Kesar Badam Vermicelli Kheer / Payasam~ Diwali Special Sweet!

Lakshmi Ksheera Samudra Raaja Tanaya
Sree Ranga Dhaameshvari
Daasi Bhootha Samasata Deva Vanithaam
Lokaika Deepankuram
Sreeman Manda Kataaksha Labdha Vibhava
Brahmendra Gangaadharam
Tvaam Trailokya Kudumbineem
Sarasijam Vande Mukunda Priyaam

Meaning: Goddess Lakshmi, who is the daughter of the king of the ocean of milk, whose abode is Srirangam (with Lord Ranganatha), who is served by all the divine ladies in heaven, who is the guiding light for the world, who has obtained the sustained (continued, everlasting) glance (Grace) from Brahma, Indra and Shiva, whose abode is the three worlds (Bhu, Bhuva, Suvaha) - I offer my prostrations to Thee, the beloved of Lord Krishna (Mukunda). Courtesy by Eaisai

Happy Diwali everyone!! Diwali( Deepavali ) is a festival of lights, which is a popular festival celebrated in pomp and show in India. Parents are busy with the pooja and cooking and the kids are busy with the crackers. So during Diwali both kids and adults have fun in their own ways. This is one special festival where kids actively take part in, be it in firing the crackers or finishing up all the yummy Diwali sweets and savories. I remember the fire crackers shopping we used to do when we were kids. We get all the crackers we want first, then distribute between us, so everyone gets their own share, let them dry under the sun and then hide them secretly so that no else takes them.

For this Diwali, I made Panakam, Vadapappu and Kesar Badam Semiya Kheer ( Payasam ) Naivedyam to Lakshmi Devi.

Ingredients for Kesar Badam Semiya Kheer:

• 1/2 cup of semiya/Vermicelli
• 4tbsp ghee / melted butter
• 1 litre of milk( whole milk would taste great )
• Cashewnuts( as much as you want )
• Almonds( 10-15)
• Small golden raisins( kishmish )
• Saffron strands ( kumkuma puvvu )
• Sugar to taste

How to make Vermicelli Kesar Badam Kheer:

• First heat ghee in a thick bottomed kadai( sauce pan ), add cashew nuts, semiya and raisins one by one.
• Let them roast and once the semiya/vermicelli become golden brown, reduce the heat and add half of the milk and thinly chopped almonds. Keep stirring until milk starts to get together, now you can add milk if you want the kheer to be thin.
• Cook until the semiya/vermicelli is cooked. If you try to cut the vermicelli with finger it should fall apart right away, at this point add sugar. Cook until the sugar dissolves and finish off with saffron strands soaked in milk.

For Panakam:

• Goddess lakshmi likes this a lot and its very easy to make, takes a couple of minutes
• You need to soak Jaggery / Gur in water, once its melted add a tsp of ghee, crushed cardamom, and ground pepper. I usually put all the ingredients ina bowl even before starting the pooja, and by the time its time for naivedyam, panakam will be ready.

For Vadapappu:

• Vadapappu is a very easy naivedyam, clean the yellow moong dal, wash with water and then soak in enough water for around 1 hour.
• once you are able to cut the dal with your nails, then its ready for naivedyam.

My Kesar Badam Vermicelli Kheer is on its way to:

• Sweet Series
• Diwali 2009 contest
• Sweet Celebrations
• Sunday Snacks - Festive Snacks of Navratri and Diwali

Thotakura talimpu/vepudu( Amaranth Leaves Stir Fry )

This is my second recipe for Thotakura after Thotakura Pappu. This is my husbands favourite recipe since it has been passed down from his mom to me. This is a very nutritious and healthy recipe and it needs very little oil. You can eat the whole bowl of this Amaranth leaves Stir fry even without any rice or chapathi. Yep tastes that good!


