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ARUDRA DARSHAN AND THE RECIPES

OM NAMASHIVAYA NAMAHA......


ARUDHRA DARSANAM AND ITS RECIPES

Arudra Darshan is celbrated in the Tamil month of Margazhi coinciding with December – January. This day falls on the full moon night of this month when the Tiruvadirai (Arudra) star rules over. Notably, this happens to be the longest night of the year. Arudra is the star that symbolizes golden red flame, which is none else than Lord Shiva at his cosmic dance. The main highlight of this occasion is having the darshan of Shiva as Natraj, the god at his cosmic dance.



Arudra Darshan is a very grand event happening in the Shiva temples especially where the image of Natraj (dancing Shiva) is installed. This is a festival celebrated with great fervour and celebrity in Chidambaram, a temple dedicated solely to Natraj in Tamilnadu. It is considered highly auspicious and beneficial to view the procession of Lord Natraj on this day. All day long, there are holy baths and pujas conducted in the temples and at the end of the day, a special dish known as Kali is distributed to devotees.



Lord Natraj facilitates a cosmic vision. The universe comes into existence through movement. Life goes on with the oscillation of particles. As long as there is vibration, there is life, growth and activity. Annihilation is nothing but stoppage of the movement and putting things to rest. Thus, the cycle of births and deaths goes on with the movement symbolized by the cosmic dance of Shiva. His dance occurs in every cell and every atom of the universe thus ensuring the continuity.

Lord Shiva is the supreme god in Hinduism. He is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. Lord Shiva dances in ecstasy to accomplish the five acts namely creation, sustenance, destruction, embodying and release. He smears ash all over his body to indicate that everything in the universe is bound to change and destruction with the passage of time. While transporting the devotees to a blissful mood, Shiva's dance also reminds them of the higher purpose of life namely moving from the transient to the eternal.



Lord Natraj stands in dancing posture with one leg lifted and the other one seated on the demon signifying ignorance. Thus he indicates mastery over ego, desires and evil. He holds all the five elements in him symbolized through Damaru (ether), flowing hair (air), Flame in hand (fire), Ganges (water) and rested foot (earth). Thus, the lord is the supreme head of the universal forces and he releases them to make the worlds during creation and takes them all inside during absorption.

Visiting Natraj temple on the day of Arudra Darshan to view the puja and procession of the Lord is highly auspicious and said to give all the benefits to devotees. On this day, people receive a special kind of dish as prasad namely Kali (in Tamil), which is a sweet dish indicating bliss. It is said eating this shall remove all the afflictions of people and make them blissful.

(Thanks to speakingtree.in)



RECIPES:
Now let me give the main and major recipe for the arudra fasting.......

THIRUVATHIRAI KALI


Ingredients:
Raw rice – 1/2 cup
Moong Dal – 1 tbsp
Cardamom – 3 nos (crushed)
Water – 1.5 cups
Cashew nuts – 4-5 nos
Ghee – 1 tbsp.
Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup
For jaggery syrup/Paagu:
Grated jaggery - 3/4 cup ( ratio of rice and jaggery should be 1:1.5)
Water - 1/4 cup



Method:

Wash the rice and drain it. Dry roast the rice till lite golden colour. Then it will start to puff and become crunchy, remove the rice from the flame and keep aside.

Now same way dry roast the moon dhal till golden colour and when that yummy aroma comes out, stop roasting and remove from fire and keep aside.
When both rice and dhal is cooled completely powder them to a suji like state.
Jaggery syrup preparation:
Soak the jaggery in enough water and heat it slightly to melt. Then filter to remove impuities.
Now add 3 to 3 1/2 cups of water to jaggery solution in a non stick pan.
same time roast the cashews and raisins in a ghee an keep aside.
Now let the jaggery solution to boil and add cardomam powder and then the rice and dhal powder. Stir nicely to avoid lumps. Then cover for few minutes until the mixture comnes tomore or like upma stage. Now add grated coconut, melted ghee, nuts and raisins and mix nicely.
Remove from fire. And the kali (thiruvadirai kali) is ready to be served .
Nutritional Info:
Gives lot of energy to the fasting people. Has high amount of carbohydrates, iron, fat etc.


