Lemon rice & Pachaipayaru Sundal-Navrathiri Day1-Prasadham | Gayathiri's Cookbook

Navrathiri is a nine days festival dedicated to goddess Durga.During these 9 nights and 10 days, goddess Durga is worshipped in 9 different forms.Numerous rituals are followed during Navratri. These rituals vary from state to state and within a state region to region.During Navratri, various dolls are collected and displayed in multiple steps for public viewing. The displaying of dolls during "Golu festival" is so popular that it is also known as doll festival.

In South India, apart from public display of dolls, 9 days of Navratri are divided into three equal numbers of days. Goddess Durga as Kali is worshipped during the first 3 days of Navratri. After Goddess Durga, for next 3 days Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity is worshipped. During the last 3 day of Navratri Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning and knowledge is worshipped.
Each day of the festival stands for an auspicious colour, which is dedicated to all the avatars of the Goddess.
Navrathiri Day 1 prasadham:
Lemon rice & Pachaipayaru sundal

Ingredients for Lemon rice:
Rice- 1 cup
Lemon-2
Oil- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Uraddal- 1 tsp
Channadal- 1 tsp
Hing- A pinch
Green chillies- 4
Curry leaves- For garnishing
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Salt-1 tsp


Directions for Lemonrice:
1. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds. When it starts to crackle, add in 1 tsp uraddal ,1 tsp channadal, 4 green chillies and curry leaves. Saute until dal turns golden brown.
2. Squeeze 2 medium sized lemons. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder,1 tsp salt and a pinch of hing to the lemon juice.
3.Mix roasted dal with the lemon juice and then keep it aside for 10 minutes.
4.Mix lemon juice with 1 cup of cooked rice.
Lemon rice is ready!!


Ingredients for Pachaiparuppu sundal:
Greengramdal- 1 cup
Salt- 1 tsp
Oil- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Red chillies- 2
Curry leaves- for garnishing
Shredded coconut- 1/4 cup
Directions for Sundal:
1.Soak 1 cup green gram dal for 4-6 hours.Pressure cook green gram dal for upto 3 whistles.Strain the water and keep it aside.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds. When it starts to crackle, add 2 red chillies, curry leaves and 1/4 cup shredded coconut. Saute for 2minutes.
3. Then add the cooked dal and sauté for another 2 minutes.Switch off the heat.

Greengram sundal is ready!!