Navarathri Wishes and Sundal Recipes

Happy Navarathri to y'all. I am so surprised that i'm posting this on time ;-)
Ok ok let me tell you the truth...these recipes were in my draft since last navarathri!! :-O
Better late than never..

Navarathri always brings some good memories. My dad's house they did not have golu so my mom followed that and did not keep Golu till my niece was born :-) For those who do not know what a Golu is, check this link. This 3D Golu is something new. Usually it is just 2D. My mil keeps Golu every year, so i follow that tradition and keep a teeny tiny Golu here. I dont have any golu dolls here and i just use the ones i have and set up a small golu.


My childhood friend R lived across our house and they celebrated Navarathri in a grand way. She used to wear Pattu pavadai everyday and her mom dressed her li'l sister as Krishna, Radha etc., everyday. I came home one day and threw a huge fit that we should have golu at our house too and i want to wear Pattu pavadai (Full skirt in pure silk) everyday too. My mom and grandma were surprised because i never liked pavadais. The next year they setup Golu at our house too and i was quite happy and satisfied and didn't care to ask after that. We never continued that tradition though due to one reason or the other.At our house, we celebrated Saraswathy pooja in a grand way. I always got some new outfit for Saraswathy pooja and my mom would decorate a arisi padi like a woman. She had nose and ears made out of wax and she would attach it every year to the padi and draw eyes with kajal and draw lips (not sure if she used lipstick or kumkum) and then fill the padi with rice and keep coconut on top of it like head and decorate it with chutti. I loved watching that. She had earrings attached to the wax ears and would put some necklace or chain too. It was a pretty sight. She used to invite all our relatives and neighbours for tambulam. It is a tradition in tamilnadu, to ask the guests to sing during navarathri. It can be an enjoyable experience or a torture depending on who sings ;-) My brother always stayed out of it... Me and my cousin V (who is a great singer) always made the best out of it..If it was good, we enjoyed it and if it was bad, it was no torture for us..we both would run to the next room and giggle to our hearts' content, much to the annoyance of my mom and grandma :D But, what we hated was, every house we visited they would make sure to take revenge on us and asked us to sing too. I was not as good at singing as my cousin,but i did pretty good when i sang with him. So, i hope no one ran inside and laughed at us :-) My cousin used to hate me for this for years because i always used to force him to go with me as i was scared to sing alone :) You can check out how talented he is here

Along with these things, navarathri always meant sundal. Sundal is a healthy snack for kids, rich in protein and very filling.I make it quite often at home. Here are three sundals and all sundals are made pretty much the same way except one that is sweet and i cannot stand it and i have never made it.. :-)

Here are some recipes with slight variations :
Quick fix Sundal :
If i forget to soak for sundal the previous night channa daal or peanuts come to my rescue. I prepare both sundals the same way.

Ingredients :
Channa daal or Peanuts - 1 cup
Green chillies - 3 or 4
Salt
Mustard seeds,
Urad daal, Curry leaves and Hing for seasoning

Method : Soak channa daal or peanuts for 1 hour. Boil it in water till it is cooked but not mushy. (Add salt in water for Peanuts)Drain the water. In a pan, heat little oil and pop mustard seeds. Add urad daal, hing and curry leaves and fry till the daal is golden brown. Add the cooked channa or Peanuts and add salt as required and saute for couple of minutes.

Thenga Manga Pattani Sundal or Marina Beach Sundal:

I love peas sundal, the Marina beach style - with coconut and raw mango pieces.
Ingredients :
Peas - 1 cup
Green chillies - 3 or 4
SaltRaw mango pieces - as required
Grated coconut - 4 spoons.
Mustard seeds, Urad daal, Curry leaves and Hing for seasoning

Method : Soak the peas overnight. Add a spoon of salt in water and boil the peas in water till it is cooked but not mushy. Drain the water. In a pan, heat little oil and pop mustard seeds. Add urad daal, hing and curry leaves and fry till the daal is golden brown. Add the cooked Peas and add salt as required and saute for couple of minutes. Add grated coconut and raw mango pieces and mix well and saute for another minute.

(Channa) Chickpeas Sundal - Method 1 :

Method 1 is same method as above. Substitute Peas with Channa, but you can pressure cook the channa in salted water.Rest is the same. You can add some grated coconut. It is optional.

Chickpeas Sundal - Method 2 :

Ingredients : Chickpeas - 1 cup

Green chillies - 3 or 4

Salt

Curry powder - 2 spoons

Mustard seeds,

Urad daal,

Curry leaves and Hing for seasoning

Method : Soak the chickpeas overnight. Add a spoon of salt in water and pressure cook the chickpeas. Drain the water. In a pan, heat little oil and pop mustard seeds. Add urad daal, hing and curry leaves and fry till the daal is golden brown. Add the cooked chickpeas and add salt as required and saute for couple of minutes. Add 2 spoons of curry powder and saute till the raw smell disappears. This is very spicy and yum and my favorite version :)