BM # 27   Day 4
Occasion : Uttarayan Festival in Gujarat
Uttarayan , also known as Makar Sankranti is a famous festival of Gujarat. It falls on 14th January .This is a festival where the skies are full of kites .Preparations are made weeks before the festival. One finds seasonal shops full of these kites and the accessories..oh yes there are loads of them .Different types of caps, shades, whistles, bugles, finger caps..and what not they are all sold at these shops .The thread to fly kites or the Dori is specially made with crushed glass pieces, this is to make it sharp .All normal activity is shut down and one finds the terraces full of family and friends. come join in the celebrations of this festival on the third day of this BM.


Now when you have friends and family together, naturally food has to come along. We have special food for this day. Undhiyu, poori and Jalebi. This is a must in Gujarat. Most of the ladies who are good with their recipes , sell this dish by kilos…they might not have business , but they cook and sell for a day…these ladies are famous for their Undhiyo. There is no advertisement for these, but just mouth to mouth publicity. Most of the farsaan shops too sell this, and one has to stand in queue to get it. 


Undhiyo is one of the best Gujarati dish, it is always made in winters when one gets special vegetables for this dish. Here is the recipe…

200 gms surati papdi (these are a variety of beans)
200 gms kandh (ratalu).purple yam
4 baby potatoes
1 medium sized sweet potatoes
½ cup shelled toor seeds (fresh pigeon pea )
1 medium sized raw banana

Preparing the veggies
String the papdi, and split in two.
Peel kand, cut into medium sized pieces.
Wash and slit the potatoes, keeping them intact.
Cut the sweet potato and raw banana without peeling.

Masala

½ tsp asafoetida
2 tsp coriander-cumin seed pwd
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sesame seeds
¼ cup jaggery
8 green chillies
1’’piece ginger
2 cups coriander leaves
1 ½ cups coconut, grated
4 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Mix all ingredients and make a coarse paste.
Stuff this in the potatoes and rub it in the rest of veggies.

Tempering

½ cup oil
¼ tsp asafoetida
¼ tsp mustard seeds
3 cups water

Muthias

1 cup coarse wheat flour
½ cup chopped fenugreek leaves
¼ tsp turmeric pwd
¼ tsp chilly pwd
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Combine all ingredients.
Adding little water, prepare a dough.
Make small lemon sized balls little oblong with your fists.
Deep fry, till golden.
Keep aside.

Preparing the Undhiyu
Heat ½ cup oil.
Add mustard seeds and asafoetida.
Arrange vegetables, in layers.
First papdi with toor seeds.
Then potatoes, kandh.
Next sweet potato and raw banana.
Cook on slow fire, adding water when ever needed.
Once the veggies are done place the muthias and sprinkle some water.
Cook covered for another 5-7 minutes.
The muthias should be soft.
The undhiyo should not be very dry, if you feel so, add water, but gradually.
Serve hot with pooris and Jalebis.
I cooked this Undhiyu in a clay pot, to get the authentic flavor.



purple yam


surati papdi with fresh pigeon peas





This is normally served for lunch, while through out the day, chikki, leelva ne kachori , khaman and lot of other snacks  are served. Dinner normally is a take away like a pav bhaji or something..you see the ladies too are involved with kite flying. 

This is one of the kite shops, these shops come up during the season only


A closer view of the shop


accessories being sold

Tukals in the sky

The most interesting is Night Kite Flying .Special, big size kites are made to order. Paper lanterns, candles are all set for that. Normally when a family decides to fly these kites., which are famous as tukal..they invite their friends too. The big kite is flown by one person, at the same time four other kites are flown , these are to guard the big kite. When the tukal is high up, lanterns are tied to the dori, and very carefully the dori is left loose, similarly people tie many lanterns. We have a friend, who tied 52 lanterns two years back!!

lanterns being prepared 


that is the kite to which lanterns will be tied

52 lanterns!..yes 52..have been tied!!

By the end of the day, everyone gets tiered and usually tea/ coffee and ice creams are served for the night party, but the taste of  Undiyu and Jalebi still lingers!!

Undhiyu Poori on Uttarayan

21 thoughts on “Undhiyu Poori on Uttarayan”

  1. beautiful descriptive post of this fun festival, my husband missed it celebrating in gujarat each year, never knew abt undhiyu poori associated with sankranti though, loved the way you have captured the festival step by step, lovely post, and the entire display of dishes look so pretty in those mud/clay pots, kudos

  2. Wow Vaishali, this is such a wonderful post!..having tasted Undhiyu I know how delicious is it and pair it with pooris and jebelis..it must be so yum!..It's great to read such details on festivals and customs in each place, makes it all so wonderful to be associated through this…I really admire how much efforts you take to share the other pictures as well..:)

  3. I always stop from making this since the process seems tedious. 🙂 Have to cook this one day leisurely.
    What a lovely post. I was kind of expecting this post on Uttarayan & the kites since you live in Gujarat.

  4. Vaishali, younever cease to amaze me! Or should I say, we've come to expect such stuff from you every time! The pictures are so beautiful. Btw, are the clay pots painted by you?

  5. Not only do you bring in a whole of food to the blogging table, you patiently explain what each and everything is and go on to explain the festival as well!! Only you can do it, Princi Madam 🙂

  6. I had heard about the Sankarnti celebrations in Gujrat, but nowi know what I heard in nowheer near the visual effects that the festival has. You have strung the beads of a beautifully celebrated festival in a beautiful string. Thanks for bringing it alive to me throgh your post.

  7. Lovely post I have heard about this. But its you have given a good explanation. Its one if the most important function right.

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