Varalakshmi Vratam

Varalakshmi Puja is observed by married women in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and other parts ofSouth India.Goddess Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth and prosperity – is worshipped on the day. Varamahalakshmi literally means the boon granting goddess.

The Friday before the Full Moon, or Pournami day, of Tamil Month Aadi is chosen to perform Varalakshmi Puja. The corresponding month in the Kannada, Marathi and Telugu Calendar is the Shravan month.
Worshipping Goddess Lakshmi on Varalakshmi Vrata day is equivalent to worshipping Ashtalaksmi – the eight goddesses of Wealth, Earth, Learning, Love, Fame, Peace, Pleasure, and Strength
The importance of Varalakshmi Puja is mentioned in the Skanda Purana. It is believed that importance of Varalakshmi Puja was narrated to Goddess Parvati by Lord Shiva.
Goddess Parvati wanted to know about a Vrata that is highly beneficial to a woman, which will help her lead a happy and prosperous life on earth. Lord Shiva then mentioned about the Varamahalakshmi Vratam.

Performance of Varalakshmi Puja
Varalakshmi Puja falls on a Friday in the month of August and the preparations for the puja begin on Thursday. All the necessary items needed for the pooja are collected by Thursday evening.
People wake up early in the morning on Friday and take a bath. Traditionally speaking the waking up time for the puja is the brahma muhurtham. Then the designated puja area and house is cleaned well and a beautiful ‘kolam’ or rangoli is drawn on the intended place of puja.
Next is the preparation of the ‘kalasham or kalash.’ A bronze or silver pot is selected and is cleaned thoroughly and a swastika symbol is drawn and is smeared with sandalwood paste. The kalasham pot is filled with raw rice or water, coins, a single whole lime, five different kinds of leaves, and beetle nut. The items used to fill the kalasham vary from region to region and includes turmeric, comb, mirror, small black bangles and black beads.
The kalasham up to the neck is sometimes covered with a cloth and mango leaves are placed on the mouth of the kalasham. Finally, a coconut smeared with turmeric is used to close the mouth of the kalasham. To this coconut, an image of Goddess Lakshmi is fixed or the image of Lakshmi is drawn using turmeric powder. Now the kalasham symbolically represents Goddess Lakshmi.
In some areas, women place a mirror behind the kalasham. Today, there are also specially made Varalakshmi pots available in the market.
The kalasham is usually placed on a bed of rice. First Lord Ganesha is worshipped. Then begins the Varalakshmi Puja. The puja consists of singing slokas dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi like the Lakshmi Sahasranamam. Arati is performed on the kalasham. Different types of sweets are offered. Some people offer pongal. In some areas women tie yellow thread on their hands.
The woman who is observing the Varalakshmi Puja abstains from eating certain kind of food and this varies from region to region. In some regions, women fast till the puja period.
Thamboolam – betel leaf, areca nut and slaked lime – is offered to women in the locality and in the evening an arati is offered.
The next day, that is on Saturday, after taking a bath the kalasham is dismantled and the water in the kalasham is sprinkled in the house. If rice is used then it is mixed with rice in the house.
There are no hard and fast rules in performing the Varalakshmi Puja and you can be flexible on the puja items. Even a simple prayer will please Goddess Lakshmi.

God bless you.

Text taken from http://www.hindu-blog.com/

Aloo Tikki

Ingredients

4 large potatoes (aloo)
¼ cup boiled peas (optional)
3 tbsp raisins
3 tbsp chopped almonds
2 tbsp coriander leaves
4 green chillies finally chopped
½ cup bread crumbs
1 tsp Cumin seeds
½ chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder (optional)
salt to taste
2 tbsp corn flour
oil (tel) to fry

Method
Make a corn batter with ½ cup water.
Wash and finely cut the green chillies.
Boil the potatoes. Peel and mash well.
Mix well the all ingredient except bread crumbs and oil.

Take out small balls from it and make any shape of your choice..
Dip these balls in the corn flour batter and coat it with breads crumbs. 

Deep fry in oil till crisp and golden brown on all sides.
Serve hot with some chutney or yogurt.

