PAANAGAM AND NEER MORU - RAMA NAVAMI SPECIAL

No Pooja is complete without a Prasaadam and Shri Rama Navami is no exception. As the festival falls in the month of summer, Paanagam and Neer Moru are served to all devotees marking the completion of the ritual. These are coolants and great thirst quenchers and at the same time giving us two different and distinct tongue treats. I simply appreciate our ancestors about how thoughtful they were in when it comes to these consummate home celebrations.

"Shri Rama Navami" or "Rama Navami" is  a very popular  Hindu Festival celebrating the joy of  Lord Rama's birth. The festival is also celebrated as "Shri Sitarama Kalyanam" at Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh in accordance with Shri Rama Nama Smaranam. Various Rama temples are thronged by devotees on this auspicious day.

                                                             JAI SHRI RAM!!

PAANAGAM

Ingredients

Water.............................................. 3 glasses

Jaggery............................................ 6 to 8 tbsp

Dry Ginger....................................... 1 tbsp powdered

Cardamom........................................ 5 nos powdered

Borneal Flakes (பச்சை கற்பூரம் )... 2 or 3 granular bits

Lemon ............................................. 1 big

Method

• Dissolve Jaggery in water and filter it to remove the impurities. 
• Add the Dry Ginger powder, cardamom powder and stir well.
• Crush the raw camphor between your finger tips and add it to the mixture.
• Finally squeeze the lemon juice into the Paanagam. 

NEER MORU

Ingredients

Natural Yoghurt ............................ 3 to 4 tbsps

Water .......................................... 3 glasses

Compounded Asafoetida .................. Small Gooseberry size

Raw Green Mango ......................... A small piece

Green Chilli .................................  1

Ginger ........................................  1 inch piece

Curry leaves ...............................  2 sprigs

Coriander Leaves ........................  2 to 3 sprigs

Salt ...........................................  To taste

Mustard Seeds ...........................  1 tsp

Oil ............................................  1tsp

Method

• Boil little water and dissolve the Compounded Asafoetida in it.
• Grate the ginger,fine chop the green chili and raw green mango and  add all this mixture to a vessel.
• Now add the dissolved asafoetida into the vessel 
• Add Curry leaves, Salt and Yoghurt
• Now add water and churn well till the mixture turns to a suspension of Buttermilk.
• Heat oil and splutter the mustard seeds and add it to the Buttermilk.
• Churn the buttermilk once more. Your Neer Moru is ready.

Notes

• I always like to have the Paanagam and Neer Moru chilled. Try it.
• The ingredients added to Paanagam may slightly vary from one household to another. Some people add fresh ginger to the Paanagam as opposed to what is given in the recipe. You can add it if you want to.
• Adjust the quantity of Jaggery depending on how sweet you want it to be.