And here we are – at the end of the Nine Nights or Navaratri – we celebrate Dasani or the 10th day also known as VijayaDasami. The victory of good over evil, of the Self over duality, of the Balancing of the Gunas or Traits. This has been an incredibly fulfilling nine days – of discovering and honoring the qualities of the feminine within us and an attempt at looking inward.
Recipe for Nei Payasam: (adapted from Chitra Viswanathan app)
Ingredients:
- Rice – 1cup
- Grated or powdered jaggery – 1 /2 cup dissolved in 2 cups water
- Grated coconut – 1 1/2 cups
- Ghee – 1 /2 cup
- Cardamom powder – 1 /2 tsp
- Dry Ginger powder – 1/4 tsp
- Dry fruits – 1/2 cup
Method:
Add all above ingredients to a 3L stainless steel pressure cooker. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes and then turn the heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes.
Recipe for Karuvepallai Saadam: (adapted from Chitra Viswanathan app)
Ingredients:
- Basmati Rice – 1 cup
- Curry Leaves – 1 1/2 cups
- Salt to taste
To roast and powder:
- Mustard seeds – 1tsp
- Urad dal – 1 tbsp
- Red Chilies – 6
- Pepper – 1 tsp
- Sesame Seeds – 2 tsp
- Khus Khus – 2 tsp
Tempering:
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Urad dal – 2 tsp
- Bengal gram dal – 2 tsp
- For garnishing – Powdered roasted peanuts
Method:
- Cook the rice.
- Roast the curry leaves dry, and powder (or microwave on high for 4-5 minutes, cool and powder)
- Add the powder to the rice and then add the tempering.