Ugaadi special- Sabudana Kheer by Chef Muthamizhan
Image Credit: Sabudana Kheer-Hotel Royal Orchid Bangalore

Ugadi is the Hindu New Year for Telegu in certain states of southern India. This day is based on the Hindu Lunar Calendar, so its date on the Gregorian Calendar can vary, but it usually comes sometime in March or April and to celebrate this day celebrations to begin at Srisailam Bhramarambika Mallikarjuna Swamy temple today, to be held till April 3. This date usually falls either in late March or early April and on this date the moon sees a change in the seasons and essentially means Ugadi is a spring festival. Yugadi or Ugadi comes from the Sanskrit words yuga (age) and ādi (starting) - 'the beginning of a new age'. There’s a legend behind this frestival which says that Lord Brahma created the universe on Ugadi.

Ugadi is one of the significant festival, where people buy new clothes and decorate their entrance with mango leaves.  People also tend to put colorful rangoli designs outside their homes. On this day it’s important to make the six ingredients Ugadi pachadi as each six should have one individual taste to it. The pachadi sees is both, sweet and sour. The six tastes correspond to the six emotions of life which everyone goes through – joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise. In In Karnataka, people consume a mixture of neem leaves and jaggery on this day. This is known as bevu bella, where ‘bevu’ means neem flowers and ‘bella’ means jaggery in kannada language.

Here's the recipe of Sabudana Kheer/ Sabakki Payasam from Chef Muthamizhan, Executive Chef, Hotel Royal Orchid Bangalore, 

Ingredients

    Sabudana    250 gm

    Sugar    500 Gm

    Milk    1 Litter

    Coconut Milk    1 Litter

    Cashewnut    50 Gm

    Raisin    50 Gm

    Ghee    200 Ml

Method

    Soak the sabudhana at least 2 hours and keep aside

    Boil the milk with heavy bottom pan 

    Add coconut milk and boil till raw flavour evaporated

    Add sabudana in to the milk cook till it gets soft

    Then add sugar and boil till sugar gets dissolved 

    Take a another pan add ghee, once it’s hot 

    Add cashewnut and raisin, cook it till gets golden brown

    And then add the cashewnut raisin in to the kheer 

    Serve hot