Celebrating Teej Sinjara with Panchmeli Daal & Churma

Like so many festivals, Teej is a lovely festival for Hindu women, mainly amongst the Marwari community.It takes place on the third day of Shukla Paksha (bright moon fortnight) of the Shraavana or Saawan month of Hindu calendar that normally falls from late July to early September.

 It has great significance in Rajasthan as it is observed to provide relief from the scorching heat of summer. Thus, it is popularly called the Sawan Festival.

The significance of Teej comes from two main reasons, first, the advent of monsoons and second, the union of Shiva- Parvati.

Dedicated to the Goddess Parvati, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva, the festival is celebrated for marital bliss, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. The festival is a three-day-long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting. It also celebrates the arrival of monsoon after a season of oppressive heat. "Teej" is a small red insect that comes out of the soil during rains.

The women enjoy this break from heat and daily chores with swings and songs.

Married women generally visit their parents place and receive gifts from their in-laws and spouse.
On the day of Teej, women pay special attention to their appearance by wearing colorful Leheria Sarees and applying henna on their hands.

There are different yummy preparations for this festival like kheer, malpua, jalebi, gulgule..at our home we prepare daal churma. This is a yummy combination, the panchmeli daal with the ghee laden churma tastes just awesome!
Here in australia I could celebrate it by making this traditional recipe. Miss the days when I used to go to the Teej mela(fare) with my Mom. Loved shopping all the handmade stuff, we had a gala time on the swings tied to huge trees and enjoyed a hearty street food! We also used to buy our rakhis from this fare as after teej, rakhi is the next on the calender :)

Trying to apply mehendi/hena on the tiny hands of my sleeping beauty..

Now for the recipe..
Panchmeli dal

Ingredients :
1/2 cup toor dal ( arhar dal )
2 tbsp urad dal ( white split lentil )
2 tbsp moong dal ( yellow split moong lentils )
2 tbsp green chilke wali dal ( green split lentils )
2 tbsp chana dal ( yellow grams )
2 tbsp masoor daal
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
salt to taste

For tempering 
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)

2 tbsp ghee
3-4 curry leaves
3-4 cloves
1-2 whole dry red chillies
1 green chilli,chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp garam masala

corriander leaves for garnishing
lemon juice to taste

method :
Wash and soak the lentils together for atleast half an hour. Pressure cook them with little salt and turneric pwd on slow flame and cook till the daals are soft and tender(3-4 whistles) .Once the daal is cooked , prepare for the tadka. Heat ghee,add bay leaf,red chilli,clove,mustard seeds,cumin seeds,hing,curry leaves and green chillies.Turn off the heat and add red chilli pwd. Add this tempering to the daal ,add garam masala, lemon juice and corrinder leaves and simmer the daal for 5-7 mins.Serve hot with churma

Churma 

Ingredients
Wheat flour 200 gm
Ghee 400 gm
Semolina(rawa) 100 gm
salt 1 tsp
Sugar (grounded) 200 gm
Soaked almond (finely chopped) 50 gm
Cardamom (small) 4
Dalchini 1"

Method
In a bowl mix in the wheat flour, semolina, 150 gms. of ghee, salt . Make a stiff dough using very little water.  Make about 15-20 balls with the dough and roll it out into chapati. roast these on the girdle applying ghee generously on both sides(like parathas) (traditionally the round balls are deep fried in ghee, but i prefer this method to avoid the calories)
Churn these chapatis in grinder after it cools down. Heat 1 tbsp. ghee in kadahi and add to this mixture along with cardamom seeds and dalchini. Add sugar and chopped almonds. Mix well. Serve in a plate. You can enjoy the taste of churma for 3-4 days.

Sending this to the lovely event, Celebrate - Monsoon of India, hosted by two of my favourite food bloggie friends. This is an event by Jagruti, guest hosted by Sayantani

and Celebrate - Month of Shravan again by Jagruti, guest hosted by Sangeetha.