Ugadi Pachadi: The essence of the festival

Ugadi Pachadi and its significance

Happiness and Sorrow are the curves of life and go hand-in-hand. This simple fact is synonymous with the celebration of the festival of Ugadi which signifies the start of a new year, the new season of Spring which is known by different names in different parts of India.

Various celebrations are done during this time and one of the most important parts of it is the Ugadi Pachadi or chutney. One might think that what special could a chutney be in the celebration of a Ugadi Festival.

Well, it’s not only important, but an essential part of the culture and celebration of the festival. But why so?

This question has many answers.

One of the reasons is that as the festival is the start of the Hindu month of Chaitra, it brings with it the various fruits and food items that are available at that time and offered to God and seek blessings for it.

Another reason is that, Ugadi is a celebration of life and as life has all its stages of happiness, grief, anger, fear and more, this pachadi/chutney combines all these and presents all of in one form.

It has all the flavors that are a part of taste and also a part of everyone’s life:

Sweet- Jaggery/Banana manifest happiness
Sour- Tamarind manifest disgust
Tangy- Mango manifest surprise
Bitter- Neem Flower manifest sadness
Spice- Green chilli/Red Chilli and manifest anger
Salty- Salt manifest fear.

All of these things combined in the required quantity bring out the most amazing and flavorful Ugadi Pachadi. It consists of:

Neem flower- 2-3 strands

3 tbsp new jaggery

1 tsp red chilli/green chilli/Pepper

⅓ tsp salt

1 tamarind (lemon sized)

½ mango(mamidi) chopped

Banana- half

Shredded Coconut, Raisins (optional)

Method:

To prepare this, you need to soak the tamarind in water for 15-20 mins. After that, mix some jaggery in the pulp. Add mango pieces, salt, chilli powder. Add the neem flowers and banana to it. Mix well.

There are some alternate ingredients too which people use depending on the taste they need and tradition followed in their house.

For example, Neem flowers are sometimes replaced with neem leaves or methi (fenugreek).

Jaggery is sometimes replaced by sugar, honey and other fruits like banana, green chillies and red chillies are sometimes replaced when using them. Tamarind is also sometimes replaced by lime juice.

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