Mamidikaya Kobbari Pachadi | Manga Thengai Thogayal | Mango Coconut Chutney

I am digging up my archived post & attaching it a new picture to celebrate their yumminess. Not to mention that this is a very delicious recipe perfect along with rice & dosa.

Ingredients
1 Cup chopped coconut pieces
1 Cup chopped mango pieces
4 Green chilli's( Adjust according to your spice levels)
Salt
Seasoning
3 Tbs of oil
1 Tbs of mustard seeds
1 Tbs of jeera
1 Tbs of channa dal
1 Tbs of urad dal
4 Red chili's
4 Curry leaves
Pinch of hing

Heat Pan with oil. Add seasoning to pan once the mustard starts jumping remove it from heat. Allow them to cool down.
Grind the seasoning first to that add salt, mango & coconut pieces. Grind it coarsely.

Chutney is ready to serve. If you like add a little seasoning on top & serve it. 

Gongura Pachadi | Pulicha Keerai Thuvaiyal | Sorrel Chutney

Gongura pickle is called " Andhra Mata " and a very famous andhra recipe.This chutney is made in different ways & I'm just sharing one of the styles which we make at home. I used the red stemmed leaf which has more sourness than the green ones. This is also one of those pickles which can be stored year long & can be enjoyed when ever you like.

Ingredients

2 Cups dried gongura leaves

4 Tbs tamarind

1 Tbs methi seeds

12 Red chili's
1 Tbs coriander seeds
Pinch of Hing

Salt for taste

2 Tbs oil

Seasoning

1 Tbs urad dal

1 Tbs mustard

4 Tbs oil ( Add if you need more)
4 Pods garlic (Optional)

2 Red chili's

1. Clean gongura leaves and dry them on a cloth overnight.

2. Heat a pan and add gongura leaves along with oil.Fry them till they are cooked or till they gain soft texture & change to dark brown color.Switch off heat & allow those fried leaves to cool.

3. Add 3tbs oil to pan & add dry red chili's,methi seeds, coriander seeds & hing. Fry them for 3mins & switch off heat. 

4. Grind the fried ingredients coarsely.Later add the gongura leaves, tamarind,salt & grind them.Remove the chutney in to a bowl.
*** Now you can refrigerate this chutney in a air tight box & use it with addition of little seasoning when ever you want.

Seasoning
Heat a pan with oil and add the seasoning to it. Once the mustard starts jumping. Switch off heat & add it to the above chutney and mix it well.

* Serve with rice and butter.It tastes delicious. Some to enjoy it with little onion pieces & green chili's for extra heat.

Deepavali

Deepavali/Diwali is also known as "Festival of Lights" celebrated on the occasion of Satyabhama killing the Narakasura.This festival is celebrated for 3days starting with dhana trayodasi , naraka chaturdashi & deepavali amavasya. Deepavali is a fun filled festival to all of us. We get to have yummy homemade sweets & savories along with fire crackers. My maternal grandparents used to visit us & deepavali in my chilhood & it was always memorable.

Deepavali 2012

On dhana trayodasi we pray to Maha lakshmi devi for wealth & prosperity. There is a saying that we should purchase gold on this day. The actual thing is on this day you have to invite guest to your house & serve him nice food along with tamboolam. In which you are suppose to add at least a gram of gold & offer the tamboolam to guest.
So taking todays gold prices in to consideration I limit myself with lakshmi pooja on this day.. :)

Deepavali 2011

The day after dhana trayodasi is naraka chaturdashi. On this day we prepare sweets in the morning & at eve we take a head bath & offer the sweets to god. My parents also have a custom of "Dubbi kottadam". I don't know how to translate in english as it is typically a tradition where you hang big oily threads to a cut gongura/roselle stems & lit them in front of the house. We pat them to ground till the fire goes off. This is typically done to remove the dishti or evil eye to the house. Then later we enjoy the sweets which are offered to god & also will do some fire cracking too.

Deepavali 2009

Where I'm living we generally decorate our house day before deepavali & setup for pooja the next day. Deepavali day we do Laxminarayana pooja in the morning & in the eve we do Dhana lakshmi pooja. We offer god maha neivedyam/prasad in the morning & a sweet with besan for the evening pooja.

Deepavali 2006

In the eve after dhana lakshmi pooja we decorate out side of our house with lots of oil lamps & do the fire crackers. It is also said that you have to lit at least one fire cracker on this day to celebrate the victory of god.

Deepavali 2011

Day after deepavali on padyami the auspicious month " Karthika masa " starts & the month is a festivals to me. There are so many important festivals starting with mondays, nagula chavithi, ksheerabdhi dwadashi & karteeka pournami. At end of the month we leave floating oil lamps in a plantain stem @ a near by lake, river or at least in a bucket. 

I hope that you all have enjoyed my festive preparation series for Blogging Marathon. Staying away from home country cuts out lots of traditional possibilities while celebrating a festival. 

Have fun.