Happy Ugadi!

If you're from the part of South India that my family is from, then today is the wonderful festival of "Ugadi".  It is the start of a new year according to the lunar calendar that people from many parts of South India celebrate and there is some great tradition related to this holiday that I have always loved!

For me, the best part of this day is a little mixture that we eat which is composed of:

1. Neem: Neem come from a plant native to India and the taste of the leaves are bitter... I mean bitter.  But neem is really good for your body.  Just google "neem leaf" and a bunch of websites come up talking about its wonderful and medicinal properties.  Wikipedia calls it "Nature's Drugstore" and the "Heal All".  (And if we can't trust Wikipedia, what can we trust, right?) 
2. Jaggery: I've mentioned jaggery before and I use it in a lot of my Indian cooking.  It's a very sweet and dense material that comes from sugar cane.  Jaggery is delicious, but there's nothing about it that is particularly great for your body.

  

During this festival, we crush a very small amount of these two ingredients together and take just one small bite of the mixture to remind ourselves that in the coming year, some things will be sweet (like jaggery) and some things will be bitter (like neem).  As we experience both the sweet and the bitter, we should remember that while the sweet things may be dear to us, the bitter things may also be good for us and our attitude towards both should be the same...  

Isn't that a great message?  I feel like this is a mental note that I should always remember!   

And with any Indian festival comes FOOD!  My husband and I are having a potluck with some friends and I have some good dishes planned for the evening.  Most every Indian festival is celebrated with sweets, and if you want to also make an Indian sweet to celebrate Ugadi, this recipe for "paisa" (as it's called in South India), which is similar to "kheer" (as it's called in North India), and roughly translated to "sweet vermicelli in milk" is a simple one that is so tasty.  Here is the recipe: 

Not my picture, but this is exactly what it looks like

Note: This amount makes enough for 5-6 people so if you want less, cut everything in half

You'll need: 

- 1 cup MTR vermicelli
- 6 cups of milk (2% is best but use at least 1%)
- 1.5 cups of sugar
- a few raisins
- a few cashews
- a few strands of saffron
- a few pieces of cardamom, shelled and crushed into powder (you don't need this but its tasty)
- 2 tablespoons of ghee

What you do:

1. Warm up the ghee in a small saucepan or skillet and roast the vermicelli in it until its golden brown.  (This happens quickly so make sure to watch out that you don't burn it).  
2. Bring the 6 cups of milk to a boil. 
3. Put the roasted vermicelli into the milk and simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes. 
4. When the vermicelli is tender, then add the 1.5 cups of sugar (everything should blend together) 
5. Separately, roast some raisins and cashews in a little bit of ghee and add this to the milk.  
6. Finally, add the saffron and cardamom for extra flavor.  

A traditional recipe that's easy to make.  I think a close variation to this is also found on the back of the MTR Vermicelli bag.

So, whether you celebrate Ugadi or not, I hope everyone has a wonderful day... and remember that while sweet things in life are enjoyable, the bitter things may also be very good for you :-)

Happy Ugadi!