Whole Green Moong (Gram) Panchakadayi/ Panjachakajjaya

"Naivedyam : Whole Green Moong (Gram) Panchakadayi/ Panjachakajjaya" ... The auspicious month of Shravana Masa has begun and the festive days of choodi pooja begins from today on Fridays and Sunday ... sharing prasadam/ naivedyam with all my friends ... may this auspicious month remove all obstacles and bring in happiness in everyone's life .... 

** Preparation of Naivedyam on auspicious occasions is of utmost priority in Hindu Community. We Konkani GSB Saraswats always prepare Naivedyam during all festive events. It is always a pleasure to prepare different type of Naivedyams and it is my greatest passion to do so. Usually there is a standard pattern followed over generations in preparation of Naivedyam at each festive function and my Mother always followed it, there was almost never a change in the menu. Though I love all these dishes, sometimes I do feel like trying out something else and serving God as deep in my mind, I feel he too gets bored of same old dishes. I may be wrong, but I love to do it. So many a times I make both, traditional as well as something tweaked or a new innovative dish of my own. Pitti Panchkadai / Panchakajjaya is a common one known in different names in different parts of the country. But everywhere it is prepared during festive times as Naivedyam offering to God. 

** In my community Pitti Panchakadayi/Panchakajjaya is mostly prepared in temples as distribution of the same is easier as it has a longer shelf life compared to the wet type jaggery- coconut addition ones’ These are available in paper packs during festive events and many a times it last minimum 10 days which makes it easier for devotee to take it home in case they are travelling. In homes, most of the time the gud poha, layi panchakadyi that is the one with wet churan is prepared. This last say for about maximum 2-3 days. My hubby loves this pitti panchakadayi as he feels it is less messy as it does not stick to the hands when offered. Also he being born and brought up in Mumbai, has come across them more often at friends places. I have posted a few before and as I mentioned above panchakadayi mean panch=5 ie that which has 5 ingredients in it though sometimes it does contain more, but 5 is must. There are festive days lined up, do try this out, it’s very easy and tasty too. 

** Here is the method of preparing "Whole Green Moong (Gram) Panchkadayi/ Panchakajjaya” … A simple Naivedyam … My Style … sure to be loved by all … 

** Ingredients : 

Whole Green Moong/ Green Gram : 1 cup 

Sesame Seeds/ White Til/ Ellu : 2 heaped tablespoon. 

Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 1 cup finely grated 

Sugar Powder/ Pitti Shakkar/ Sakre pitti : 1 cup (approx) 

Cardamom Powder/ Ellaichi/ Yella Pitti : 1/2 tsp 

Homemade melted Ghee/ Toop : 1 teaspoon. 

** Take a thick bottomed kadai/pan and roast whole green moong/ green gram on medium heat till it is evenly browned. I roasted it on my Air Fry machine, you can do so or MW it, but be careful with temperature settings. 

** Roast the sesame seeds for a few minutes or air fry the same and keep it aside cooled and ready. The Til should just get heated crisp and not change in color, so be careful. 

** When the green moong has cooled down completely, put it in mixer grinder and grind to a fine powder. Lastly add in the roasted Til and just pulse grind for a few seconds, to just get the Til crushed. Remove and put it in a bowl and keep aside ready. 

** Now in the same mixer add in fresh coconut gratings (white part of the coconut only) and the sugar and using pulse mode grind a few times, just to mix them both well and to crush the sugar to coarse powder consistency. 

** Note : Always use pulse mode for dry powdering mixtures or else the ingredients will start getting messy and oily. The heat produced with continuous grinding makes it sticky and the texture will not be maintained to a powder texture, so do be careful and do not hurry with this process. 

** Remove the coconut mixture and add it to the gram powder- sesame mixture in the bowl. Heat the ghee, when it melts remove and let it cool a bit and then add it to the mixture in bowl. 

** Add in cardamom powder and mix all together loosely. Do not apply pressure, just give a good stir till all the ingredients of the panchakadayi/ panchakajjaya are mixed in well. 

** "Whole Green Moong (Gram) Panchkadayi/ Panchakajjaya” is done and ready to be offered as Naivedyam to God and thereby distributed as prasadam among family, relatives, and friends. I prepared this as Naivedyam during first Shravana Masa Choodi Poojan day. 

** Do try this Prasadam / Naivedyam this festive season, it is not only easy to prepare but is also a very aromatic and tasty dish too. You can always prepare this ahead and store away in an air tight stainless steel box in fridge and it remains good. 

** Note : If you want to store for more days or want to prepare it well in advance of a few days then you can use desiccated coconut (kopra) readily available in store. Just roast them for a few minutes, but do not brown them and add it to the panchakadayi/ panchakajjaya in place of normal coconut and it remains good for almost 10 days. Today however I have used fresh coconut as the stores were closed due to lock down and I could not get the kopra/Dry coconut.