Shivaratri Thali: Togari Bele Obbattu, Kayi Payasa, Obbattina thili Saaru,Tenginakayi Saaru, Kadale bele Kosumbari, anna,Tuppa, Uppinakayi, Happala!

I know that above long title is all "Greek" to you if you don't speak Kannada but I wanted to keep it authentic, will explain it all below! ;D

I am sure most of you all had a wonderful time celebrating Shivaratri last Monday. We don't fast or do any religious rituals much in our home but do a quick "Namaste" to Shiva, will definitely cook up a pure vegetarian feast as you can see! I know! I know! We are a sorry excuse for a Lingayat/Shaiva family but hey! Something is better than nothing!! :D

What's Shivaratri? Navita's blog post has beautiful explanation and stories about Shivaratri festival, do read if you are interested! Here is another of my Shivaratri platter I posted before.

Anyway; for this year's Shivaratri, I decided to make my paternal Mysore grandmother's (sweet, quiet and kind lady whom I LOVED, who is no longer with us) style Tuar dal Obbattu (which most south Indians are familiar with of course) with coconut-Cashews Payasa/porridge/dip and Obbattu saaru which I haven't posted at all in my blogs until now and I also made an authentic Coconut saaru which my ajji used to make which I don't make often here. Chana dal-Cucumber Kosumbari/salad is another one of my ajji's recipe as well. I miss her always and this is my tribute to her. My kids were not thrilled to see yet another vegetarian thali but they were understanding and ate without a fuss because they know it's ShivaRatri day! :)

Here is my Shivaratri thali: (Habbada Oota!)
Obbattu (Kanaka/pastry stuffed with Hoorana/sweet Toor dal dumpling), Coconut-Cashews-Saffron Payasa (porridge/dip), Obbattina thili saaru (dal broth or Rasam), Coconut Saaru, Basmati rice, Chana dal-Cucumber-red onion Kosambari (salad), Happala/papad, Nimbe Uppinakayi/Lemon pickle and Tuppa/Ghee.
Obbattu with Coconut-Cashews-Saffron Payasa as a dip first:
To make the Kanaka/pastry covering:
1. Take 1 1/2 cup of plain flour, 1 tbsp sugar powder, 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder,1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 3 tbsp oil and enough water to make a firm non-sticky dough and knead well for 5 minutes. Brush the dough with oil and cover it to rest the dough for an hour. I use KitchenAid to make the dough and traditionally, lot of oil is the added to this dough which you don't need to but we never ever add flour to roll out Obbattus, always use a bit of oil if needed!!

I am sending this photo to Gayatri of "Just Urs" blog's "Magnificent click contest" event! Thanks for hosting Gayatri! :)

How to make Obbattu stuffing/Hoorana:
1. Cook 1 cup of Tuar dal with 3-4 cups water, 1/2 tsp oil in a pressure cooker until just cooked, dal should be soft, still somewhat whole but not mashed up or cook in the microwave for better control over how much to cook without getting the dal in a mush. Drain the cooked dal thru' a sieve and save all the water for making Rasam/thili saaru later, let the cooked dal cool.
2. Add 3/4 cup more Jaggary or dark brown sugar to dal, 1 tsp Cardamom powder and run thru' a blender without adding a drop of water, keep pushing the dal down until you get a sweet and aromatic mass of thick dal. In India, they pound or grind all these in a stone mortar and pestle called "Oralu Kallu" until they are thick and well mixed. Divide into equal (Golg ball) sized portions and keep aside.
3. Divide the dough into equal pasrts as well, roll out each to 4" circle (can use a bit of oil but NEVER use flour to roll!), place a sweet dumpling in the middle, cover as shown, flatten and roll out again gently to 5-6" circle.
4. Heat a tava/henchu,pan, cook these both sides until golden adding a bit oil again.

Serve hot or warm with plain ghee or coconut Payasa to dip.

Coconut and Cashews Payasa:

I made this traditional Payasa a bit thicker than the usual Payasa, so my kids can dip a piece of Obbattu in it to make it easy to eat since they don't or never learnt to eat with their hands like we Indians do. Traditionally, Payasa is thinner so we can pour some on the Obbattu to smother it and eat that literally finger licking good dessert! :)
This is how I made it:
1. Take 1/2 fresh coconut, separate the shell, scrape out the brown skin, cut the white flesh/pulp into small pieces about a cup or more, add it to blender (Sumeet makes the best smooth texture for Payasa) along with (as much as you like) Jaggary or dark brown sugar, 1 tsp Cardamom powder, 2 tsp rice grains, about 8-10 Cashewnuts. Blend all these to smooth paste with 1 cup (or more if you like thinner Payasa) of Milk.
2. Adjust the sugar and milk as sweet, thin or thick you want. Heat this mixture on low heat for 1/2 an hour. Coconut will split and separate if you cook it on a medium or high heat! I Microwaved it on 30% power for about 6-8 mins, got to be very careful. It thickens as it cooks and cools.
3. I just sprinkled some Saffron threads on top, it will dissolve in the heat. This Payasa should be white or creamish, so don't add too much Saffron, just few just for that festive aroma!

