutter to make it in a simple way. Arrange in a cookie tray and bake it at 300 degree Fahrenheit until golden brown.
For Stuffing:
How to make it:
Boil the potato and mash it nicely. Add chopped onions, shredded ginger, chopped corriander leaves, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Cut the top of tomato and scoop out all the pulp inside. Stuff the potato mix inside and cover it with the cut part of tomato. Press gently so that it closes properly. Set aside. Grind the pulp from tomato, onion, cashews, almonds and garlic into a paste. Heat oil and butter in a non stick pan and add bay leaf, fennel seeds, ground paste, tomato paste, corriander powder, chilli powder and salt. Cook until the raw smell is gone and until oil separates. Now arrange the stuffed tomatoes in this gravy and cook covered for some more minutes until the skin of tomato starts to shrink. Garnish with corriander leaves, cashews and cream. Serve hot.
For seasoning: Oil, red chillies and Mustard seeds
How to make it:
Grind all the above into fine paste and do the seasoning with red chillies and mustard seeds. Serve with dosa, idli or with plain rice.
How to make it:
Shred carrot and beetroot using a shredder. Chop onions very finely. In a bowl, add the shredded carrot, beetroot, 3/4 part of the onions, 1/2 of corriander leaves, peanuts, amchur powder, chilli powder, chat masala powder, coconut oil and salt and mix it together. Add the puffed rice to it and mix well. Garnish with more onions and corriander leaves and serve. I had some oma podi, i already made and added that on top for extra crunchy - munchy taste. Enjoy your evening snack!
Poori
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Knead the wheat flour, maida, rava and salt with water into a soft dough. Make into small balls, press gently into round shape and deep fry in oil until golden brown.
Channa Masala
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Boil potatoes, peel the skin and cut into small pieces. If using raw channa, soak in water for at least 8 hours and pressure cook with little salt. Chop tomatoes and onions. Heat oil in a pan fry onions, tomatoes, red chilli, ginger, garlic, cloves and elaichi. Let it cool down and grind into a paste. Heat oil in a kadai, add butter and oil and fry bay leaves, jeera and fennel seeds. Add the paste ( add little water if necessary) and fry for 5 minutes until oil separates. Add potatoes, curry leaves and Channa and cook until it becomes thick. Garnish with corriander leaves, finely chopped onions and a squeeze of lemon.
These are the items i made for Diwali:
Here are the recipes:
No recipe for gulab jamun, as it was made with ready mix.
Rava Laadu
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Roast rava in a dry pan and grind it into a powder. Add powdered sugar and Powdered elaichi and cloves to it. Heat little ghee, fry cashews and raisins and add it to the rava. Melt remaining ghee until it is warm and mix it together with rava and make balls of even size.
Ashoka Halwa
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Wash moong dhal thoroughly in water and pressure cook by adding milk. Mash it until smooth. In a large pan, add the mashed moong dhal and sugar and mix it until it gets hardened. You have to keep on stirring until its done. When it starts sticking to the pan add ghee little by little. Add cardamom and food colour. Stir until it comes together without sticking to the pan. If it sticks to the pan, add more ghee. Add fried cashews and raisins. once done, transfer it to a bowl and add a pinch of saffron.
Ribbon Pakoda
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Slightly roast the flour in a dry pan and let it cool down. Add butter, salt, chilli powder and asafoetida powder to it. Mix it into a soft dough by adding water. Grease murukku mould. (Choose the murukku slide with a slot of the size of a ribbon). Put dough into the mould and squeeze slowly into the hot oil. When it turns brown, take it onto a paper towel and drain off excess oil. Allow it to cool.
Oma Podi
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Soak ajwain seeds in 1/4 cup of water for 10 minutes and grind it into a paste. Slightly roast the flour in a dry pan and allow it to cool. Add the chilli powder, butter, salt, and ajwain paste to it. Mix it into a soft dough by adding water to it. Grease a murukku mould and this time select the slide with small holes. Add dough into the mould and squeeze it directly into the hot oil. Fry on both sides and until it turns brown and take it to a paper towel to drain off excess oil.
The gift box was made out of paper plates by folding all the four sides and sticking it with a sticky tape and the decorations are made with colour pens, spray paints and stencils.
Have a wonderful celebration! ENJOY!
How to make it:
Wash methi leaves thoroughly in water. Chop scallions finely, heat oil in a kadai and fry until golden brown and keep aside. In a bowl add gram flour, chilli powder, curd, salt and little water if required. Mix it well. Heat oil in a pan, add ajwain seeds and methi leaves. Saute for a while. Add the flour and mix on low flame until the water dries off. Allow it to cool for a while. Make balls out of it and deep fry in oil until golden brown.
For Gravy:
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Grind all the above except bay leaves into a paste with little water. Heat oil and butter in a kadai, add bay leaves and the ground paste and saute until oil separates. Add Koftas before serving and garnish with corriander leaves, fried scallions and little curd or cream .
Chilli - Tangerine rice:
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Cook rice with little salt. Allow it to cool by spreading on a plate. Grind green chillies, garlic, elaichi and cloves into a paste. Chop onions finely. Steam cook carrots, beans and peas. Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaves, fennel seeds and jeera. Add cut onions and fry for 2 minutes. Add chilli garlic paste and saute until raw smell of garlic is gone. Add the steamed vegetables and fry for a while. Add cooked rice and salt and mix it thoroughly on low flame by adding tangerine juice. Garnish with corriander leaves and fried cashews.
