What is Mahalaya Paksha ? A brief note ( Sept 18 - Oct - 2 ) 2024

The 15 days starting from Pournami in the month of Puratasi and ending with the new moon are known as Mahalaya Paksam. Mahalaya Paksam means 15 days for worshiping ancestors and paying due pitru debt to them.

It is believed that during these 15 days our ancestors stay on earth with us. If you give tarpanam on other new moons, only those whose name you mention will accept the darpanam and give blessings.

But if we offer Pitru tarpanam on Mahalaya Amavasi or Mahalaya Paksha, all our ancestors will come together and accept our tarpanam and give blessings.

In 2024, Pitru Paksha will start on Tuesday, September 18 and conclude on Wednesday, October 2. The commencement of the Purnima Tithi (Full Moon) marks the beginning of Pitru Paksha, and the end of the Amavasya Tithi (New Moon) signifies the end of Pitru Paksha. Mahalaya Amavasya 2024 is on October 02, WednesdayThis day also symbolizes the descent of Goddess Durga on Earth. This day is celebrated with the objective to pay honour and respect to the ancestors with immense devotion and fervour.

The beginning of Mahalaya ....Pitru Paksha are the days to offer homage and perform rituals to the departed souls .

According to Brahmpurana, before worshiping the Gods, a man should worship his ancestors because it is believed that the Gods are pleased with that.

Regarding cooking and foods during Mahalaya fortnight . These are broad general guidelines only. I have compiled according to our family custom , please follow the recipes keeping in mind your family practices. Dishes are usually the same though , so recipes for some of the popular ones have been given .

Our elders and ancestors have devised a healthy meal plan for the Mahalaya fortnight that cleanses and detoxifies our body if followed religiously .

The following are used and not used for Mahalaya .Rest according to ones convenience and family practices .

While strictly all days we may not be able to follow Mahalaya rules, we must try to follow at least on the Thithi day of srardham , and for last day Mahalaya Ammavasai, strictly follow all rules to get our ancestors blessings . Even if we cannot follow the rules for the whole fortnight, at least for Ammavasai we must adopt the practice .

Other days few ingredients like tomatoes, coriander leaves, green chillies can be used during the fortnight if unavoidable , again it is according to ones family practices only . Moong dal must be used for all cooking purposes .Onions and garlic strictly not allowed on any day during the fortnight .

wherever recipes call for chana dal esp in roasting , swap with moong dal

Asafoetida can be skipped, instead use grated ginger as flavoring agent .

Tomatoes can be swapped with gooseberries, lemons, raw mango esp in rasam.

pepper and cumin largely used and cooking flavors are like the foods cooked on shradham days , as it is assumed that our ancestors are present with us for the daily meals , so cook according to the shradham menu as much as possible .

Making vadai/ payasam everyday is again not practical , so keep it for thithi days and for Ammavasi day .

General dos and donts are given ,not complete list but this will do to get an idea .

Many simple kootu varoieties for Mahalaya menu or Ammavasai , can be prepared with a basic ground powder that is the key ingredient.

Cooking for shradham is the same , avoiding certain ingredients, keeping the dish simple yet very tasty .

A basic Kari podi is prepared by roasting and blending . Recipe is given below .

This podi is added to prepare all other dishes such as raw plantain Kari , poricha kootu , sambar , rasam . Usual podis in stock will not be used in these days . Strangely even though we prepare many dishes for Srardham , the cooking is faster and simpler without any compromise on taste .

Moong dal is used in place of Toor dal . Chana dal , red chilies , dhaniya , not used . Key ingredients are udad dal , pepper , cumin , sesame , coconut , curry leaves . Even red chilies are not used .

These will differ in some families . Only home made turmeric powder is used , and no asafoetida, Similarly very few vegetables are permitted and no English vegetables used . Every year when I cook for the srardham , I find cooking is easy and quick unlike ordinary days .

Moong dal is pressure cooked in bulk and a little of this is used in all dishes , finally some dal is left aside for preparing moong dal payasam . Basically all veggies are cooked and kept separately, each one is processed further by adding the Kari podi and Tempering is added .

The cooking is over ! Miscellaneous items like sesame jaggery balls , vadai , appam and other sweets and savoury according to family custom . Few pachadis are prepared , Thogayal and fresh pickles complete the shradham Samayal . .

I loved all the dishes that I am cooking for the fortnight. iam not fond of rice so much , during Mahalaya I have it without fail just to savour the different dishes .

Clearly our elders and ancestors have devised a menu for the fortnight that is detoxing and helps in metabolism with the changing seasons .each day is considered a day for the Pitr ( departed ones ) a meal comprising of at least one such dish is cooked.

