Gokulashtami | जन्माष्टमी | Shri Jayanthi | Paancharatra Sri Jayanthi

 Gokulashtami/ Janmashtami (जन्माष्टमी) is a Hindu Festival celebrated to rejoice the birth of Lord Krishna . It is an annual festival and falls in the month of August - September as per Gregorian Calender and if we go by Hindu Almanac it falls in the month of Shravana or Bhadrapada (aadi or aavani as per Tamil calender)  depending on when the Ashtami Thithi coincides with Rohini Star during the Krishna Paksha . Krishna paksha is the phase from Full Moon day to New Moon day (Waning period) .

Those following the Pancharathra Aagama shashthra  emphasize more on the Rohini Nakshatra ,the birth star of Lord Krishna for celebration of Krishna Jayanthi .  It is commonly called as Pancharathra Sri Jayanthi and in 2023,it falls on 7th September 2023 while the others will celebrate on 6th September. 

**post updated with new recipes on 30th August 2023

Lord Krishna is considered to be the 8th avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu.  Lord Krishna as we all know was  very cheerful ,bubbly and naughty as a child and the image that comes to our mind is of baby Krishna with a handful of butter , pranking and playing around with Gopikas 

There is no doubt that Krishna Bhagwan is everyone's favorite and hence his birth is celebrated with pomp,cheer and gaiety at homes as well as temples. 

People at home decorate the idols of  Krishna with flowers ,tulsi and fragrant garlands and also symbolically decorate a small cradle with an idol of baby Krishna to welcome his birth. 

In south India ,we draw Rangoli outside our home and also draw small baby foot steps from the main entrance till the pooja stand inside  as a mark of welcoming a little crawling Krishna into our homes .we call it as Krishnar Paadam in Tamil. 

We prepare and offer many goodies that are Kaanha ji's favorites especially made out of milk,butter and ghee which were his eternal favorites.  Offerings made from Aval/Poha/Beaten rice is a must as Aval is symbolic of prosperity and  pure friendship or Saakhyam between Krishna and Sudama . 

In Maharashtra and Gujarat Sabudana Vada ,Sabudana Chiwda , Faraali Pattice are some of the items made as part of Chappan bhog and offered ..chappan bhog is an elaborate offering of 56 items to the Lord .

Today in this post ,I am sharing links of sweets and savories which are made in most South Indian homes unfailingly every Krishna Janmashtami and offer it to the our dear Maakhan Chor .

Sweets 

Navaneetham/Navneeth/Makkan Mishri

Ambalapuzha Paal Payasam (Milk Kheer) 

Kesar Badam Doodh

Aval Payasam with coconut milk (Poha kheer - Vegan )

Aval Payasam with milk (poha kheer)

Therattipaal (Milk Fudge) 

Coconut Barfi 

Maa Ladoo 

Panchamritham 

Dry Fruit Payasam

Badam Kheer 

Jackfruit Nei Appam

Savories 

Uppu Seedai  (small deep fried rice balls)

Vella (sweet) Seedai

Butter Murukku 

Mucchore  / Manamkombu

Thengol / Thenguzhal (Honey pipes) 

Kodubale 

Ribbon pakodam

Thattai 

Poha Chiwda / Aval Mixture (Beaten rice crispies )

Thayir Vadai (Dahi wada) 

Paruppu Vadai (Dal Vada) 

Thayir Aval / Gopalkaala

There is no particular hard and fast rule as to what one needs to offer ,if you are pressed for time or circumstances prevent you from offering an elaborate spread ,you can just offer

 Navaneetham/Makkan Mishri (Butter & sugar) and Gopalkaala/ Thayir Aval (Beaten rice and curd) along with Tulsi leaves . TULSI is very scared for Lord Krishna and he loves and accepts anything that is offered whole heartedly with pure devotion.

Any offering using Aval/Poha is considered very auspicious and special for Lord Krishna as his close friend Sudama/Kuchela offered him Aval when he met Lord Krishna after ages . It symbolizes a deep bond of love.

We Generally offer 5 varieties of fruits,curd ,buttermilk,plain milk, thamboolam (betel leaves , betel nuts) and Sukku Vellam (Ginger jaggery) without fail.  

Sabudana (साबूदाना) Vada | Sago Fritters| Jawwarsi Vadai

Sabudana Vada is a famous and traditional deep fried snack of Maharashtra which is served hot along with green chutney and sweetened curd .These Vadas taste good when eaten hot ;crispy on the outside and soft from inside . 

In other parts of India ,especially Northern India , sabudana or sago is consumed as a part of their fasting meal or vrat menu . Various items are prepared using Sabudana like sabudana kheer, sabudana khichdi , sabudana farali mixture.  Hindu month of Shravan/Aashada  , Navratri , Janmashtami , Ekadasi are some events when people fast and perform special poojas and partake this divine meal after offering to the Lord. 

What is Faraal ? 

Faraal /Faral generally refers to snacks but most commonly this term is used for menu prepared during the days of Vrat or fasting . 

On these special days , devout Hindus abstain from eating onion , garlic , rice and many more items depending on the cultural  and regional background. 

In northern India  ; sago /sabudana, potatoes , buckwheat/amaranth/rajgira flour, arrowroot, peanuts , varai thandool (barnyard millet) , sweet potatoes,yam are permitted as part of the fasting menu while in southern India people abstain from eating rice, onion, garlic and try to have something prepared out of rava /semolina or wheat .Basically a satvik meal is partaken. 

