Ugadi Pachadi or Bevu Bella Panakam is the first food that is consumed after offering it to God on Ugadi in form of naivedyam. I have already shared my first recipe (Mango Rice or Chitranna) for Ugadi 2021 and explained what Ugadi (Gudi Padwa) is. In short, it’s a New Year for the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Goa.
Here is my second recipe for Ugadi, the most popular and must-have during the Ugadi festival. It is a mixture of 6 tastes - sweet, sour, salt, spicy, bitter, and pungent which symbolizes that life is a mixture of anger, happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, and disgust or unpleasantness.
Jaggery - sweet taste comes from jaggery and it symbolizes joy and happiness. Tamarind - sour taste comes from tamarind and it symbolizes unpleasantness. Unripe or raw mangoes - astringent or pungent taste comes from raw mangoes which symbolizes surprise. Neem flowers - bitter taste comes from neem flower which symbolizes sadness. Pepper powder - spicy, hot taste comes from pepper powder which symbolizes anger. Salt - salty taste comes from salt which symbolizes unknown fear. There is no proportion for this recipe. Adjust all the spices to your taste.
Soak the tamarind in hot water till it softens. Add jaggery to another cup of water and stir till it melts. Filter jaggery water through a strainer into a bowl to remove any impurities. Using the same strainer filter the tamarind pulp to the same bowl as jaggery. To this add neem flower, salt, pepper powder, and raw mangoes. Ugadi Pachadi is ready. Feel free to add more or less of these six ingredients to water and mix. Offer to God in form of naivedyam and serve this to your family and friends.
If you live outside India or if fresh neem flowers are unavailable where you stay, simply add dried neem leaves or any bitter-tasting ingredient like methi seeds (fenugreek) or methi powder. If you don’t prefer adding raw mango chunks, you can grind it and add it along with tamarind water. Dry fruits, coconut chunks, and whole spices can be added to enhance the flavor of the drink if required. Instead of soaking tamarind in hot water, you can even use tamarind pulp if desired.
Mango Rice or Mavinakayi Chitranna Mango Vermicelli kheer (Semiya Payasam) Rice Kesari bath Curd Rice Puliyogare Coconut Rice Jaggery Rice Lemon Rice Moong Dal Khichdi Ghee Rice Doodhpak or Rice Kheer Obbattu / Ubbati / Puran Poli
Stay tuned guys. Coming up next are some more coastal Karnataka (Udupi and Mangalore Konkani recipes) for Ugadi.
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If you like this pachadi or panakam recipe,
Don’t miss to check out some of my favorite and delicious Indian desserts and sweets (meetha or mithai) to try this festival season or any time of the year. For more recent updates, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter. Click below to save it on Pinterest
