MaaviLakku

Maavizhakku [Maav viLakku]; Maavu – Flour, ViLakku – oil lamp with a wick, which literally means an oil lamp made of flour in Tamil.

It is a sweet dish prepared especially on a PurattAsi (Perataashi) Shani kizhamai i.e, a Saturday in the PurattAsi month of the Tamizh calendar, as an offering “Naivedhyam” [Nai vay dyum] to Lord Srinivasa, PurattAsi Shravanam being his birth star. Time and all else permitting, this ritual can be performed on all the four Saturdays of that month, if not, at least on two Saturdays either the 1st and 3rd or the 2nd and 4th. I was able to observe the ritual neither on the 1st, 2nd nor the 3rd Saturday and hence performed the ritual with two Maavilakku’s on the 4th or last Saturday as per elder’s suggestions.

My earliest memories of “Maavilakku” are that of watching my aunt Ve [Vay] religiously and devoutly create them on all the Saturdays of that month, during my growing up years at my taatha’s (maternal grand dad) place. In orthodox Iyengar families like my Taatha’s, the procedure to prepare Maavilakku was rather uncompromising due to reasons of “Madi” and hence consisted of starting from scratch with soaking rice in water for a few hours, then lightly dried, pounded with a wooden food pounder and repeatedly sieved to derive the rice flour of the required consistency. Now-a-days, self confessedly, such rigorous care is not possible for most of us and therefore, I have simply started with ready- made rice flour.

Similar forms of this sweet aka “Tambittu” [ Thum bit too] are prepared in Karnataka among several other sects of brahmin communities too, may be on a different festive occasion like Mangala Gowri Vrata or Shivaratri.

Things you’ll need:

The ingredients listed below make for a medium-sized lamp or two small lamps. If you need to increase the quantity, just make sure to add equal proportions of Rice flour, Jaggery and grated coconut.

• 1/2 cup Rice flour
• 1/2 cup Jaggery mashed / grated
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 4 cardamom powdered
• a pinch of Saffron
• 1 tbsp milk (for the saffron to leave color)
• 2 – 3 tbsp Ghee

How it’s done:

• Mix together in a bowl, grated coconut, jaggery and powdered cardamom and set aside for 15 mins so the jaggery melts and blends in.
• Warm up the milk – either microwave or keep in a bowl of hot water and soak the saffron for 10-15 mins until it leaves color.
• Add in the rice flour, saffron milk and 2 tsp of ghee to the coconut jaggery mixture and mix well. Do not add any more milk or water to this.

To offer prayers:

• Shape the dough into a small hill with a shallow pit at the top and part it in the middle.
• Place two cotton wicks in the left partition and wet them with ghee. Pour the remaining ghee in the right partition.*
• Light the cotton wicks and offer prayers to Lord Venkateshwara.
• Wait for the light to subside on its own. The “Maavu” can now be distributed as Prasadam or on a pair of betel leaves and betel nuts (in pairs) aka “Tambulam“.

* When posed with my questions, my dear aunt Ve would explain that the left side (to you when facing the God) with the lamp lit in it signifies Lord Srinivasa himself and the right side with the ghee symbolizes goddess Lakshmi and the shape of a hill signifies the Tirumala hill itself.

More details on the Whys and How’s of this ritual can be found here and here.

Tips & Warnings:

Optionally Pacchakarpooram (not the camphor used for MangalArati) can also be added to prepare the Maavilakku. However, my personal experience forces me to caution against using it unless you are aware of its effects when used in larger quantities. In any case, if you are still tempted to use it, the size of a mustard or two is more than enough for the quantities given in my recipe.

Obbattu | Lentil stuffed Sweet Flatbread

“Paruppu Obbattu” or simply “Obbattu” (Paruppu in Tamil / Bele in kannada means lentil) also known as Holige, Bobbattu, Pozhi (read PoLi) in different South Indian languages is one of my favorite traditional sweets. Obbattu marks its presence in many auspicious functions, especially Iyengar weddings.

