Ugadi Pachadi | Shadruchulu

The term Ugadi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Yugadi' where 'Yug' means age and 'Adi' means beginning. Ugadi is the beginning of New year for the people of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and the Konkan areas. It is the New Year according to the Hindu calendar. The first month of the year is called Chaitra and Ugadi is the first day of Chaitra. The festival is called Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra.

According to the Hindu mythology, Lord Brahma started the process of creation on this day. Hence Ugadi is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over South India. The Ugadi day marks the advent of the spring season which signifies the beginning of new life as the trees start bearing flowers and fruits.

The festival usually falls in March or April. This year, the festival falls on April 8 which is Friday. The pratipada tithi begins on April 7 at 4:53 PM and ends on April 8 at 1:05 PM.

A new year is a new beginning for a lot of things. People start their new business or any new investment or buy new property on this day because it is considered auspicious.

Likewise another most important ritual of Ugadi is preparing a special kind of chutney known as the Ugadi Pachadi or Shadruchulu. It is a must have item on the Ugadi menu. 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 facts of life.

So, apart from being a tasty dish, the Ugadi Pachadi is significant in many other ways. Do you want to know about the significance of Ugadi Pachadi? Then read on.

Bitterness The bitter taste of the Pachadi comes from the neem flowers. The bitter taste are the unhappy moments of life. 

Sweetness The sweet taste comes from the jaggery. The sweet taste are the happy moments of life.

Tangy The tangy taste of the Pachadi is from the unripe mango. Ugadi marks the beginning of the mango season. Hence mango represents the surprise element of our life and that a person should always be prepared for it.

Spicy The spicy taste comes from the red chilli powder. It represents the angry moments in life.

Salty The salt represents the taste of life. The salty moments are necessary to make our lives interesting.

Sour Tamarind adds the sour taste to the Pachadi. It represents the sour moments of life which along with other flavours make our lives worth living.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Neem flowers

1 tbsp Jaggery

1/4 cup unripe mango pieces

1 tsp chilly powder

1 tsp salt

small lemon size tamarind

1 cup water

Instructions

1. Soak the tamarind in little water and make it into paste.
2. Take 1 cup water in a bowl, add neem flowers, jaggery, mango pieces, chilly powder, salt and the tamarind paste.
3. Mix it well, and keep it for naivedyam to god. and later serve.