Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Festival of the month Recipes
Dish: Barley Pulihora

In AP, where I grew up it is celebrated for 3 days. The first day is called ‘Bhogi‘ when at dawn, people light a bonfire with wood logs and other solid fuels, representing the disposal of old habits, vices and so on. In the evening, infants and children are showered with Regi pallu (Indian jujube fruit). This is believed to wade of any evil from the kids. It is a time for the family to get together.

Second day is ‘Makara sankranthi‘ which is the actual day of the festival when people pray to god and make beautiful, colorful and ornate drawings on the ground with chalk or flour, called ‘muggu’ or ‘rangoli’ in front of the homes. A lot of traditional dishes are made on this day.
Third day is ‘Kanuma‘ and this day is really special for the farmers because it is the day of praying and showcasing their cattle with honor. Kite flying is usually associated with sankranthi, the sky is adorned with colorful kites making it a scene to watch.


Barley Pulihora
Ingredients
- 1 cup Barley Pearl
- 1 tbsp Chana dal
- 1 tbsp Urad dal
- 2 tsps Mustard Seeds
- 2 ~ 3 Chilies Green
- 1 Ginger " piece, finely grated
- 2 tbsps Peanuts
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 2 tbsps Lemon juice
- To taste Salt
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida / Hing
- 8 ~ 10 Curry leaves
Instructions
- Cook Barley: Combine barley, pinch of turmeric, salt and 21/2 cups of water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer till barley is tender, about 35~45 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
- Heat 2tbsp oil in a pan, add chana, urad dal, peanuts and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, add asafoetida, curry leaves and green chilies, cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tempering to the cooked barley and season with salt. Add lemon juice and mix well to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Priya Suresh
Such a healthy and very interesting pulihora, just love the way you prepared this dish with this most hated whole grain.
rajani
Good to read about Makar Sankranti. Its sounds very much like Pongal. Lovely clicks as usual and I remember that bowl! 🙂
Gayathri's Cook Spot
I have never tried out barley for reice. This twist to lemon rice looks fabulous..
vaishali sabnani
Wow ! That’s a beautiful bowl ! The festival of Makar Sankranti has lots of traditional dishes, this one is new for me .
Kalyani
i am soooooo making this immdly !! using barley instead of rice is so healthy !! Nice to know we have similar traditions for sankranti /pongal including the Kanu festival 🙂
Srivalli
What a wonderful twist pavani..the bowl looks so delicious!
Sapana Behl
Barley pulihora looks wonderful and the clicks needless to say are always more beautiful.
Nalini's Kitchen
Barely pulihora sounds so festive and great write up about sankaranti festival..
Harini-Jaya Rupanagudi
Loved the perfectly cooked barley in the pictures. Super healthy and filling too.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I am definitely making this! Love the grains of barley 🙂
Suma Gandlur
I read the posts in the reverse order and loved all your festival related traditional dishes getting a makeover.
veena krishnakumar
I have bookmarked this , probably for the next edition. Love the clicks!!