Growing up in Mysore, Obbattu was synonymous with ‘Dasara‘ festival more fondly ‘Bombe Habba’ for us. Celebrations would begin on the first day typically with setting up of the traditional tiered platform for arranging the dolls. Marked side by side are the memories of the faint aroma of elakki (cardamom or elaichi), ghee and boiling jaggery from the kitchen in my grand dad’s house in preparation of Obbattu. The little cook in me was always happy being the ever ready assistant to my aunts, enthusiastically participating in the Obbattu making process. As a middle schooler, I could walk away from the kitchen head held high with pride if I got my wrapping, filling and patting right without any tears.

In Iyengar lingo, Obbattu is mainly made of two parts, the dough for outer wrapping or “Kanika” and the sweet filling on the inside or “Poorna”. If you want Obbattu to be soft on the outside, you can use half and half of Maida (Refined Flour or All purpose Flour) and Chiroti Rava else if you want it crisp on the outside, just chiroti rava is what you need for the “Kanika” dough. Chiroti Rava is a very fine form of Sooji Rava almost close to flour consistency.  Turmeric is a must add while preparing for all auspicious occasions, we were taught and you will see why when you read on. Before we start, remember, Obbattu making requires patience, it is not an item to be made in a hurry.

Things you’ll need:

For the dough / Kanika:

• 1 cup Chiroti rava (Superfine Sooji Rava or very fine cream of wheat)
• 1-2 tsp Ghee
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup Oil
• Oil for roasting

   

For the filling / Poorna:

• 1/2 cup Split chana dal (Split bengal gram / Kadle bele)
• 1/2 cup Tuvar dal /  Togari bele
• 1 cup Jaggery coarsely powdered / crushed
• 6-7 cardamom powdered

How it’s done:

• Wash the chana dal and tuvar dal mixture well and pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric and just enough water to cover the dal. The secret to making perfect poorna lies in a perfectly pressure cooked dal with the littlest water.
• While the dal pressure cooks, mix together the chiroti rava, a pinch of turmeric and a little salt.
• Add in the ghee and mix together making sure that when you hold the mix tight in your palm it retains its shape without falling apart.
• Now sprinkling a little water at a time, mix it into a firm but not hard dough (not as soft as chapathi dough). Pour in half the oil on the dough, cover and set aside at least for half an hour to an hour.
• Once the cooker cools down, drain the dal of remaining water if any and pulse in a mixer with elaichi. When the dal is half ground, add in the jaggery and pulse for a smooth paste. Cover the filling and set aside for half an hour.
• Shape the filling into small rounds about the size of a table tennis ball.
• Knead the Kanika well till all the oil is absorbed in. Add in the remaining oil and repeat until Kanika is soft and pliable and stretches well.
• Take 1/2 the amount of kanika compared to Poorna, pat on an oiled aluminum foil (can use plantain leaf wherever available) and stretch on all sides.
• Place the poorna on the stretched kanika and cover from all the sides. Now pat this flat as thin as possible with your four fingers.
• Roast it on a hot tava / griddle with a little oil, flipping once until both sides turn light golden brown.
• Serve hot with a drizzle of ghee.

From Left to Right – Chiroti Rava mixed with ghee, Kanika dough is ready, Lentils just pressure cooked

From Top left to Bottom Right – Poorna shaped into rounds, Poorna on the stretched Kanika, Poorna wrapped in Kanika, Obbattu before roasting, Obbattu on the Tava

Tips:

• Make sure not to add too much water while mixing the dough.
• If the filling is not hard enough to be shaped into a ball, add in 1 – 2 tsp rice flour and mix in, this should do the trick.
• Alternatively, 1/3 cup each of chana dal, tuvar dal and coconut can be used to make the Poorna. Grind the coconut first, add in the dals and pulse and finally blend in the jaggery.