DEEPAVALI LEGHYAM

DEEPAVALI.............what all  can you think of when we say this word??? Ganga Snanam.....imagine yourself taking a dip in the cold waters of the divine river Ganga..... Oil bath,  new clothes,  visiting temples, Crackers, lot of sweets and snacks, namaskaram to elders in the family, watching lot of TV shows............and...most important of all....eating a spoon of Deepavai Leghyam....which is so good for health.
Again....I travel in my mind to my maternal home, to my childhood days.....where this used to be made in huge quantities...I still have the hand written recipe of my mother...things used to be hand-pound...I calculated and brought down the measures to table spoons and tea spoons....This leghyam is good for ladies after child birth...To be honest...I used to detest it...without realising its health benefits..now..after a certain age, I realise how good it is, and it is like gold.

                                                  My Deepavali Wishes to you all!!!

                                                                  Ingredients
                                                                Pepper - 3 tsps
                                                                Jeera - 3 tsps
                                                         Coriander seeds - 3 tsps
                                           Kandanthippili - 10-12 sticks, broken into 2 or 3
                                                      Omam (Ajwain) - 3 tbsps
                                                               Cardamom - 4
                                                 Dry ginger - a small piece, crushed
                                          Jaggery - same amount as the powder measures
                                                 Ghee  - 1/2 the measure of the powder

                                   Recipe Cuisine: South Indian; Category: Preserves
                                   Prep time: 10 mts; Cooking time: 15 mts

                                                   Yields 1 1/2 cups of Leghyam

                                    The great medicines for us, to safeguard our health (It is called Deepavali Marundhu also). About the health benefits of Kandanthippili, also known as Long Pepper, I have told in Kandanthippili rasam.

Dry roast all the ingredients, as shown below, till they become hot. That is enough.

Ajwain / Omam getting roasted till a wonderful aroma comes and kindles our hunger

                                         Powder after the roasted ingredients cool down a bit

The powder, measuring 1 cup

Add hot water to this powder and make it a paste, and leave aside

1 cup jaggery, checked for impurities

The pure jaggery syrup

Add some more hot water, make the consistency to a liquid consistency, so that this can be strained

Put the remaining coarse paste again in the blender and grind. It is quite difficult to grind Ajwain/Omam to a fine paste, always you have to strain and extract the juice of it. Probably, you may have to do this 2-3 times, till you can extract all the juices, and the remaining paste becomes coarse and dry  like...

this...you have to squeeze it well, and then discard.

Bring the liquid to a boil, keep the flames in medium and allow to boil till...

it resembles a muddy road during rain fall.......now add the jaggery syrup

syrup added and continues to boil.

At this point, add the measured ghee, keep on stirring, till it resembles halwa and leaves the sides of the vessel.

It has the sheen of halwa too.

Happy Deepavali to all my blog readers, once again!!! Please take a teaspoon of Leghyam, and have a problem-free Deepavali!!!

Notes

                                 *Can be stored for a long time, say, a month or more. Nothing happens.
                                 *If you feel heavy any day after a hearty lunch or dinner, it is good to have 1 tsp of this Leghyam, which has amazing effects, and helps in quick digestion.

Categories: Pickles-Preserves & Podis