Yesterday was Janmashtami. On this Occasion, I prepared Kesari with Aval. Lord Krishna likes aval a lot. There is one story related to this. Sudama (also known as Kuchela, mostly in South India) was a childhood friend of Lord Krishna.
Sudama and Krishna studied in the same gurukulam. They lost contact over the years and while Krishna King of Dwaraka, Sudama was very poor. He was not even having enough money to feed his children, his wife Susheela reminded him of his friendship with Krishna.
Though initially reluctant to go to his friend for help, Sudama finally agreed to go. He leaves with nothing but some beaten rice (poha/ aval) tied in a cloth as a present. He remembers that beaten rice is Krishna’s favorite and decided to give this as a gift to the Lord.
Krishna is greatly pleased to see his old friend. He treated him royally and with much love. Overwhelmed by all this Sudama forgets to ask for what he actually came for. But the Lord realises what His friend needs, and the Lord’s consort Rukmini incarnation of Godess Lakshmi, gifts him with his desires. On his return journey, Sudama ponders his circumstances and is thankful for the great friend he has in Lord Krishna. When Sudama finally returns to his home, he finds a palatial mansion instead of the hut he had left. He also finds his family dressed in extremely nice dresses and waiting for him. He lives an austere life after that, always thankful to the Lord.
Ingredients: |
|
| Aval / Avlakki/ Rice flakes | – 1 ¼ cups |
| Sugar | – ¾ cup |
| Boiling Water | – ¾ cup |
| Ghee | – 2 tbsp. |
| Cashewnuts | – 10 nos. |
| Food color (orange) | – a pinch |
| Cardamom powder | – ¼ tsp. |
Method:
- Roast the cashew nuts with a tbsp. of hot ghee on a pan and keep aside.
- In the same pan, add the measured aval (add some ghee if there’s nil left after roasting cashews) and fry them for 1 minute.
- When all the aval flakes are covered with ghee (and not dry), pour boiling water into the pan.
- The Aval starts cooking. Reduce flame to low and cook.
- When its ¾th cooked, add the measured sugar. As the sugar melts, there is more liquid in the pan.
- Add a pinch of food color and cardamom powder.
- Let the kesari get cooked well and come together.
- Switch off the stove and mix in the roasted cashew nuts.
- Tasty aval kesari is ready.