To make the rest of these thali dishes:

Obbattina thili saaru:
Title literally means "thin Dal broth", a Rasam as Tamilians would call it. After we drain the cooked dal, we save the nutritious broth and make a simple thin dal to top the rice it or to drink as it is in a cup.
Here is how:
1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan, add 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, few curry leaves. 1 dry red chilly, pinch of Hing. Add 2-3 chopped garlic, stir it until soft.
2. Add 1/2 tsp thick Tamarind paste mixed with 1/2 cup water, 2 tsp any Saaru/Sambhar/Rasam powder you have at home, 1/4 tsp chilli pd, 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro, salt, 1 tbsp grated dry or fresh coconut, boil for 2 minutes. You can add 1/4 cup Tomato sauce to it, but it's optional.
3. Add dal water/broth, adjust the salt and heat, simmer for few minutes and it's ready!

Tenginakayi Saaru/spicy Coconut gravy:

This recipe comes straight from my ajji's home. Since my late grandparents and Uncles live in a coconut and Sugarcane farm few miles from Mysore, coconut and homemade sugarcane Jaggary is used almost everyday in every dish they cook. here I use the coconut, may be twice a week in dishes and I use Jaggary whenever I cook traditional Indian desserts which gives a unique taste, aroma and golden color to Indian desserts which always reminds me of home and Indian festivals! :)
You need:
1/2 fresh coconut, grated or cut into very small pieces, 1/4 onion, 1 garlic, 1/2 tsp turmeric, few curry leaves and few cilantro, 1/2 to 1 tsp thick tamarind paste, enough salt.
Roast each of these spices sepaarately without oil and cool before grinding:
2 or more red chillies, 1 tbsp Poppy seeds, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp Cumin seeds, 2 tsp Chana dal, 2 tsp Urad dal, 1 tbsp yellow roasted chana/Dalia/chutney dal until they are all crisp and cool these.
To grind: Add these spices to a blender along with all the "you need" ingredients given above and grind to a very smooth paste adding enough water. You are making a thickish gravy, so you can always add more water later.
Temper to make the Saaru first:
1. Heat 1 tsp ghee and 2 tsp oil in a pan, add 1 tsp Mustard seeds, few curry leaves, 1-2 red chillies, let them get a some color. Add 1/2 cup minced onion, 2-3 garlic, minced, let it get some color.
2. Turn down the heat to simmer, add 1/2 cup cold water and then add the ground coconut masala. Simmer on low heat for 1/2 an hour, stirring often. Never let it boil on medium or high heat, it might separate.
3. Adjust the salt, tamarind and chilli pd to your taste. Once it's cooked, you will smell the aroma and you can reheat in the microwave easitly too. Tastes better the next day, you can make in a day advance and keep it in the fridge.

Chana dal-Cucumber-red onion Kosumbari:
I always loved this salad, it's simple to make and delicious to eat, not to mention nutritious too. You can replace the Chana dal with Moong dal, rest of the ingredients are the same.

1. Wash and soak 1/2 cup Chana dal for 4 hrs in hot water, drain all the water until dal is dry and add to a bowl. Peel and chop 1/2 a Cucumber into small cubes, chop 1/2 of small red onion to small cubes, add to dal.
2. Squeeze 2 tbsp or more fresh lemon juice, enough salt, 1 green chilly chopped roughly, 1 tbsp minced cilantro and mix well. over and keep it aside to marinate for an hour. It's ready to serve!

Another look!
Serve all the above with fragrant Basmati rice, South Indian style Lemon Pickle. Papad which we call Happala in Kannada and of course with Tuppa/ghee which makes everything tasty!! My son loves ghee in everything while my daughter will not touch it with barge pole! :P

That's all for this year's Shivaratri!
Last year, I completely forgot the Shivaratri date and didn't make anything for us or post here because it was too late by the time I realized it's Shivaratri day! This year, I marked it on the calender so I can remind myself!! :P

Now, I really really want to post a non-veg post after three vegetarian posts in a row!!!!! :D

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Tried and tasted from other blogs, thanks to all of you for posting these delicious dishes:

Kollu Rasam, from Indosungod.

Eggplant pickle, from Ranji.

Brinjal cooked shallot coconut sauce, from Nagu.

Movies I watched:
The visitor
Changeling
W.

Here is my post on ULTRA Grind and Pride if you are interested in buying one of those. YES!! I bought both, call me crazy! :D

Oh, one more thing before I go!
I am having a hard time commenting in few blogs, either because of too many widgets flashing which don't let me load properly or the "Word verification" words don't show up even after several attempts or some other reason! I keep trying, get frustrated and after sometime I just give up! Except on the weekends and holidays, I do want to say hello to you in your latest posts whenever I can! Help me comment easily and quickly in your blogs please or else you won't see me there in your blog homes and you can't blame me!!

Have a great weekend! :)