Sapaada Bhakshya
According to the Hindu epics, performing Satya Narayana Vrata brings one happiness, peace and prosperity. It is said that people who observe / attend the worship, hear the sacred story of Satya Narayana Swamy and eats the prasad are relieved from the miseries of the world. The Hindu months of Magha, Karthika, Vaishaka are considered auspicious for the vrata. The vrata is generally observed on pournami (full moon day), ekadashi and surya sankramana days.
In Andhra Pradesh, it is a custom to celebrate this popular vratam after auspicious functions like marriages and gruha praveshams. It is said that you should never leave the pooja with out eating the prasad. Coming to prasad, there are several variations. The most common one in South India is being made of semolina. In one of the versions made at my mother's place, no liquid is added. It is supposed to be dry so that they can share this prasad with other family members / friends later. It stays for months.
Today's version, Sapaada Bhakshya is from Karnataka which uses both semolina and bananas.
Ingredients required:
2/3 cups of Semolina, Sugar, Milk & Ghee
2 Bananas peeled, finely chopped
1/4 cup of raisins and cashews
For an authentic version, use equal quantities of semolina, sugar, milk and ghee in this recipe. I have used 2/3 cup of each ingredient. If you have tasted Satyanarayana pooja prasadam, you would know how almost ghee would be dripping from it. I personally feel that prasadam tastes so 'divine' because of the excess ghee used and 'meagre' servings at the pooja. The quantity of the ghee can be reduced. (If it would have been kesari bhath, I would have used just a Tbsp of ghee).
Cooking:
- Peel the bananas. Chop them into tiny pieces.
- Melt the ghee in a deep pan and add cashews and raisins. Toast them till the cashews turn golden brown and raisins turn plump. Remove them with a slotted spoon and save them in a bowl.
- Now add the chopped bananas to the same ghee and fry them for a few minutes till they change into golden color. By the time, they would have turned mushy, add semolina to the pan and keep roasting till you notice the pleasant aroma.
- Then add sugar and keep stirring till all the sugar melts and blends into one lump.
- Add milk and keep stirring till the semolina is cooked.
- Turn off the stove and add the toasted raisins and cashews to the cooked mixture and stir well.
This goes to JFI - Banana hosted by Mandira of Ahaar.
22 comments:
Very nice entry for the event, Suma.
I love this prasadam Suma, couldn't agree with you more on the meagre servings! :D the lesser we get the more we crave for it...can't wait to make this one..
great entry for JFI:Banana. It looks yum!-- Mandira
yum who doesn't love the satyanarayana prasada :) but we make quite different for the prasad 1:1:1:1 banana:sugar:milk:semolina and no frying and even the milk used is unboiled but the taste is elegant as ever.
Apt for the event :)
Looks awesome ! Makes me want to dig right in.
Lovely Suma, good info about the Virtham. If possible contribute something for RCI Tamil Festival also. Thanks. Viji
Nice dish..
Bhakshya looks delicious Suma...Nice entry
looks lovely!
my only attraction to attend satya narayana pooja was sapaada bhaksha:) we make it quite different from the usual semolina variety. i got to ask my mom for the recipe... beautiful pic...
Nice entry....looks good.
My best friend's family used to do this Pooja and invited me once. I felt so out of place, I asked her to skip me next time but bring me the Prasada!:D
Looks yum. Some recipes are just required to use lot of ghee to taste good, like Latha's Mysore Pak. Once in a while,it's quite okay to cook these!:)
Looks very divine entry !
Suma......The dish looks nice and yummy......I will try it the next time I have Pooja in my house....:-)
Nice dish. At first I thought it was kesari. Adding bananas is a nice touch.
Hey Suma, I made the same dish for JFI too..Same pinch.
Yum, I want to try this for sure!
TBC,
Thanks.
Namratha,
I agree. The lesser we get, we crave more for it. Especially with desserts. :)
Mandira,
Thanks.
Roopa,
I too have used the same quantities. Two bananas chopped would come to 2/3 cups. I have not boiled the milk either. The milk available in India is at room temperature usually.
If I don't fry semolina for upmas, kesari bhath, the final product would be lumpy. I therefore never take that risk and fry it. :)
Red chillies,
You are welcome.
Viji,
Thanks. I was not aware that you are hosting this month's RCI. I will definitely participate.
Seena, Apple, Nags
Thanks.
Sia,
Prasada is the usual attraction. Isn't it? I think they make this using wheat flour and maida as well.
Jayashree, Padma,
Thanks.
Asha,
Even we miss pooja, we don't want to miss prasada. Right? :)
Sirisha,
Thanks. Hope you like it.
Kribha,
Thanks. This is a traditional Karnataka dish.
Madhu,
Ouch, :)) We think alike.
Meeso,
I hope you like it.
lovely entry :)
a very authentic and awesome entry, what more can I say!
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