Find a curated collection of 50 popular recipes that you can make for Ugadi festival. Ugadi is one of the most important festival celebrated in the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This year Ugadi is on 13 April 2021.
What is Ugadi Festival
Ugadi is celebrated as a new year by the people of the Telugu and Kannada communities in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. In Maharashtra, this new year festival is known as Gudi Padwa.
One of the most important dish that is made during Ugadi is Ugadi Pachadi. Ugadi pachadi signifies all the six tastes – sweet, salty, spicy, sour, astringent and bitter.
The six ingredients included in making Ugadi pachadi have these one taste in each one of them. These six tastes correspond to the six emotions of life which everyone goes through – joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise.
In Karnataka, a mixture of neem leaves and jaggery is consumed. This is known as bevu bella, where ‘bevu’ means neem flowers and ‘bella’ means jaggery in kannada language.
Apart from Ugadi pachadi other sweets and snacks are also made. Here in this collection I have shared recipes that you can make for Ugadi festival. I have divided the collection list into the popular ugadi recipes, sweets that you can make for ugadi festival and lunch and dinner ideas.
Wishing all who celebrate a Happy Ugadi.
Note that some recipes may have onions and garlic. Omit adding onions and garlic if you make a satvik meal or if you plan to offer the food to the deities.
50 Ugadi Recipes
Essential and Popular
Find below some of the essential and popular recipes for this festival. This section includes sweets, savories as well as rice based dishes.
Easy
10 mins
Ugadi pachadi is one of the most important dish that is made during Ugadi festival. It is a festive food drink containing six ingredients having the six tastes. Ugadi pachadi comprises of six tastes that correspond with the six emotions of life.
40 mins
Poornam boorelu – deep fried snack made with a stuffing of chana dal+jaggery and coated with rice+urad dal batter.
Easy
25 mins
Lemon Rice also known as chitranna or nimmakaya pulihora is a crunchy, flavorful and tangy rice dish that is easy to make and tastes so good.
20 mins
Curd rice or thayir sadam is a popular South Indian rice variety that is served with a South Indian meal or South Indian thali. This curd rice recipe is my go to method and one I often make as it is a favorite with my family. Vegan yogurt made from cashew milk, almond milk or coconut milk can be used instead of dairy curd.
Easy
20 mins
Sweet Pongal or sakkarai pongal is a creamy, sweet festive dish made with rice, mung lentils, jaggery and flavored with cardamoms, dry fruits and ghee.
1 hr
Paal payasam is a simple South Indian kheer made with rice and milk.
1 hr
Puliyodharai is a popular South Indian recipe of sour and spiced rice.
Moderate
25 mins
Rava kesari is a delicious melt in the mouth sweet made with rava or suji (semolina), ghee, dry fruits and saffron. It is a popular South Indian sweet and can be easily made in less time.
Moderate
4 hrs 40 mins
Medu vada are crisp and fried doughnut shaped fritters made with black gram (urad dal), herbs and spices. These urad dal vada are also known as Garelu in Andhra, Uzhunnu Vada in Kerala, Uddina Vada in Kannada and Medhu Vadai, Ulundu Vadai in Tamil.
20 mins
Rava kesari bath recipe – rich Karnataka style sweet made with rava (cream of wheat), sugar, dry fruits and ghee
Some More Sweets
We all love to have sweets during festivals. Right? There are so many sweets that you can make for the ugadi festival.
I have compiled below some more South Indian sweets recipes. While some are a breeze to make, some take more time and are not so easy.
Depending on your schedule and ingredient availability, choose any recipe that is the perfect fit for you.
Easy
20 mins
Semiya payasam is a creamy, sweet vermicelli pudding from the South Indian cuisine. This cardamom scented vermicelli payasam recipe comes together in 20 minutes and can be made by beginners too.
Moderate
15 mins
Make coconut ladoo with three recipes. The first one is a quick 3 ingredient recipe made with fresh coconut, milkmaid and cardamom powder. The second recipe has 2 ingredients – desiccated coconut and condensed milk. The third recipe is made with desiccated coconut and sugar.
Moderate
30 mins
An easy method to make rava laddu for Diwali or any festival. This rava ladoo also known as suji ke laddu is made with rava (sooji or semolina), coconut, powdered sugar, dry fruits and ghee.
Moderate
30 mins
7 cup burfi is a easy and delicious South Indian sweet made with gram flour, ghee, fresh coconut, milk and sugar. It is also known as 7 cup cake or 7 cups sweet as it is made with 7 measures of ingredients.
1 hr 25 mins
Easy and tasty coconut burfi recipe made with condensed milk and desiccated coconut.
Difficult
25 mins
Mysore pak is a popular and super delicious Indian sweet from the city of mysore. Mysore pak is made with gram flour, ghee and sugar.
Difficult
35 mins
Boondi laddu is a popular Indian sweet made by combining lovely little bits of fried and sugar-soaked batter (made with gram flour) with seeds and fragrant spices. Each bite is a delightful blend of smooth, soft, and melt-in-the mouth texture.
Moderate
1 hr 5 mins
Badam ka halwa is a rich, luxuruous and popular South Indian style delicious halwa made with blanched almonds, ghee and sugar. This recipe gives you one of best almond halwa that you can make.
15 mins
Aval laddu are delicious ladoo made with thick poha (flattened rice or parched rice), jaggery and ghee.
20 mins
Til gud ke ladoo is easy recipe of delicious ladoos made with sesame seeds, peanuts, desiccated coconut and jaggery.
Easy
35 mins
Sabudana kheer is a sweet pudding made with tapioca pearls or sabudana, milk and sugar.
