“Ghari~ Umbari” fritters prepared as an offering during Death Anniversary Rituals.

“Ghari~ Umbari fritters prepared as an offering during Death Anniversary Rituals” … these are traditional bajia/ fritters (deep fries) prepared as offering in ShradHa Tithi (Death Anniversary) meals in GSB Konkani Saraswat Community ... a ritual of preparing both bland and sweet fritters are a must on the meal offering list that is served as an respect to the departed soul …

** Traditions/ Rituals are customs followed down generations without questioning by family members in GSB Konkani Saraswat Community as a deep respect towards their knowledge. However, with changing times things are beginning to change and sometimes the questions raised leave us perplexed without any reply whatsoever to be shared. I do not judge anybody on their decision on following rituals as my firm believe is any tradition should be followed with belief/ faith otherwise it is as good as not done. 

** Faith is above all rituals as Bhagawan Sri. Krishna himself imparts the knowledge in "Bhagawad Gita". According to Sri. Hari, materialistic things offered to him mean nothing compared to strong belief in him. To his devotees he says that even a single leaf of "Tulsi/ Tulsi Dalu" offered with utmost love and faith is accepted by him. Though rituals are to be followed with respect as mentioned in Vedas, over time man has changed them to suit their own demands which really does not please God .

**Pitrapaksha/ Pitru deevas/ Mahalaya Masa/ Mahlu; Is that period of the year which falls in Krishna paksha of Bhadrapada month, ie the second half of the fortnight of the month that is from poornima to amavasya somewhere in the month of September as per English Calendar. Hindus across India observe these 15 days of ShradHa or Pitru Paksha by paying homage to their ancestors on that particular tithi day on which their ancestors attained sadgathi (passed away) by making offerings in their own way. 

** Many give dana ie donations during this period, most sacred being "Annadana" ie feeding the poor which I strongly believe in. During this time many items are prepared in meal offering in respect to the departed souls. Some dishes are a must, like ghari umbari, pinda rice, gonva kana gohshe (wheat payasam), varna (spiced moong dal), khotto (Idly) etc. However, these days people follow their pattern as per their convenience/ beliefs and prepare any dishes suitable to them or can be easily prepared.

** Traditionally a ritual of preparing both bland and sweet fritters "Ghari and Umbari" are must on the meal offering list that is served as an respect while observing the rituals to the departed soul in the presence of Bhatji/ Purohit, the very reason why I have included them in the blog for those of you who would love to prepare them. They are easy to prepare and the only thing you need to take care of is the consistency, it should not run thin textured or else you will not get the results as shown in picture. 

** Important Note: Please note that both Ghari and Umbari are prepared only during Shradha Tithi day as an offering part in the food list while the rituals are performed by Bhat-maam/ Purohitji and by no means are to be prepared on regular days. Just remember that our Ancestors were very intelligent and followed rituals for the benefit of mankind. There are some things in life that one should not try to by pass or try to include in arrogance or ignorance for our own good, rest I leave to your own judgment.   

** Here is the simple recipe of preparing “Ghari~ Umbari” the traditional dishes which are a must for ShradHa lunch during Pirtu Paksha or if you are following the exact thithi dates of the departed soul ... 

** For the preparation Of Ghari : Wash and soak one cup of Urad dal/ Black Gram Split Dal in water for 1 hour. Drain off the water, rinse and put it in a colander for the excess water to get drained complete. Once it is drained off completely, add the urad dal in a mixer grinder along with a tablespoon of jeera (cumin seeds) and grind to semi coarse paste without adding water. If needed you can sprinkle some water for easy grinding, that’s it. The mixture should be a coarse in texture; a thick paste. Remove in a bowl, add salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and mix well. The texture should be that of rolling consistency. You should be able to roll it in your palms into ball shape for frying in hot oil as fritters. You can apply a little bit of water to your palms which will help in  process.

** For Deep Frying of Ghari: Heat plenty of oil (tel/ tela) in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot lower the heat to medium, make balls out of the mixture and add them gently into the hot oil and allow to cook for some time before you fry them with the help of a spatula. Do not overcrowd the kadai, there should be some space in the kadai left for the ghari to get evenly fried. Keep moving them till you get them lightly browned on all sides. Remove with the help of a ringed spatula and put them in a plate lined with absorbent sheet. This will take care of the excess oil in the ghari/ fritters. Continue with the remaining mixture in similar method till all are done. Keep them ready aside.

** For preparation of Umbari : Soak 1 cup of rice (tandul) for an hour or so. Strain the water, wash the rice well. Put it in a mixer grinder along with 1 cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal), one medium sized or 2 small sized bananas (kele/ kela) cut into pieces, 200 gms of grated jaggery (gud/ goda/ bella) and grind to a fine paste without adding water. The paste should be thick and the texture should be that of rolling/ dropping consistency similar to that of Ghari. You should be able to remove a small lemon sized ball with your fingers roll it on the edge of the bowl and drop it into the hot oil as fritters. You can apply a little bit of water to your palms which will help in the process for even rolling.

** For Frying of Umbari : The procedure of deep frying "Umbari" is the same as that of Ghari mentioned in detail above. 

** "Ghari and Umbari" are prepared and ready to be offered along with other prepared dishes in the pitru thali following other rituals/ traditions. I hope this post has been of help to people who want to prepare these “Ghari~Umbari” during “ShraddHa” period but do not know the recipe. Again, I repeat that these are prepared in this manner only during the ShraddHa period and not otherwise, there are some rituals we need to follow without questioning much if we are ignorant, though if queried with right sources like Bhatji/ Purohit or Swamiji's you are bound to get the proper answers. 

** Sharing common link below to "Pitru Paksha Meal Thali" blogged elsewhere, which you may browse through if desired ...

https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search/label/%23PitruPaksha