For Seasoning:
How to make it:
Soak the turmeric leaf in water for about 10 minutes to make it soft. Wash it thoroughly in running water. Grind black peppers to a powder separately. Next, grind jeera and few curry leaves with 3/4 cup water. Take the pulp out of tamarind and boil in a vessel with 3 cups of water along with cut green chilli. After 2 minutes, add turmeric leaf, crushed black pepper, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder. Add coconut oil and cook covered for 5 minutes or until the aroma of turmeric leaf comes out. Now add the jeera water to it and let it boil for 2 more minutes. Do the seasoning with mustard seeds and red chilli and garnish with few corriander leaves. Serve with rice or as a soup.
For stuffing:
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry all the above ingredients until golden brown and grind into a fine paste with a pinch of salt and less water.
How to make it:
Finely chop onions, corriander leaves and curry leaves. Wash and cut the stem of brinjals. Cut the brinjals across so that it can hold the paste inside. Stuff the ground paste inside the brinjals carefully. Keep it aside. Soak tamarind in warm water and take out the pulp. To this pulp add turmeric powder, sambar powder, chilli powder, asafoetida powder and salt and mix well. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds, finely chopped onions , chopped corriander leaves and curry leaves. Fry until onions become golden brown. Now add the stuffed brinjals and cook covered until the brinjals are half cooked. In between turn brinjals to other side so it gets evenly cooked. Add the tamarind water mixture to this and cook until the oil separates. Garnish with more corriander leaves and curry leaves and serve hot with rice and papad.
How to make the Flowers:
Cut the tissue sheet into strips of length at least 2.5". Mine was 2.5" * 26" (shown in picture).
Fold it into two and cut top side of the paper like the end of the flower petals.
On the other side, crush the paper and roll it in such a way that the starting point becomes center of the flower as shown in picture.
Tie it with a thick piece of thread and cut the extra thread.
Similarly make as many colourful flowers as you like.
How to make the Leaves:
Cut green tissue sheets of size 2.5" * 13".
Fold it like a fan and cut the shape of the leaf on both the sides as shown in picture. Twist the paper with center point in the place and make it as a round shape as shown in picture.
How to make the Garland:
Take a thick thread and insert one end into a needle. Do not cut the other end of the thread from the bundle until you complete the garland.
First insert a leaf into the needle then a flower and again a leaf.
Be careful with your order of colours. Make sure u have inserted leaves between flowers. After completing you can add small bells, beads or any other decorative piece at the bottom of the garland.
Make your celebrations grand and colourful with these easy to make paper flower garland!
Hope you liked it!
Things u need:
How to take measurements:
Apron:
Height = 28 inches
Width = 20 inches
Lace:
Neck lace = 22 inches (marked as N1-N2)
Back lace = 16 inches * 2 pieces (marked as B1 and B2)
NOTE: N1-N2 is single piece and B1 and B2 are separate pieces.
As shown in the picture, mark the measurements with a washable marker. That 10+2 inches on top means 10 inches is the measurement and +1 inch on each side is to fold and stitch. similarly, 11 inches along height is the measurement and 11-1=10 inches is the point to cut, fold and stitch. Cut along the dotted lines as shown in picture.The piece marked "A" is for making hand towel
holder that is to be attached in the body of the apron (marked as "A" in the picture). cut it like
a rectangle, fold it into three (length wise) and stitch on all the ends.
How to stitch:
I don't have a sewing machine, but one of my close friend has got one. The sewing machine is weightless and electrically powered so, the concept of stitching is so easy that anybody could do it. It took me only few minutes to complete my apron. After marking all measurements, carefully cut along the dotted lines, fold and stitch all the sides with a sewing machine. Attach the neck lace N1 (one end) on one side and N2 (other end) on other side. Attach back lace B1 on one side and other lace B2 on other side as shown in picture. Attach the piece "A" in the place marked in the apron or the place where you will feel comfortable of having a hand towel. I have even kept a small tag at the side suitable for hanging the apron in my kitchen.
NOTE: Single stitch is not enough and will come out easily so make it with double stitches. Alter measurements as per your fit.
U can customize your apron with your name painted, or embroidered. Its a great gift idea with the person's name imprinted on it. Give this as a gift and show how much u care for them.
The smell and taste is so good that nobody could hesitate having it.
I had pastry sheet of size 200mm*200mm, out of which i could make four of them.U can try making it like a roll,semi-circle or any other shape as u like. The taste is always perfect.
To spread Bhakthi cult among the public and to ensure that the message reach the people, eight students have been selected. They are undergoing rigorous training in Vedas, Bhagavatham and Sampradhaya Bhajans. The main objective is that these students should go over all places and deliver the message to the public without expecting any monetary benefits.These students are well versed to do pravachanams in their mother tongue also.
Sri Panduranga Charities
Brahmashri Vittaldas has also formed an institution called Sri Panduranga Charities which has several objectives like spreading vedic knowledge, providing medical relief to poor, to establish and maintain dharmasalas, to provide educational assistance etc,.
In a divine country like India, cows are considered as god and goddess. Sri Vittaldas Maharaj has built a gosala near the temple premises. The uniqueness of this Gosala is that all the cows here are of Brindhavan, Govardhan origin and belong to the parampara of cows grazed by LORD SHRI KRISHNA. A seperate land for this gosala has been identified and procured and all peripheral activities like fencing, laying pipelines, electricity, shelter and regular veterinary checkup for cows are taken care of.
By this way my guru Sri Vittaldas Maharaj is contributing a lot for the welfare of this society and one cannot deny that the best place on earth is "Govindapuram" -also Booloka Vaikuntam.
For more details about the temple activities, Events, Audio and Video of his namasankeerthanam and pravachanams visit http://vittaldas.com/