5 hrs
Puran poli is a sweet flatbread stuffed with a sweet lentil filling made from skinned spilt bengal gram/chana dal and jaggery.
1 hr 30 mins
Bobbatlu or Holige or obbattu are sweet flat breads made with chana dal stuffing or tuvar dal stuffing. This bobbatlu recipe is one of the best bobbatlu made with a spiced chana dal stuffing.
35 mins
These are instant appams made with whole wheat flour, jaggery and bananas.
20 mins
Delicious creamy moong dal payasam made with yellow moong lentils, jaggery and coconut milk.
20 mins
Delicious poha kheer or payasam made with flattened rice, ghee and milk.
Snacks and Savories
Some of the snacks listed below can be made a day ahead like murukku, thattai, kara boondi, ribbon pakoda and mixture.
30 mins
Punugulu are spiced and crisp fritters made from idli dosa batter. Quick snack from the Andhra cuisine.
Difficult
50 mins
Murukku is a popular South Indian crunchy and crispy snack made with rice flour and lentil flour. It is also known as murukulu, chakralu and jantikalu in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
30 mins
Butter murukku is a South Indian style murukku made with butter & rice flour.
40 mins
Thattai are deep-fried crispy rice crackers served as a snack and made during festivals like krishna jayanthi (gokulashtmi) or Diwali. Thattai are made with rice flour, spices and herbs having a spiced, crunchy and crisp taste.
45 mins
Kara boondi is a spiced version of boondi and a mixture consisting of boondi, peanuts, cashews, curry leaves and a few spices.
1 hr 15 mins
Madras mixture recipe – one of the popular South Indian snacks made during Diwali is this South Indian mixture, which is basically a mix of various edible ingredients, nuts and dry fruits. It is also called as omapodi mixture.
30 mins
Ribbon pakoda are fried crisp ribbon shaped savory snack. They are easy to prepare and tastes good too. they are also known as ribbon murukku or ola pakoda or nada thenkuzhal.
Moderate
2 hrs 35 mins
Dal Vada also known as Parippu Vada or Chana Dal Vada are savory, spiced, crunchy fritters that are a popular street food in South India. Gluten-free and vegan.
6 hrs 40 mins
mix dal vada recipe
Mixed dal vada recipe – tasty vadas made from urad dal (black gram) or moong dal (green gram).
Moderate
8 hrs 30 mins
Mysore bonda also known as Mysore Bajji is a popular South Indian snack made with lentils, fresh herbs and vibrant spices. The ingredients are combined to create a thick batter, and are then deep fried to make crisp, soft and fluffy fritters.
20 mins
Easy recipe of South Indian sweet corn sundal. sundals are South Indian based dishes made with a variety of legumes and is prepared during Ganesh Chaturthi or Navratri festival.
Moderate
30 mins
This mtr style khara bath is a savory, smooth and soft khara bhath made with mix veggies.
Moderate
25 mins
Semiya upma is a delicious upma variant made with vermicelli, aromatics, spices, cashews and herbs. This easy vermicelli recipe is also called as vermicelli upma and has unique flavors and textures.
Lunch or Dinner Ideas
Listed below are some traditional South Indian rice recipes that are made during various festivals.
40 mins
This mango rice recipe is a spiced, tempered and tangy rice dish made from raw mangoes.
Moderate
40 mins
Coconut rice is a light, tasty, savory South Indian rice variant made with fresh grated coconut, lentils, herbs and spices. This nutty and mild rice based dish is also known as Thengai Sadam in Tamil language. The recipe is vegan and for a gluten-free version, easily skip adding asafetida.
1 hr 20 mins
Bisi bele bath is a delicious and healthy complete meal of rice, lentils and vegetables. Bisibelebath is one of the popular recipes from the Karnataka cuisine.
50 mins
Vangi bath is a delicious recipe of brinjal rice from the Karnataka cuisine. This Vangi bath recipe makes use of vangi bath masala powder and tamarind pulp as two of the main ingredients.
Moderate
50 mins
Sambar rice or sambar sadam is an easy to prepare delicious one pot meal. Making sambar rice is similar to making bisi bele bath.
Moderate
40 mins
Coconut Milk Rice is a mild, fragrant pulao made with coconut milk, onions, herbs, spices and mixed vegetables. What’s best is the fact that it’s not just vegetarian, but a vegan-friendly recipe too.
40 mins
Gutti vankaya is a stuffed brinjal curry from the Andhra cuisine.
40 mins
Mysore rasam is a spiced and delicious rasam variety made with lentils and ground spices+coconut.
Moderate
40 mins
This Tomato bath is a delicious, tangy and spiced rice based dish from the Karnataka cuisine. The recipe is made with a ground paste of tomatoes, coconut, spices and herbs. Addition of this ground masala makes the rice really delicious and flavorful.
30 mins
Peanut rice is a tasty South Indian rice variety made with roasted peanut powder, lentils and spices.
35 mins
Sesame rice is an easy and delicious rice recipe made with ground sesame seeds. It is also known as ellu sadam in tamil language where ellu means sesame seeds and sadam means rice.
This ugadi recipes post from the archives (March 2017) has been republished and updated on 12 April.
ur recipes are wonderful ,dassana.i am a big fan of yours!
thank you dr shruti. glad to know. wish you a happy ugadi festival.
Recipies are very nice
thanks vasundhara.
Hi,
Looks Colourful & Tasty Traditional Foods sharing with us
Thanks & Regards
Bavani
Looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing Indian food recipes. I really loved your site. Keep going…I will be surfing around all your post…
thanks dheepika.