Sri Rama Navami is a Hindu festival celebrating the Birth of Lord Rama. On this day, Kalyanotsavam is performed at temples and the deities are taken to a procession on streets. At some places it is more elaborate with Bhajans, Kirtans, Puja and Aarthi followed by the distribution of Prasad. On this day, Followers of Lord Rama fast or restrict themselves to a specific diet. The special neivedyam for the day is Panakam and Neermor (Butter milk).
Source: Wiki

This time for Sri Rama Navami, I made some Mango rice along with some Panakam and Neer mor for Neivedyam.

Mango Rice

Ingredients:

• Mango - 1, medium size
• Rice - 1 cup
• Green chillies - 4 or 5
• Curry leaves - few
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Channa dal - 1 tsp
• Salt - as required
• Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it:
Cook rice with just enough water. Peel the skin of an unripe mango and shred. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal and channa dal. Add the curry leaves and green chillies. Fry for a while and then add the shredded mango, turmeric powder and salt. Saute for a while and then add the cooked rice. Mix well.

Panakam

Ingredients:

• Water - 2 cups
• Jaggery - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom - 2 crushed

How to make it:
Dissolve Jaggery in little water and dilute as required. Add crushed cardamom and mix well. Let it stand for sometime until the cardamom looses the flavour in water.

Neer mor (Butter milk)

Ingredients:

• Thick home made yogurt - 1 cup
• Ginger - 1 tsp, shredded
• Cilantro - few, chopped
• Hing - a pinch
• Green chillies - 1 or 2, chopped finely (if preferred)
• Salt - as required

How to make it:
Beat the yogurt until there are no lumps. Add enough water to dilute. Add ginger, green chillies, hing, cilantro and little salt. Mix well.

Ingredients:

How to make it:

Blend all the above ingredients in a blender with some ice cream. Pour onto a glass and top with more ice cream. Serve!

This is for my event "Refreshing Drinks for Summer", the last date for sending the entries is 30th April.
The umbrella here is a hand made one. Wanna know how to make it?? Check out my new crafts blog.



Mixed Fruit Jam

This can be made with those fruits available for the season. Its not a must to use all of them. Choose at least 3 types of fruits for better taste.

Ingredients:

How to make it:

Mash bananas. Grind each fruit separately in a blender. For every cup of ground mixture, add 3/4 cup of sugar. Cook on medium heat in a heavy bottom pan until it becomes thick (Dip a scissor inside and when released, it should form a thin line). Add a pinch of citric if making in large quantities.

Ingredients:

How to make it:

Wash and cut the cantaloupe into two. Discard the seeds. Scoop out the fruit or cut into chunks. Add all the above ingredients in a blender and blend well. Serve.
I tried this with plain yogurt and also with strawberry-banana yogurt and both tastes good. Add sugar if the cantaloupe is not so sweet. I tossed some mildly sour green grapes and it added a kick to the recipe. This recipe serves 2. Increase the quantity of fruits as per your taste and number of servings.
This goes as an entry to my event "RD for Summer"

Ingredients:

How to make it:

Soak almonds in water for about 15 minutes and peel of the skin. Wash carrots, cut the ends, peel the outer skin and pressure cook until done. Let it cool. Add carrots, almonds, sugar, milk (Use a pasteurized and homogenized milk directly in the recipe. If using fresh milk, Boil milk and cool before adding) and cardamom powder in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve chilled.