Happy Sankranti / Pongal

Wish you all a very Happy Makar Sankranti / Pongal

Here is the Till mixture from our house to yours.

In Karnataka, the festival is called 'Sankranti'. Special prayers are offered in the temples and houses. After the pujas, white sesame (ellu) mixed with pieces of jaggery, peanuts, dry coconut and sugar blocks (shakkare achchu) are exchanged. The significance of this exchange is that sweetness should prevail in all the dealings.

All cows and bullocks are bathed, their horns polished and painted in bright colors, and garlands of flowers placed around their necks. The Pongal that has been offered to the Gods is then given to cattle and birds to eat. In the evening, the cattle are led out in procession to the beat of drums and music. In the night a bonfire is lit and the animals are made to jump over the fire. Nowadays all these are done in Villages. When we were kids, they used to do this in Malleshwaram. People used to gather to watch this.

At Gavi Gangadhareshwara (Siva) temple in Bangalore's Gavipuram, a rare phenomenon is witnessed in the evening. The Sun's rays pass through the horns of the Nandi briefly to fall on the Lingam in the sanctum. It is an architectural marvel. The temple will be crowded during this time.

We used to enjoy doing every bit of the preparation for this festival. My mom, my sister and myself used to sit and do the sakkare achchu together but for the ellu preparation, my mom used to do it alone as it was only cutting the jaggery and coconut. In the evening we used to go to distribute(ellu beerodu) to all the houses in our colony. I am really grateful to my mom for teaching us all these cultures and traditions.. I would like to teach all these to my daughter. So, hoping she will learn all these things and have fun..

I used to do only the till mixture as I did not have the mould for the achchu. When I went to India, I got one mould from my mom. So, have prepared the till (ellu) mixture and also sakkare achchu (sugar blocks) .

Till Mixture:

ಎಳ್ಳು / Till - 1/2 cup

ಬೆಲ್ಲ / Jaggery - 2 cups

ಒಣಕೊಬ್ಬರಿ / Dry coconut - 1 cup

ಕಡಲೆಕಾಯಿ ಬೀಜ / Ground nut- 1 cup

ಕಡಲೆ ಪಪ್ಪು /Dhalia - 3/4 cup

Method:

• Dry jaggery and coconut in sun so that it will be easier to cut them later.
• When it has dried, cut them to small pieces.
• Grate the skin of the coconut and then cut them to small pieces.
• Fry ground nuts on medium heat till brown.
• Then remove the skin and split them to half.
• Keep dhalia also in sun till they become crisp.
• Fry Till also till they are brown.
• Then mix all of them together.

In the evening, myself and my daughter will go to friends house to distribute the till mixture(ellu beerodu). She is exited about it...So, once again wish you all Happy Sankranti and enjoy the till mixture..

I would like to send this to Festive Food hosted by Indian Khanna Thank you Preethi for hosting the event.