You need:

• 4 cups of tightly packed chopped thotakura leaves/amaranth along with tender stalks
• 1 red onion or yellow onion julienned
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp chana dal( Yellow split chick peas )
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1 tbsp sugar

For tadka or tempuring:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 10 curry leaves

How To:

• Chop thotakura( amaranth leaves ) very finely. You can chop the tender stalks too but discard the tough stalks( You should remove the stalks skin like you do for beans )
• Bring 1-2cups of water to boil and add chopped amaranth leaves and channa dal
• Cook until the leaves are cooked( TIP: Add 1 tsp of sugar so the leaves retain their green color )
• Drain the leaves thoroughly( You can use the water to make chapathis )
• Heat oil in kadai and add cumin and mustard seeds
• When they start to crackle add curry leaves, turmeric and onions
• Fry onions till golden brown
• Add the boiled thotakura along with chana dal and saute until the the curry looks dry without any water.
• Add chilli powder, salt and sugar and saute 5 more min
• Adjust salt and spice to taste

Serve this thotakura talimpu/vepudu with hot rice or chapathi.

Tags: Amaranth leaves stir fry, Thotakura talimpu, Thotakura Vepudu

Appam for Dussehra ~ Nethi Bellam Appalu as Naivedyam

Ayigiri nandini nanditamedini viswa vinodini nadinuthe
Giri vara vindhya shirodinivasini vishnu vilasini jisshnunithe
Bhagavati hesithi kanta kutumbini bhoori kutumbuni bhoori krute
jaya jaya he mahishasura mardhini ramyaka pardhini sailasuthe!!

Kanaka Durgamma( Goddess Durga ) in Vijayawada,
Courtesy, Kanaka durga tenple

Happy Dussehra everyone. Dasara is a festival , celebrating the victory of good over evil. In India, this is the longest celebrated festival, 10 days, ( Dus means 10 ) and a very important and celebrated pomp and grand. Durga maa( Goddess ) is worshipped in different avatars every day during Dasara ( Vijaya dasami, Dussehra ) like, Bala tripura sundari, Mahuishasura mardini, Annapoorna, Kali, Raja Rajeswari, Kanaka Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Gayatri devi.


The Durga maa temple in Vijayawada( Kanakadurga temple / Indra keeladri ), is very famous for Dasara and lakhs of people visit this temple during these ten days. I myself believe her a lot and have been to this temple numerous times. I have been making prasadam/naivedyam( offering to god ) these days, and here are Bellam Neyyi Appam/Appalu made with Whole wheat flour, Clarified butter and Jaggery(gur ). They say Durga ma likes this a lot.


This is my first time making these for the goddess as naivedyam, so i haven't measured anything exactly. I just eyeballed everything and you need to adjust according to your taste and requirement.

Ingredients for Appam( Appalu ):

• Jaggery/Bellam/Gur
• Whole wheat flour / Atta / Goduma pindi
• Ghee / Neyyi (Nei)/ Clarified butter for frying
• Whole Cardamom or Elaichi
• Water

How to make Nethi bellam appam:

• Grate gur/bellam or just shave using a knife and then add it to say a glass of water.
• Gur should completely dissolve into water, to speed up the process you can even boil the mixture until the gur is completely dissolved
• Heat ghee in kadai under medium flame
• Once dissolved add crushed cardamom/elaichi and then mix in atta/whole wheat flour. The batter should be thicker than pancake batter.
• Once the ghee is heated enough, with a spoon drop in the batter, and once they are golden brown remove from the pan, and dry them on paper towels.

Appams are very nutritious food for kids too, its made with whole wheat, jaggery and fresh ghee. Since i made as naivedyam, i deep fried in ghee, and when cooking these as snacks of course you can go light on the ghee( butter ) by using paniyaram pan.

My whole wheat butter and jageery fritters / appams are on its way to:

• Dussehra, Dhanteras and Deepavali by Shanti
• Festive treat event
• Cooking For Kids event started by Sharmi
• CFK:Wheat hosted by Sireesha