In addition, some people avoid sugar and table salt and prefer to use jaggery and rock salt /shendha namak/व्रत  (vrat) ka namak while preparing the menu for fasting . 

As I said , potatoes and sabudana are widely used in preparation of Faraal . 2 famous faraali items from gujarati/maharashtrian cuisine featured on my blog are very commonly prepared for the vrat .

Faraali Pattice 

Sabudana Chiwda / Faraali Chiwda

This Monday's theme for our Foodie Monday Bloghop is Faraali Farmaish suggested by our co blogger Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds. Do try her recipe on Faraali Dosa which is really tempting and on my bookmark list. 

Now , without further delay , let us get on to the recipe of how to prepare sabudana vada .

How to soak the sabudana/tapioca/jawwarsi perfectly?

• Take the sabudana in a wide mouthed vessel and rinse it once or twice under running water .
• Pour water such that the sabudana gets immersed well and there is about 1/2 inch water above it .
• After about 6 hrs you can see the pearls have absorbed the water and swollen up beautifully. 
• If you press one pearl between your fingers it should be soft and easily mashable. This is the perfectly soaked sabudana.

Preparation Time - 6 to 7 hrs 

Cooking Time - 20 mins

Makes - 10 to 12 vadas

Complexity - simple 

Ingredients 

100 gms sabudana /sago/tapioca pearls

2 small potatoes boiled 

2 tbsp roasted and crushed peanuts

3 to 4 green chillies finely chopped

Handful of coriander finely chopped

Rock salt/vrat ka namak/regular salt

1 tsp sugar 

2 tsp lime juice 

Method 

• Soak the sabudana for about 6 hours or until they are soft but firm . It should not become soggy . 
• Peel the potatoes and crumble it roughly with your hands .
• In a mixing bowl, take the soaked sabudana, crumbled potatoes , crushed peanuts, chopped chillies , salt,sugar, lemon juice , coriander and mix it well such that all the ingredients are mixed well.  
• Don't make it like a dough because we want the pearls to be intact while frying . That is the beauty of these vadas.
• Keep this mixture in the fridge for about 30 to 40 mins . This step will help in shaping the patty well and oil absorption will also be less. 
• Take it out of the fridge, grease your palm and take a little mixture and flatten it like a patty or you can also fry them as balls . 
• If frying as balls, frying time will be more because the inside will take more time to cook hence always the patty form is preferred. 
• Heat the oil well and drop in the vadas one by one carefully in the hot oil. 
• Initially keep the flame on high, then slowly reduce to medium and fry by flipping both sides until crisp and golden brown.
• Serve it hot with sweetened curd if you are preparing for vrat /उपवास/upwas  or with green chutney or sauce on normal days. 

Linking it to Foodie Monday Bloghop week #254 - Farali Farmaish 

Sabudana Chivda - Vrat ka chiwda (Upwas Special)

Sabudana Chivda is a famous Maharashtrian snack prepared using Sago Pearls / Jawwarsi  .
A snack prepared primarily during the days of fast like Navratri , Ekadashi , Shivratri and the likes.

Faraali Pattice  and Sabudana Vada are other popular snacks which are also a Vrat Special Menu

 Special fasting snacks also known as faraali naastha  use Rock Salt / Shendha Namak and Green chillies  . Most of the families donot use the regular table salt .

If preparing sabudana chiwda on normal days we can use regular table salt and also red chilly powder for extra spiceness.

We use Nylon Sabudana for this chivda which is different from the usual Sabudana that is used for preparing Sabudana Vada / Sabudana Khichdi.  

• Nylon sabudana appears translucent and is hard in texture ,making it perfect for deep frying.
• Nylon sabudana is parboiled or par cooked in steaming water while the regular sabudana is sun dried or roasted and the pearls are smaller in size .
• Nylon sabudana turns opaque and increases in size on frying. 

Nylon Sabudana

Preparation Time : 5 mins

Cooking Time : 20-25 mins

Complexity : Medium

Ingredients
100gms nylon sabudana
handful of groundnuts
2-3 green chillies (finely chopped)
handful of curry leaves
rock salt / table salt as needed
1 tsp powdered sugar
oil for deep frying

Method

Heat oil in a kadai ,and carefully drop a handful of sabudana into the hot oil . The pearls will tend to splutter and burst as it begins to fry , so close the frying pan with a lid and leave a gap for steam to escape.
As the spluttering stops, you can see that the pearls have swollen up well and appear crispy like popcorns. Drain and keep it in a wide bowl.

Fry the groundnuts until crisp followed by the curry leaves and green chillies . Mix it with the fried sabudana . Add required amount of salt and sugar and toss it well. Store in an airtight container and use a dry spoon for serving.

Pin it up for future 

https://pin.it/6bgF8lhLm

Faraali Pattice - Vrat ka khana

Faraali pattice is a very popular Gujarati snack ,specially made for fasting / Vrat . The main ingredient is potato and this is stuffed with a tasty mixture of peanuts, cashews , raisins and fresh grated coconut.

Not necessarily, this has to be made only while you fast, it can be made as a starter to welcome your guests for a party or tea time snack  for a kitty party with your friends and because of the favorite veggie Potato, this surely will be a kid's delight always and will vanish away in no time.

If making this for vrat, make sure to use Shendha Namak / Rock Salt and ArrowRoot powder as binding agent .
On regular days one can use table salt and cornflour/maida for binding.

Preparation Time : 40-45 mins
Cooking Time : 15-20 mins
Serves : Makes about 8 pattice
Complexity : Medium High