mayurisjikoni

Ekadashi     Once in a while Ekadashi dates confuse all the Hindus. One such Ekadashi is the Devshayani Ekadashi which was on 8th and 9th July this year.Some observed the fasting on 8th and some on the 9th. Shayani literally means sleeping. Its believed that on this Maha Ekadashi ( great eleventh), Devpodhi or Devshayani Ekadashi Vishnu falls asleep on the Sheshnag (cosmic serpent) in the cosmic ocean of milk. Its believed that Vishnu sleeps during the four holy months of Chaturmas. This holy period coincides with the rainy season. It also signifies the beginning of penance, rituals, poojas, parikramas and making a conscious effort to advance oneself in the religion aspect. That does not mean that during the rest of the year, one does not practice all this. Its just that more attention is given towards religious progress. To read more about this Ekadashi go to this site .    Fasting is a way to discipline the body and mind. It will take me a while to discipline both...

Happy Independence Day It is said that one will come across an Indian in any part of the world so rest assured if you ever get invited to their home, you will be served some form of Indian cuisine. Where ever they may be living, Indians do become very nostalgic about their own country India, especially during Independence day. Today while I was cooking, I got to listen to a lot of patriotic songs on our local hindi station and was really amazed at the talent India has. I know of many Indians born and brought up outside India and do not have a strong connection with India. However our story is different. My husband studied in Manipal and Mangalore, I did my secondary education in Mt. Abu and my children too completed their IB in Kodaikanal. So yes, we all do have a very strong love hate relationship with India. When ever we visit India, we love the food, shopping, entertainment, people etc. After a few days the rubbish around, the traffic, the sheer number of people and smell get to us ...

let's celebrate janamashtami Today is Janmashtami, Lord Krishna's birthday. Celebrations will begin at the temples here in the evening with abhishek, kirtan, drama and prasad. I feel bad that I was not able to prepare a lot of dishes to offer to Lord Krishna simply because I did not pre-plan. When Nunu was living in Mombasa,we would plan who would make what and how many offerings there would be. We would make anywhere between 7 to 11 dishes or more. When she left for India, I use to make at least 3 to 5 but this year I have managed only 1. Hopefully next year with a bit of planning I will be able to make more offerings. However as the saying goes, whatever is offered with your heart God accepts. This year I tried out a new recipe and made this simple halwa for offering.  BEETROOT HALWA 10 TO 12 pieces 2 cups grated beetroot (packed down gently) ¼ cup sugar 1 cup milk ¾ cup milk powder 3 tbsps fresh cream 3 tbsps ghee (clarified butter) 1 tsp cardamom powder 2 to 3 tbsps chopped...