Krishna Jayanthi is here!

Krishna Jayanthi...brings back vivid images from childhood ......

I would go with my grandfather to the mill to get the rice flour,a week prior to the janmashtami day. The rice flour would then be spread on some newspapers, for it to cool down..(it would be very hot,as soon as we return from the mill)

Then the rice flour would be stored in some aluminium vessels.On the day of the festival, the preparation for the cheedai would start early in the morning. Then we would be asked to roll the cheedai maavu into small spheres. It is quite a task i tell you, if you don't make it into a proper sphere, there is a chance that upon being fried, the cheedai may break into smaller pieces.

And then my favourite, vella cheedai (sweet cheedai, vellam for jaggery). This would have to be rolled properly too....The jaggery syrup would be poured over the flour, mixed properly and then our work would start......

and then appam would be made....my mom adds banana to the appam maavu (do i call it batter??? or dough..i don't know..i would stick to maavu...) and then she would fry them...and that amazing aroma would come to the hall, carried by the breeze....wow!

Not yet! We can't eat them yet! The pooja would be done only in the evening..we would have to wait till then..offer it to god, then eat , we would be told!!!

Then we would progress to the next task of drawing tiny feet on the floor...to indicate that LOrd Krishna is coming to our house. Some people use small kids, they would dip the kid's feet in the water-rice flour mixture and make the kids walk...there you have the tiny feet of Krishna!!

And finally in the evening, we would get to eat our favourite cheedais....
:)

I am a hard core foodie, just like my grandfather...I can still remember my grandfather mumbling in his sleep, "Idi chakkai paagama irukkaa??"
(idi chakkai is a dish made with jackfruit that is not yet ripe!)