Ugadi pachadi –Andhra cuisine

Ugadi is the first day of New Year in Andhra, Karnataka, Telangana and celebrated as Gudipadwa in Maharashtra. Ugadi Pachadi recipe symbolizes the six tastes and emotions in life. Ugadi, popularly known as Yugadi, is the Telugu and Kannada New Year ceremony and is celebrated with fervour and gaiety across the southern regions of India.

In Maharashtra, people celebrate Ugadi as Gudi Padwa marking the same significance on the same day. The festival is celebrated on the first day of the month of Chaitra and marks the first of the calendar new year.

Significance Today we are celebrating Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day, which is the first festival of our Telugu calendar and the first big festival that comes after Sankaranti.Our Andhra festival is known by different names in different states of India like “Gudi Padwa” in Maharashtra and “Ugadi” in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In India, Andhra Pradesh ‘Ugadi’ is a festival. People from wide corners, celebrate this festival as a New Year’s Day celebration of Hindus. It is celebrated in Telangana also. In Karnataka, this “Ugadi” festival is also trendy.The same day is celebrated as the New Year by Hindus in various regions of the country. For instance, it is called Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra. People from Sindh are called Sindhis. They also celebrate a same-day festival called “Chetri Chand” which means the beginning of the new year according to their calendar.On the same day in Manipur, the same day celebration is held by Manipuri’s called “Sajibu Nongma Pānba”. It is also a New Year celebration by their calendar. In Indonesia and Bali, the Hindu people also celebrate the same day festival called “Nyepi”.

Six tastes of life

It is a tasty dish made with a lot of healthy ingredients. The Pachadi has six different tastes assimilated in it- sweet, salty, bitter, tangy, spicy and sour. All of these tastes represents the different facets of life.ach ingredient denotes the six tastes of life:

Sadness – Neem Buds/Flowers for its bitterness

Happiness – Jaggery and ripe banana pieces for sweetness

Anger – Green Chilli/Pepper for its hot tast

Fear – Salt for saltiness

Disgust – Tamarind Juice for its sournes

Surprise – Unripened Mango for its tanginess

Way of Celebration“Yugadi” is a word taken from Sanskrit. The meaning of this word is “ the beginning of a new era “.the decoration of mango leaves on the door is called “Torana” and does mugullus called as Rangolis before the house.It combines all the flavors – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and hot (spicy). In the Telugu and Kannada Hindu traditions, it is a sign that all the flavors of the experience to use in the coming New Year and more. 

The people clean houses and they go to the temple and praying for a prosperous life. People of these states celebrated this festival with their friends and relatives, friend and family by giving each other gifts, clothes, and many decorative items, etc. In Karnataka, the festival is celebrated for ages.Yugadi or Ugadi is the first day of the “Chaitra Purification Padaayami” or the bright half of the Chaitra of the Indian month. The houses were well cleaned. For the festival, people buy new clothes, clothes, and new things and decorate their homes with fresh mango leaves. 

Mango leaves and coconut are considered sacred in the Hindu tradition and are used in Ugadi. People clean the front of their house with water and then make colorful floral designs. People pray in temples. During this festival, people make Hindu meals with tamarind paste, neem flowers, brown sugar or sweet jaggery, salt and sometimes mangoes. It is a symbolic reminder of the multiple stages of life that people expect it in the New Year.

The doorways of our homes are adorned with mango leaves which signifies prosperity and general well-being.But the most unique and significant tradition of Ugadi is beginning the new year with savoring a unique flavored pachadi (chutney) that epitomizes the spirit of Ugadi called "Ugadi Pachadi",with sweet,sour,pungent and bitter tastes (shadhruchulu or six tastes). 

Dishes made during the festive day

They prepare special foods with the use of raw mango like papppu maamidikaaya,pulihora,bobattulu,garellumaamidi pulihora and maamidi kobari pachadi

 Nutritional Information

Neem:

Neem helps to treat various skin infections, malaria, viral fever and diabetes.It also kills intestinal parasites.

Raw Mango:

It provides relief from acidity and chest burn and improves the elasticity of blood vessel

Jaggery:

It detoxifies the liver by flushing out harmful toxins from the body. It is loaded with anti oxidants selenium and zinc, which prevents the free radical damage and fights against infections.

Tamarind:

It reduces inflammation throughout the body, improves skin condition and lowers cholesterol.

Prep  time	Cooking time	Serves
15 mins	10 mins	2 persons

Recipe Course:  Chutney varieties

Cuisine: Andhra cuisine 

Ingredients Jaggery -3 tbsp. Tamarind pulp -1 tbsp. Raw mango pieces -2 tbsp. Neem flowers -1 tbsp. Red chilli powder or pepper powder -2 tsp Salt –to taste Water -1.5 cups

Ingredients of Andhra Ugadi Pachadi represent following Emotions

·        Jaggery And Banana Pieces – Sweetness – Happiness

·        Tamarind – Sour – Disgust

·        Raw Mango – Tang – Surprise

·        Neem Flowers – Bitterness – Sadness

·        Red chilies or pepper powder – Hot – Anger

·        Salt – Salty – Fear

How to make ugadi pachadi

1. Separate the neem flowers from the leaf and keep aside

2.Keep all the ingredients ready

3. The tamarind is soaked in warm water till it softens.Keep all the ingredients ready.

4.Add the jaggery to another one cup of water and wait till it melts and strain and keep aside.Combine both waters and start the procedure

5.First add the raw mango pieces to the tamarind water. Each home has its own version of preparing the ugadi pachadi but the main ingredients (reflecting all the six flavors).

6.Take this neem flower and add it to the tamarind and mango water. 

7.Now add chilli powder and Mix well.Finally add salt 

8.Enjoy the Ugadi Pachadi.

Notes

You can also add small pieces of sugarcane, pieces of ripe banana,putanaala pappu(roasted channa dal) along with the above ingredients

The flavors of the Ugadi Pachadi signifies that the mixture of bitter margosa flowers and sweet jaggery reflect the myriad facets of life, both joy and sorrow and prepares one to face both good and bad in the year to come.