Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Varsha Pirrapu - Tamil New Year

Its interesting that with so much diversity in India, almost each state celebrates a different New year (or a New year called by different names), based on whether they follow the solar or lunar calendar.

We celebrated Udagi (the New Year for Kannadigas, Telugus and Konkanis), Gudi Padwa for Maharashtrians, Cheti Chand for Sindhis about a fortnight back and now its time for the Tamil new year.
The Tamil New Year (Varsha Pirrapu) is celebrated around the same time as Baisakhi in Punjab, Rongali Bihu in Assam, Vishuva Sankranti in Orisa and Nobo Borsho in Bengal !!

Anyway, for us, it means 2 days of celebration and good food !!
My Ugadi lunch was wiped out before I took any pictures, so here's the Varsha Pirrapu lunch with some Ugadi features !!

The menu is pretty much the same, the main highlight being on the 'raw mango, neem, jaggery'. The idea is that you take the bitter and the sweet, which symbolizes that you accept/face the good and difficult events that happen in your life, with equal conviction. The 'panchanga' is read on this day, which I assume is the prediction for the year ahead.

Have a great year ahead and here's a peek at my lunch thali today

Thali

Clockwise from top: Mavinkkai Chitranna (idea borrowed from my Ugadi menu), maanga pachadi, beans poriyal, sepankezhangu(arbi) fry, pal payasam, biscuit ambode(similar to vadas, but simpler) and rice with drumstick, pumpkin, brinjal sambar in the centre.
There was the rasam, appalams and thair saadam, of course.

Aother look at the maanga pachadi, which was the star of the day



What you need -

1 cup peeled and sliced raw mango
2 tbsp grated jaggery
1 tsp chilli powder
2 neem leaves
a pinch of salt
1 tsp gingelly oil
1 tsp mustard seeds

What you do with it -

Steam the raw mango pieces with the jaggery, chilli powder and salt till the mago turns all soft
Heat oil and add mustard seeds
When they splutter, add the mango and mash it in a bit
Adjust salt if required

13 comments:

SJ said...

That plate looks so good! Even we celebrate ugadi today- didn't make anything kane. Your thali is inspiring me to make something.

FH said...

Great info about different states' celebration. Thali looks yummy. My next thali is only for Diwali next! :D

Enjoy the day and the feast.

Vaidehi Bhave said...

thali snap is looking great!

Marathi Recipes

Suparna said...

Hi,
It's beautiful unity in diversity isn't it? reason to celebrate is the same with slight changes here and there....look at what a diverse spread one can come up with! it's superb :)
Lovely intro to the new year celebration! Nice thali.
Happy feast, whish u and ur family a very prosperous New Year!
TC

Dipsy said...

Wow Akka.. the Thali looks amazing.. U know I love your rasam next time please put up a picutre atleast I can enjoy the sight. :))

Priya Suresh said...

Thali looks delicious...Happy tamil new year to u:)

Vanamala Hebbar said...

Looks good ... happy tamil new year. Just now i made mango rice and payasam

Anonymous said...

Happy Tamil New year to you and your family. I love your site. So many wonderful items. Thanks for sharing.

Radha

Varsha Vipins said...

Great spread..That pachadi is indeed a star Arch..:)

Miri said...

Nothing like "meals" to truly celebrate a festival :)

Kana said...

Happy New Year to you!Your spread looks wonderful.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Happy New Year! Your Mango Paachadi looks so good. And the thali - wow that was something...
We celebrate Oriya New Year too on the same day...

Sia said...

beautiful Thali!

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