Home made yogurt

Ingredients
2 qt milk, 1%, 2% or whole milk works great, depends on your cholesterol :o)
1 Tsp plain yogurt, (use fresh & tasty one)
1 Green or red chili

Method
Using a pot with a clean & heavy bottom, boil the milk over medium heat. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t boil over.
Allow the milk to cool until lukewarm (the lukewarm temperature is very important)
Now add 1 tsp of yogurt and mix well
Add the chili and cover with a lid

Leave it for few hours in a warm space
In another 3 to 4 hours your yogurt should be ready

Tips
1. If you want it to be farm and thick,you have to boil that minimum 30 min
2. If you want to cool the milk a little quicker, place the pot in cool water. Pour the milk from one cup to another till frothy (for the coarse texture)

3. The surrounding temperature must be warm for the yogurt to form. In winter what you do.
4. Put the Bowl near the hot stove(while you cooking)
5. Put the bowl in to the oven and turn on the oven light.

Asparagus Stir Fry

Ingredients
Asparagus - 1 lbs Chopped
Onion - 1
Green chillies- 3 (slit lengthwise)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Split moong dal - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves- 5 to 7
Curry(or chilli) powder - 2 tsp
Gram flour - 1 tbspOil for frying
Salt to taste

Method

Boil the asparagus for 10 min (3/4 cooked), keep aside.
Take a pan pour some oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, channa dal and moong dal. After dal turns reddish brown add onion, chillies and curry leaves.
Fry until translucent, now add asparagus fry for few minutes.
Add powder ingredients along with salt, fry until oil separates.
Finally sprinkle gram flour and fry for another two minutes.
Serve with steamed rice or roti.

Broccoli / Cheese Soup

Ingredients
Broccoli - 2 to 3 cups
Butter 1 tbsp
Onion -1/2 cup
Garlic- 2 nos
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
Milk -3/4
Cheddar cheese - 3/4 to 1 cup
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
Wash a bunch of broccoli and cut it into florets. Sprinkle with a 1 tbsp water. Microwave the broccoli for 2-3 minutes, set aside.
Heat the butter in a saucepan. Saute onion and minced garlic in the butter until fragrant. Stir in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add milk and stir to make a sauce.
Now add the cooked broccoli and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Stir in cheese, salt (remember cheese is salty, so...) and pepper to taste.

Blend the soup using a blender/ food processor. Reheat before serving. Enjoy with some bread sticks.

Ellu Seedai / Sweet Seedai

Ingredients

1 cup sifted rice Flour
2 tsp Urad Dal flour (dry roast and make a powder)
1 cup Jaggery
pinch of cardamom powder
1 tbsp white Sesame seeds

Method
Grate the jaggery, pour down 1 cup of hot water on the jaggery and let it sit for at least 40 minutes.
In a skillet dry roast the rice flour until aromatic (about a minute or so). Set aside to cool it down. In the same skillet, dry toast the sesame seeds less than 30 seconds or so. Set aside.
Now using a strainer, strain the jaggery water mixture. Warm this jaggery syrup, add cardamom powder. Give it one quick stir and take off the stove.
Add all the dry ingredients together and slowly (one spoon at a time) add the jaggery syrup to form a tight dough. Too much liquid will spoil the recipe. (Sometimes depending on the quality of the flour, you may require the full jaggery syrup or just half of it)

Set aside for at least 30 min. This enables the flour to absorb all the flavors. Place a damp cloth/paper towel. Take a small piece of the dough and using a greased palm, roll it out into small balls.

Drop few at a time in the oil and deep fry. Slowly move them around to prevent them from sticking to one another. Fry till deep brown. A few cracks here and there on the surface of these Seedais are perfectly normal. Make sure the oil is med-high hot, drain in paper towels to remove excess oil.

Kollu Paruppu Chutney

Ingredients
Kollu paruppu ( horse gram ) - 1 cup
Onion - 1 ( chopped )
Green chillies - 3 ( chopped )
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic -3 nos
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste.

Method
Pressure cook the horse gram with turmeric powder, salt, a spoon of oil and 2 cups of water. Allow up to 4 0r 5 whistles.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, onion, green chillies, curry leaves, garlic, crushed coriander and cumin seeds and saute them until it is light golden brown in color.

Then mix it along with cooked horse gram to a blender grind into a coarse paste.
Serve with steamed rice and ghee.

Note: If you want kollu rasam while you pressure cook the dal add more water. In this water add tamarind pulp... then the usual procedure for rasam.