Kolam by Sudha Balaji

Big kolam with dots for competitions, festivals, functions  This rangoli or muggulu are suitable for New Year , Sankranti muggulu or Pongal kolam with dots when we draw big and beautiful designs 17 dots kolam designs - birds rangoli designs for competitions Kolam designs with big  dot grid are commonly used during Margazhi  season.  One such common kolam  , my kolam is slightly modified when compared with the original version.   The theme is using a pair of birds on all four sides with the remaining dots being used up with some simple patterns like flowers, leaves. I have retained the original birds but have modified the other patterns.  We can also have  nestlings too in this kolam.  The dot grid is 17 to 1. 17 dots kolam designs - birds rangoli designs for competitions step by step with a few images , it is simple with repetitive patterns  on all four sides and as usual the remaining dots  If you are looking for 17 dots rango...

Medium size kolam  designs for New Year , Bhogi and Pongal festivals  Kolam designs above 15 dots may ( can ) be classified under an intermediate category, they are neither small nor are they very big.   They can be  drawn for festivals like Margazhi, Ugadi or at the entrance of kalyana mantap ( wedding hall ) .   One such design below.  It is with a 15 dot to 8 dot grid ( The dots are idukku pulli type - meaning that after a row of dots is placed the next one is placed between the previous row of dots and below ( or above ).  Consequently, the number of dots reduce by one in each row - 15, 14, 13, 12 till 8 dots in this case.   I have shared the plain and white kolam.  White kolam designs are beautiful in their own way and are widely used in Tamil Nadu, daily.  In the kolam with colours I have chosen to hide the ribs drawn on the floral patterns by adding the colours.  We can also add the ribs again after filling the colours...

 Rangoli sans dots as the name suggests is all about rangoli without dots.  Some of the designs created by me few years back are shared here.   Free hand designs test our imagination. While white kolam can be drawn for daily purpose rangoli , we can draw the colourful ones for festivals like New Year. If you are looking for simple rangoli designs without colours for beginners that are new too these rangolis  may be the ones you are looking for.  Obviously most. kolam drawn by me are new particularly without chukki type  because they are all created by me . Some of them spontaneously others are recorded in many notebooks .  " Every time you come up with something new and different "  This is a sample feedback from one of my social media accounts.  The reason is I spend my afternoons practising , creating  Addition of colours have been shown in the images below.  The background has not been filled.  If time permits choose...

  Simple rangoli motifs or patterns A collection of easy motifs that can be used in rangoli or kolam . The first image shows the patterns I regularly use in the free hand kolam I draw and share.  It is not a comprehensive collection. Spirals, paisleys , floral petals of various shapes, leaves , tendrils , flower designs , birds , dots , small lines are some of the common patterns. I have shown the close up of some the motifs used in the other images shared in this post.  In free hand rangoli we have patterns drawn  invariably on the periphery of the rangoli .  At the centre we can use the flower designs.  Congruity in selection comes with experience. Floral petals can be with one , two or three lobes.  We can also have clover shaped patterns.  The options are infinite. One pic shows how to draw bird motifs with single line and 2 line technique.  We can represent complicated ideas through simple patterns.  The feet of Lord Krishna or Godd...

I wanted to create a simple rangoli with deepam ( or lamp designs ).  After several small designs I wanted to try a bigger design .  Hence the dot pattern is 15 to 1 The first image , a white kolam step shows how the outer designs are created. I think this one image will suffice to get an idea. This is also a simple kolam but again with influence of free hand rangolis in the motifs on either side of the lamps. As seen in the second picture it is beautiful without filling the central space with colours. for this activity we  need 10 to 15 minutes   Filling up the gaps will take some time and demands  patience! Two pics showing before and after filling with rangoli colours. Karthigai Deepam in Tamil Nadu is somewhat similar to Diwali celebrations particularly lighting diyas ( for those who are not aware ) There is a very good collection of traditional kolam designs and recipes for this festival in this blog. 

  Naivedyam for Navarathri and Fridays - Paal poli  The dough can be prepared with rava or maida ,  I have used rava in this post Chiroti rava is preferable .  If ordinary rava is used dry grind  in a mixer  Add a small pinch of salt , knead the dough, use a wet cloth to cover  Let the dough absorb the water for at least 2 hours Using a rolling pin roll the dough into small circular pieces Then using a fork pierce the flattened dough at a few places so that the holes are through This will prevent air from getting trapped in the poori when frying ( use of Physics, in cooking ! ) Fry the pooris , pressing them while frying to remove any little  air that may be inside The flattened poori is soaked in boiled milk Milk  is kept ready by boiling with  sugar , cardamom powder and saffron Let the  pooris soak for a few minutes, then  remove them. Garnish with pistachios , cashews and almonds for plating A tempting recipe for Diwali ...

For  ten ladies are invited for Navaratri kolu we need half kilogram kadalai paruppu or bengal gram.  Soak for 30 minutes or for 45 minutes if sufficient time is available.    Since other sundal varieties require 12 hours soaking this can qualify as a quick sundal recipe too.   The soaked kadalai paruppu  can be cooked separately in a vessel adding  water for cooking or in a pressure cooker.  ( in a pressure cooker allow just two whistles ). In a vessel take two  table spoons of cooking oil,  one teaspoon mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, two medium size  red chillies and curry leaves.  Add the cooked bengal gram after removing excess water.  Add salt to taste.  Cook till moisture is removed and this will be for few minutes .  Adding grated coconut enhances the taste Thirty to forty year ago sundal was distributed to guests in pottalam as we call it.  Now we  distribute it through ziploc...