Ugadi is a New year Festival for Telugu and kannada people. Also called as Gudi padwa in maharastra.
But the most unique and significant tradition of Ugadi is beginning the new year with savoring a unique flavored pachadi (chutney). Ugadi pachadi is a combination of 6 tastes/flavours (Shad ruchulu) salty, spicy, tangy, bitter, sour, and sweet. This signifies that life is a mixture of all emotions like happiness, sorrow,excitement, anger, scarness.
In Karnataka it is called as Bevu Bella where fresh neem leaves are mixed with jiggery piesces.
Ingredients :
Jaggery – 1 cup (grated)
Tamarind – small lime size (soak for sometime and extract thick juice)
Neem flower – 2tsp
Raw mango – 1 cup (chopped into small pieces)
Red chilli powder / green chillies (a/c to taste)
Salt to taste
grated coconut (optional)
Method :
- Heat oil in pan and add mustard seed, curry leaves and hing
- When they crackles add the tamarind juice and allow it to boil and reduce in volume.
- Now add mango pieces and cook for sometime. Then add salt and chillies and mix.
- Then add jaggery and stir in for few minutes until it gets little thick.
- Now dry roast neem flower separately and then finally add to the above and mix well.
The other method of making pachadi is mix tamarind thick juice (extract) and jaggery until jaggery melts and then add mango pieces,salt and chilly. Mix well and finally add neem flowers.
Note:
Each home has its own version of preparing the ugadi pachadi but the main ingredients (reflecting all the six flavors) are as specified above.
Ugadi Pachadi is a healthy low calorie pachadi where the Neem flowers, new tamarind, jaggery and fresh raw mangoes contain nutrients that cleanse the system and act as prophylactics (prevention of illness or disease).
