50th post, Happy Ugadi with Ugadi Pachadi

HAPPY UGADI  to everyone!!!.. May this year bring lots of happiness into your life!!

As my husband is in India on work, I will be celebrating Ugadi alone with the kids this year. I am used to making lot of food on festival days, but this year since I will have to eat everything if I make a lot, so I decided against it. I am going to unconventional and not make the typical festival food I make this year, but instead I will make something easy and in less quantity is what I thought. So I started out by making Ugadi Pachadi which is like a must on Ugadi. Then I made Paramaannam as Naivedyam for God. Then I made Kobbari annam or Coconut rice. Then since I felt like eating Perugu annam or curd rice, I made that too. So was that less food??.. hmph!!...if I start in the kitchen, I just keep going.........

Anyways, here is Ugadi Pachadi celebrating my 50th post (alone) and Happy Ugadi once again to everyone!!!

In my Ugadi pachadi I only put tamarind, coconut, mango, banana, putnalu pappu (soft channa daal), jaggary and neem ka phool or vepa pootha. Now where do I get vepa pootha?? Well, I ask my Mother-in-law to dry the flowers when they are in season and store them. I do this the year I go to India. Its only thinking ahead. Here in US, I refrigerate them and they last me 2 years atleast, till the next time I go to India.

If I put anymore fruits into the pachadi, my husband would ask me if I made pachadi or fruit salad!!!:)

Ugadi Pachadi

Ingredients:

1 big lemon sized ball of tamarind (juices squeezed)

1 cup grated jaggary

1/2 cup coconut, cut in small pieces

1/2 raw mango, cut into small pieces (or more)

1/4 cup soft channa daal or putnalu pappu

1 banana, cut into small pieces

some vepa pootha or neem ka phool (optional)

some water, you can use coconut water if you like

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Add the vepa pootha in the end. Serve to GOD and Enjoy with your family and friends!!!

Prep time: 15min for chopping, 5min for mixing, 10min to relax, eat and enjoy!