Durga temple standardises ‘dittam’ for prasadam

Laddu and pulihora in great demand during Dasara

The Kanaka Durga temple officials have givern different sets of ‘dittam’to the cooks.

No devotee visiting the Kanaka Durga temple returns home without tasting pulihora (tamarind rice) and purchasing laddus.

The ‘prasadams’ are prepared as per the ‘dittam’, or prescribed proportion of ingredients, for many years. Changes have been made to it many a time to meet the increasing demand.

Trial-and-error method

As part of efforts to standardise the ‘dittam’ for laddu, pulihora, and chakkera pongali , the devasthanam authorities, adopting the trial-and-error method, gave the cooks different sets of ‘dittam’. The ‘prasadams’ thus prepared were distributed among the employees for their comments and suggestions, basing on which the ‘dittam’ was standardised, the temple officials say.

As per the standard approved by the Endowments Commissioner, the following ingredients are used to make 516

laddus , each weighing 80 gm: ghee 6 kg; gram flour ( senaga pindi ) 10 kg; sugar 20 kg; cashew 750 gm; raisins ( kismis or endu draksha ) 1/2 kg; cardamom 75 gm; nutmegs ( jajikaya ) 15 gm; and edible camphor 15 gm. Prior to 2009, the temple used 30 kg sugar, 1/2 kg cashew and 15 kg gram flour to make laddus .

Similarly, the ‘dittam’ for

pulihora is as follows: rice 10 kg; bengal gram 1/2 kg; tamarind 1/2 kg; red chillies 200 gm; oil 15 kg; and jaggery 60 gm to prepare 230 packets, each weighing 150 gm. “In fact,

laddu has been the mainstay. In view of this, the devasthanam has decided to further standardise its dittam,” a senior official says.

The management has changed the size of the kalai (utensil) used in the preparation of the prasadam to make it easy to handle. Earlier, 730 laddus used to be prepared in one kalai . Now, 516 laddus can be prepared.