Happy Ganesh Chathurthi !

Happy Ganesh Chathurthi to All !!

Ganesha is the God of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning of any auspicious work. Known by varied names,he has an elephant face and human body. Ganesh Chathurthi falls on the 4th day after no-moon in the month of Shraavana (lunar Hindu calendar).The festival usually falls in the month of Aug/Sep.

As with any other festival, this is celebrated with a grand naivedhyam,a Sanskrit word meaning 'to offer' to God. One can see kozhukattai (Modakam is Sanskrit) in every household in varied forms. One other main side snack found in all Kannadiga household for every occassion and festival is 'Ambode'. Being prepared on special occassion, ambode will be devoid of onions.

The recipe for Ambode is:

Ingredients:

RedGram Dal(Thur Dal) - 1 Cup
Broken black gram - 1/2 Cup
Bengal Gram(Channa Dal) - 1/2 Cup
Red Chillies - 3/4
Asofoetida
Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying


Procedure:

1. Soak thurdal & broken balck gram together. Separately soak Channadal. Let it stand for 1/2 hour.
2. Drain the water out of the soaked dals.
3. Grind these dals together with asofoetida, salt and red chillies into a coarse paste. Use little water if required. Add the curry leaves.
4. Make small balls of the dough and flatten it with a mild press.
5. Heat the oil in a pan and fry both sides until golden brown.

Note: The dough should hold together.It should neither be watery nor too hard.

Ambode