The Spirit of Diwali

Diwali, is one of my favorite festivals, in fact, my most favorite. Indian mythology suggests many stories that speak of the origin of this festival, but the underlying moral of every story is always the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance. Its the time of the year to connect (the right terminology in the cyber era!!) with all our friends and relatives...rejoice and reach out. Every street, shopping arcade, stalls, wear a festive look...candles, earthen diyas, fancy and designer diyas, paper lamps, electric lights, everything bright and shiny adorn every shop...its after all the festival of lights.... wide variety of Diwali hampers and gift parcels are all over the place. Its the gifting and splurging time of the year...after all Diwali is one of the widely celebrated festivals of India. All houses go through spring cleaning to welcome - Laksmhi - the Goddess of wealth and Prosperity. Lakshmi Pooja is performed in the evening and card parties are held in many houses. Every house is illuminated with lights...that is why it is called Diwali - "Rows of Lamps".


As kids, Diwali meant lots and lots of sweets and savories, which my mother would start preparing days in advance and by the time the D-day arrived it was time for her to make a fresh batch. Taking that tradition ahead, I love to make all my Diwali mithais at home. I am not preaching here and saying that you spend  all your time in kitchen making mithais for Diwali when the same is so readily available in innumerable shops, but Diwali is all about the sweet smell of ghee and sugar wafting through the house for days together when each batch gets consumed before the next one can make it through; the pleasure of having made something all by yourself and sharing it with friends... It reflects love and warmth that represents the very essence of any festive celebration. And spreading the same love and cheer...making it memorable for everyone around you. And so, its time to pull out those extra hours out of our hectic schedules and get that gas stove working overtime. And dont forget to share your home made goodies with your friends and see that glint in their eyes when they eat it and the satisfaction in your heart...




Fireworks have been an integral part of Diwali, though my encounters with firecrackers were limited to flower pots and sparklers, more because I was scared of crackers and the other noisy and fiery ones didn't really interest me as much as these; much to the disappointment of my father. But the neighborhood would be resplendent with the blasting noises and smoke from the firecrackers(pun intended). Know that there are more than 1000 units in Sivakasi (Small town in TamilNadu which supplies most or all of the crackers for Diwali), employing more that 40000 children in hazardous conditions all through the year to produce the amount of crackers that the whole country blows up in a couple of days during Diwali. I am not saying that we should shun away from crackers but limiting them to the bare minimum just to keep the festivities going is good idea. Or simply attend any community fire works show to get into the festive mood.

Celebrations definitely means a lot of new clothes and Diwali is the time to flaunt all your best clothes and accessories, who wouldn't want to....sigh!! And its time to deck up my house too...with diyas and rangolis made with flowers and the traditional Iyer Kolams with Rice flour and border it with the beautiful earthy red Kaavi (Geru) and decorate the rangolis all over with oil lamps of all sizes and shapes.

Down south, in TamilNadu, Diwali commemorates the victory of Lord Krishna over the demon Narakasura. Diwali starts early in the morning, before sunrise. The day before, the hearth is cleaned and decorated with traditional Kolams and getting it ready to heat up water for the auspicious oil bath. New clothes, fire crackers, sesame oil infused with pepper and beetle nut leaf, all sweets and savories, sandalwood paste and Kumkum are beautifully arranged. Oil bath is taken early in the morning, before sunrise. It is believed that River Ganga visits every house before sunrise thus facilitating the Ganga Snanam". 


For me, childhood memories of Diwali are all about early morning oil maasage and bath, new clothes, crackers, loads of sweets, visiting the temple, hot idli sambar and chutney for breakfast and a long afternoon siesta before we light diyas in the evening to welcome Goddess Lakshmi.


Wishing you all a very happy and Prosperous Diwali !!!

Vella Aval/Sweet Poha/Sweet Beaten Rice

Valle Aval or the Sweet Beaten Rice is signifies pure friendship between The Lord and his Devotee...Sudama and Lord Krishna...a humble offering made on Gokulashtami..

Sumptuousness guaranteed !!!