Following not allowed for Mahalaya cooking

Beetroot/பீட்ருட்

Green chillies /பச்சைமிளகாய்

Drumsticks /முருங்கக்காய்

Kova kai/ ivy gourds / கோவக்காய்

asafoetida /பெருங்காயம்

tomatoes /தக்காளி

carrots /காரட்

green peas /பட்டாணி

.Brinjals/கத்தரிக்காய்

potatoes /உருளைகிழங்கு

Beans /பீன்ஸ்

Ladies fingers/okras /வெண்டைக்காய்

Turnips and radishes /நூக்கல்

Knolkhol / நூக்கல்

some varieties of keerai கீரை

cabbage and cauliflowers / முட்டகோஸ்/காலிஃபளவர்

chow chow /சொள சொள

Onions /வெங்காயம்

garlic /பூண்டு

Broccoli/ப்ரெக்கோலி

chow chow /சொள சொள

bottle gourds /doodhi /சுரக்காய்

white pumpkins /வெள்ளை பூசணி

Yellow pumpkins /மஞ்சள் பூசணி

some families will use both during Mahalaya , and skip for Ammvasai ..

chana dal /kadalaparuppu

sugar for sweets

turmeric powder from store

toor dal

boiled rice

parboiled rice

Permitted during Mahalaya

Banana stem/வாழத்தண்டு

Banana blossom/வாழைப்பூ

Raw plantain /வாழக்காய்

Broad beans /அவரக்காய்

sweet potatoes/சக்கரவள்ளி

yam /சேனை

Arbi/ colacassia /சேப்பங்கிழங்கு

Snakegourds /புடலங்காய்

yardlong beans /பயத்தங்காய்

Ginger/இஞ்சி

Gooseberries /amla நெல்லிக்காய்

raw mango/மாங்காய்

ginger/இஞ்சி

pepper/மிளகு

curry leaves /கரிவேப்பிலை

moong dal /பாசிப்பருப்பு

udad dal/உளூந்து

raw rice , including for meals and tiffin

wheat /கோதுமை

jaggery /வெல்லம்.

mango ginger /மாங்கா இஞ்சி

Bittergourds /பாரிக்காய்

பாகற்காய்

all freshly ground podis, rasam podi, sambar podi , curry podi

rock salt or powdered rock salt. Do not use podis from previous stock , but grind a fresh batch for the fortnight if not possible to grind a small qty every day .

Some recipe for Mahalaya .

vazhakkai podi

vazhakkai podimas

vazhakkai kari

banana stem kootu

banana stem pachadi

banana stem poriya

podalangai kootu

podalangai kari

podalangai vithai thogayal

avarakkai kari

avarakkai poricha kootu

Milagu jeera rasam

Pavakkai sambar

Pavakkai pitla

pavakkai kari

karuvepilai thogayal

karuvepilai kuzhambu

karuvepilai podi

Nellikai rasam

Pasi paruppu payasam / moong dal payasam

ulundh vadai /medu vadi

appam

Pumpkin mulakushayam

pumpkin kootu

cucumber pachadi

mathan pachadi /pumpkin pachadi

Ginger pachadi

mango pachadi

vepampoo pachadi

vendaya rasam

keerai molagootal

Note :

All the recipes have been created keeping in mind the norms for Mahalaya fortnight and Ammavasai , some recipes have been added for which you need to swap few ingredients , basic method remains same .

For instance, where chana dal is given , swap with moong dal .

Skip green chilies and red chilies if your family doesnt use them for Mahalaya, instead use pepper and ginger .

Use home made turmeric powder or skip entirely .

Skip asafoetida and use ginger if cooking for Mahalaya ammavasai .

use basic spice powder for all recipes if cooking for Mahalaya ammavasai , this recipe has been given in the video itself .

Recipe for the blended spice powder for use on Ammavasai and for Srardham

Dry roast

1/3 cup udad dal ,

1 heaped tbsp cumin ,

1 tbsp pepper ,

few curry leaves ,

1/2 cup grated coconut can be roasted and powdered with above but it will have short shelf life though it will be useful during the Mahalayha fortnight and can be used up , saves griding time also .

some families do not use coconut for ammavasai and for srardham so you have to make these changes and skip where mentioned .

Method

Roast all these till fragrant .

Then powder it fine . This is the only basic spice used in all Sraradha samayal ,for Ammavasai or for Mahalaya days , for all Kari , kootu , sambar and rasam . Increase spice and cumin according to your preference . Red chilies are not used so only pepper is the main spice . Again small variations may be there in different families , this is what we follow .

View the video for all recipes and method from my youtube channel

Arbi/chepankizhangu roast

View the video from my youtube channel for recipes and method

view this video from my youtube channel for recipes and method

View this recipe from my youtube channel

View this quick video from my youtube channel

Get these lunch combo recipes from my youtube channel

View these recipes from my Youtube channel

View this recipe from my youtube channel

vellai poosanikai kootu

View the recipe from my Youtube channel

Below is a playlist of all recipes for Mahalaya from my youtube channel

Ulundh vadai /medu vadai

Payatham paruppu payasam/pasi paruppu payasam/ moong dal payasam

Wheat rava kesari

Appam

Cucumber pachadi

Pumpkin pachadi

Mango pachadi

vepampoo pachadi /neem flower pachadi

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