Hayagreeva on Varmahalaksmi Puja

Var Laxmi Puja is an important pooja observed in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and some places of Maharashtra. Var Laxmi Vrata is observed on 2nd Friday during the Shravana mas. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. Worshipping Goddess Laxmi during Shravan month is highly auspicious because the whole month is dedicated to the divine couple, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi. Friday is the most auspicious day for Laxmi Devi. Hence, worshipping Lakshmi Devi on Shravan Shukravar is highly meritorious. Elder people says that Ashtalakshmi showers their blessings on Vara Laxmi Vratha performers. As the eight forces of the world, known as Ashta Lakshmi – primeval force (Aadi Laxmi), wealth (Dhana Lakshmi), courage (Dhairya Laxmi or Veera Lakshmi), wisdom (Vidhya Laksmi), Children or family development (Santana Laxmi), success (Viajaya Lakshmi), food (Dhanya Laxmi) and strength (Gaja Lakshmi) are dedicated to Goddess Laksmi. Puranas described that observing Vara Laksmi Vratham would bless a woman with all eight energies for life. On the day of Pooja or Vrata, women clean their homes and decorate their front yards with rangolis. Later, they take a bath and deck wear pure silk saree and jewellery. The lady performing the pooje makes a mandala with the drawing of a lotus upon it. A kalasha filled with rice and topped with fresh mango and betel leaves, a coconut smeared with haldi and kumkum and cloth are placed on the mandala and Lakshmi is invoked therein.
After the worship of the kalasha, follows the worship of Ganesha, then the worship of the sacred thread. Now the main worship of Vara Lakshmi begins and the scared thread is worshipped a second time. It is then tied to the right hand of the lady. After the worship thamboola is given to 5 married ladies. The same evening, we invite all the neighboring ladies(married women) and offer them tamboola; also called veeledele Adike, which is an offering of betel leaves, fruits, betel nuts, kumkum, haldi and dakshine. At this point the ladies also sing songs in praise of goddess .

In our home we make Puran Poli or any varieties of it on Shravan mas Friday. So today I have prepared Hayagreeva. Hayagreeva is an authentic sweet from Karnataka. This is done on special occasions and can be done very easily. It is basically of Chana dal, jaggery and pure ghee. The major ingredient of this dish is Channa Daal. Avery interesting fact about Channa Daal is that it is great for diabetics. It has been shown to be one of the foods having a very low glycemic index, ie, it does not increase blood sugar levels. There are a lot of articles on the internet which talk about this, for all interested.

Ingredients

Channa Daal- 1 Cup
Grated Jaggery - 1 cup
Khus Khus - 1 tablespoon
Grated Dry coconut- 2 tablespoon
Cashewnuts - 8-10
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee- 1/4 cup


Procedure

Wash chana daal neatly. Pressure cook it with water upto 3-4 whistles. Let the pressure of cooker get release. Drain the water on top of the dal into another vessel. It is called 'kat' in Marathi . It is used in a "Katachi aamti", It is a special daal which served with Puran Poli. . Now take a thick bottom pan and add jaggery and 'Kat' into it. Cook until jaggery get fully dissolved. Now ad chana dal to it and cook for two minutes. In a seprate pan fry dry coconut, cashewnuts and khuskhus in ghee till it turns slightly brown. Now add all this in chana dal mixture. Add cardamom powder. Add the remaining ghee. The consistency should be not very thick or not very watery. Offer Goddess Laksmi prasad of hayagreeva with Tulsi pan on it.



This is for Sia's RCI-Udupi & Mangalorean Cuisine and also to Lakshmi’s RCI announcement page.

And Nithya's Food in Colors(FIC)- Express your Mood which is a brain chils of Sunshinemom

And for MLLA-13 of Tongue Ticklers... initiated by Susan of the "Well-Seasoned Cook