THALAGAM( ERICHA KOZHAMBU)

Usually on this festival day, Kali is served with the Ezhu kari kootu , which is a thick gravy prepared using 7 types of native vegetables available during the winter month. and a THALAGAM.

Ingredients:
mixed vegetables cleaned and cubed- 1cup\
( Yam, yellow pumpkin, raw plantain, colaccasia, broad beans, field beans,sweet potatoes are the usual choice.)
gooseberry size tamarind-1
Pour some warm water and keep the tamarind solution ready.
turmeric powder-1tsp
salt to taste
coconut oil /coking oil for seasoning-1 tsp
mustard seeds-2 tsp

TO ROAST AND GRIND
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 1/2 tbsp chana dal
2 tsp udad dal
1 tbsp Toor dal
3 tbsp Coriander seeds
7-8 red dry chillis
1 tsp methi seeds ( fenugreek )
Generous pinch of Asafoetida ( Hing powder )
1 inch square piece of jaggery
1 cup freshly grated coconut



Method:

Make the vegetables to 2 inch cubes. Cook vegetables with salt and turmeric till the raw smell leaves and dont let the vegetables be too soft. Heat oil in a pan and roast sesame seeds and keep aside. next roast the remaining ingredients in the roast and grind section. The grated coconut should be roasted seperately. While grinding these add little water and keep aside . Now add a tamarind solution to the vegetable mixture and simmer. Now add asofoetida, and check the salt and add if needed. Now add the paste and simmer.When its starts to boiling remove from flame and garnish with curry leaves. Then season with mustard seeds.This thalagam should be thick not watery and serve hot with kali.

The sweetness of the Kali with the most flavorful sambar like Thalagam go hand in hand and seem made for each other. As this festival happens once a year during the pleasant winter months, we look forward to the pleasure of having both the varieties of gravy and the Kali which is a sumptuous meal by itself.

Nutritional Info:

Has the goodness of the vegetables to give the stamina for the fasting people.


7 CURRY KOOTU
Ingredients:
7 vegetables-1 cup
(plantain, colocasia, sweet potato, ash guard,  yellow pumpkin, beans, broad beans)
Moong dal ( paasi parupp) ( optional ) -1/2 cup
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
salt to taste
To Grind
Freshly grated coconut-1/2 cup
Small green chillies, reduce if you like a less spicy gravy-5 nos
Rice flour to be added at the end to thicken the gravy- 1 tsp
For tempering
coconut oil or ordinary cooking oil- 2 or 3 tsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
sprigs of curry leaves.- 1 tsp






















Method:
Peel the skins of colacassia, sweet potatoes, green plaintain, ash gourd, yellow pumpkin, peel the fresh field beans, string the broad beans and cube all the vegetables to slightly bigger pieces.
Keep the moong dal coked and ready, keep aside.

Cook all the cubed vegetables with turmeric ,  little salt and some curry leaves  in little water just enough to cook the vegetables. While they are cooking, grind the coconut, green chillis, cumin seeds to a fine paste and keep aside.When the vegetables are cooked , add the cooked moong dal, and the ground coconut paste to the gravy and give a stir.Add the rice flour to the gravy to thicken. Adjust the taste for salt.

Finally temper with 3 tsp of coconut  oil heated in a pan, add the mustard seeds , let it crackle, add some sprigs of curry leaves and pour the seasoning over the simmering gravy. Usually this special Ezhu kari kootu or koootu made with 5 vegetables during Thiruvadirai with Kali , a sweet jaggery rice and moong dal preparation similar to upma.

This gravy with many vegetables is also prepared during Pongal. Peel and cube the vegetables to slightly bigger pieces and cook with turmeric powder, a pinch of salt and little water enough to soften the vegetables. Keep the cooked moong dal side.

Grind the green chillies, with cumin seeds and coconut grated fresh  to a fine paste. Keep aside.
When the vegetables are cooked to soft, add the cooked moong dal and the ground paste and stir the vegetable mixture, adjust the salt if necessary. Season with the tempering and garnish with curry leaves.

(Some of the vegetables used in this dish are the yellow pumpkin, ash gourd, field beans, broad beans, sweet potatoes, yam,colocassia and green plantains..)

Nutritional Info:
Has high energy, carbohydrates, traces of folates, protein etc. for balancing the nutritional need for fasting people.

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