Ingredients:

1 cup Beaten Rice

3/4 cup Jaggery

1 tsp cardamom Powder

2 Tbsp Ghee

1/2 cup grated coconut

5-6 pieces Cashewnuts for garnish

Method:

Was and drain the beaten rice and keep aside. If the rice flakes are thick then soak them in water for 15 min and then drain to soften them. In a pan dissolve the jaggery in 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil. Once it thickens slightly ( about 4-5 min) add the beaten rice flakes and cook for 10 min till the liquid is absorbed. Add cardamom powder. fry the cashew nuts in ghee and add to the vella aval. Garnish with grated coconut.  Sumptuousness guaranteed !!!

ThenKhuzhal

Crunch, crunch and Munch away anytime...Thenkhuzal literally means honey tubes, meaning that these zigzag tubes have an inner tube through which you can blow air...

Ingredients:

3 Cups Raw Rice

1 cup Urad Dal (Black Gram Dal)

3/4 cup butter

1 tsp Asefoetida (Hing)

1 tsp Jeera

1 Whole Red Chilli (optional, only if you want to add a little spice, conventionally not added)

Salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast the Urad Dal to a light brown colour. Dry roast the chilli.

Grind the rice, dal and chilli in a flour mill to a fine powder. 

This mix can be made using larger proportions and stored for a month in an airtight container.So its ready to use whenever required.

Melt the butter. Pour the warm melted butter into the flour and make a dough of the flour along with the Jeera and asefoetida. Use just enough water to get a smooth and soft dough. Once the wet dough is made, dont leave it for a long time, make the thenkhuzal as soon as you can.

Heat oil in the pan/kadai for frying. Make round balls of the dough and press into thenkhuzal moulds (Chakli Moulds). Press into the hot oil. The moment the dough goes into the oil, it starts bubbling up. Once the bubbles settle down, turn the thenkhuzal over with a ladle. Remove from pan once golden brown in colour and strain on a kitchen towel. Once it cools down store in an airtight container.

Nei Appam / Fried Pancakes

Beautiful round, golden brown bunnies...Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside....just cant wait to pop them into my mouth and let the jaggery, ghee and rice melt in unison. 

You can make these soft rice and jaggery balls in an Appakaral or a regular frying pan. Appakaral is a broad frying pan with holes/deppresions in it to fry the appams.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw rice

1 tbsp wheat flour

1 cup crumbled jaggery ( if jaggery is darker/deep in colour is use only 3/4 cup)

1 tsp cardomom powder

Ghee/Oil for frying

Method:

Clean and soak the rice for 2-3 hours in water. 

Grind the rice to a smooth paste. 

Do not add too much water. Grind to a smooth and thick paste.

Add Wheat flour, cardomom powder, and all the jaggery. and blend again into a smooth paster.
The batter should not be too runny and should not be too thick. The jaggery also releases water while blending along with the rice.
Pour Ghee/Oil into the little depressions of the appakaral till half full.
Once the oil is hot pou the batter and fry till a brown crust is formed at the corners.
Flip it over with a skewer or knife and fry the other side till golden brown and crispy.

The Appams after flipping over.

Remove and drain the oil on a kitchen towel.
Serve Hot.

Gokulashtami

Gokulashtami, also known as Janmashtami or Krishna Jayanthi is the celebration of Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, according to Hindu Mythology. It is usually celebrated over two days, as Krishna was born at midnight. As a child, Gokulashtami always meant lots and lots to eat. But of course we had to share the work load with amma.... roll out the uppu cheedai urundais and kodubele..and they all had to be similar in size, that was the challenge :-). and my favorite ...draw chinna chinna padangal...divine footsteps...tiny little feet for Little Krishna, made with rice flour all over the house starting at the entrance of the house...signifying the beginning of all good things just like most religious practices do...it was very childishly satisfying to actually believe that a a little boy is going to step into our house at midnight, so I would make sure that the footsteps I made were perfect..I still love to make those footsteps, make them every year for Gokulashtami. And now I have two little Divine Krishnas of my own who make their own footsteps with the Kolum-Mavu.

Nei Appam, Uppu Cheedai, Vella Cheedai, Murrukku, ThenKhuzhal, Kodubelai and Kuchelar's Aval(Sudama's Beaten Rice)....Well, cant make all of these things this time....just the Nei Appam, ThenKhuzhal and the Aval....So Happy Gokulashtami to all of you...God Bless!! and the recipes will follow....in just a few hours more when my delicacies are ready to be for Naivedyam...offerings to God and then to be gorged upon by my little angels, not to forget the older one !!!!