Today happens to be vaikunta ekadasi / mukkoti ekadasi - an auspicious day in Hindu calender. The day is meant to revere Lord Vishnu - one of the Hindu trinity. It is said that the vaikunta dwaram or the doors to Heaven are open this day.
Devotees pray and fast on this day. Some do the katora upavas like not eating for the whole day while some others do partial fasting. It is another thing that the partial fasting people avoid eating rice and feast on all other things. :)
I have seen my mother not eating anything until she visited the temple in the evening on this day. When we were kids, she used to prepare coconut upma (ofcourse sans onions) and sooji halwa for the dinner. Since onions are a taboo on hindu festival days, upma was made with coconut.
I prefer making this for breakfast regularly as it happens to be one of the quickest upmas to prepare with out the hassle of frying onions and tastes awesome.
What is needed to serve two:
Semolina / Rava - 1 cup
Fresh, grated coconut - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
3 serrano peppers, finely chopped (increase/decrease the qty of chillies depending upon the hotness preferred)
Salt - 1.5 tsp
For tadka / popu :
1 tbsp oil,
1 Tbsp peanuts / cashews (optional),
1 tsp chana dal,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
1/2 tsp cumin seeds,
few curry leaves
Preparation:
Toast the semolina in a skillet on medium flame till it starts to attain a light golden hue.
Heat oil in a wide pan / kadai and add all the tadka ingredients in that order. When the nuts and dals turn reddish, add the green chillies and saute for a few seconds.
Then add the water, salt and the coconut.
When water comes to a rolling boil, turn down the heat to the lowest setting and gradually add the semolina with constant stirring. When the semolina appears to have incorporated into the water with out lumps, cover the pan.
Let it cook till done and the upma becomes fluffy. It would take less than ten minutes. Stir the whole mixture one more time and turn off the heat.
Serve with any chutney / chutney powder.
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4 comments:
Door is open just for one day a year to Vaikunta!! Man!! I already ate y'day's leftovers for lunch today, guess I am going the opposite way!:D
Kidding!
My mother never fasted or anything.My paternal grandparents did upavasa on Shivaratri but we never did at my parents.
We did make kaiuppittu for breakfast in India though, without peanuts and just mixing fresh coconut at the end of cooking. Got to try your way,looks yummy Suma.
Happy new year! :))
Upma with coconut sounds yummy.
Wish i had them.
Asha,
I think the doors are open to saintly souls always.:)
One of my SIL who happens to be a Kannadiga prepares as you mentioned. I added the peanuts for the crunch.
Happy new year to you too.
Happy cook,
Thank you.
Rava is of two types. In south indian, it is called Bombai rava and Godumai rava. Is the recipe approved by ISKCON or other Vaishnava peetams?
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