Tag Archives: Diwali

Happy Diwali

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The house is clean and sparkling
The lamps are ready to be lit and company charming
The doorway is adorned with beautiful patterns
The house is all lit up with flickering lanterns

Wake up early to throng the temples
Give thanks to the Lord with plates of offerings
It’s time to visit family and friends
Time to treat them to yummy goodies and presents

It’s time to break out the new clothes
Pretty as a picture, you preen and pose
The dazzling array of colours all around you
Portends happiness anew

But in all these moments of happiness and joy
Give a thought to those who are in sadness and misery
Make time for them, give them a reason to smile
Because that’s what makes life good and worthwhile

Diwali is the festival of light and happiness
That’s what makes it so auspicious
Celebrating with friends, relatives and family
Here’s wishing you all a very HAPPY DIWALI!

Diwali Recipes: 7 Cup Cake

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This is another traditional tambram recipe and which is one of my go-to recipes when I need to make something quickly. It does take a bit of time to make, but the efforts are super worth it! The ingredients are given as cups which is where the name of the recipe came from, but essentially it’s just a measure. It doesn’t matter how big your cup size is, just use the same amount for all the ingredients and your cake or barfi will come out fab!

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Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chickpea flour or besan
  • 1 cup ghee
  • 1 cup grated coconut (you can fresh or frozen, I’ve used fresh for this recipe)
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 3 cups Sugar

Method:

  • Take a big plate or cake tin and grease it slightly. Or, you could lightly spray it with oil and then put baking paper over to completely cover it, this reduces the amount of ghee used in the recipe slightly.
  • Fry the chickpea flour or besan in a dry pan and do not overfry it. Stop when it starts changing colour. At this point, add the coconut, sugar and milk to the pan and continue stirring.
  • When the sugar starts to dissolve, add the ghee and keep stirring. You will need to keep stirring the pan, so that the mixture does not catch in the bottom.
  • After about 15 minutes (more or less depending on your quantity), the mixture will start leaving the sides of the pan. At this point, take a few drops and put it in your greased plate. If it stays in shape, it is ready, otherwise continue stirring and repeating this step till you get to this point.
  • Switch off the gas and pour it into your prepared greased plate. Using a clean spatula, level the mixture and make it smooth. Let it cool for a while and when still slightly warm, lightly score lines in the mixture with a knife or pizza cutter. You could cut squares or diamonds in any size. Let it cool completely before transferring to an airtight container.

This should be good for a week or so outside and around 2 weeks or so inside the fridge.

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Diwali Recipes: Coconut Barfi

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Another typical recipe, this one also needs a good bit of stirring so a good arms workout with this one!

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups grated coconut
  • 1.5 cups Sugar
  • ½ tsp Cardamom Powder
  • 1 cup Water

Method:

  • Take a big plate or cake tin and grease it slightly. Or, you could lightly spray it with oil and then put baking paper over to completely cover it, this reduces the amount of ghee used in the recipe slightly.
  • For this recipe, you need only the white part of the grated coconut. If you plan to grate your own, stop at the point when the brown part starts getting grated. Or you could do what I did, which was to buy freshly grated coconut from your local Indian store.
  • In a pan, saute the grated coconut till you get a nice aroma from it. Do not let it brown. Remove it from the pan and add the sugar and water and let it come to a rolling boil. You can also add a couple of teaspoons of milk to the mixture so that any dirt in the sugar comes up and you can remove it. This trick also makes the barfi more white which is aesthetically more pleasing. At this point, reduce the flame and let it boil till it thickens to a single string consistency.
  • This means that when you take a drop of the mixture from the flame and touch it with your thumb and index finger, it will stick to both fingers and form a kind of string.
  • When the sugar mixture reaches this point, add the grated coconut and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the cardamom powder and continue to stir at a low to medium flame. When the coconut completely absorbs the sugar water mixture and starts to leave the sides, it’s time to take it off the flame. You can also test it by putting a couple of drops in the greased tray. If it stays in shape, it’s time to remove it from the flame, otherwise continue stirring and repeating this step till you get to this point.
  • Switch off the gas and pour it into your prepared greased plate. Using a clean spatula, level the mixture and make it smooth. Let it cool for a while and when still slightly warm, lightly score lines in the mixture with a knife or pizza cutter. You could cut squares or diamonds in any size. Let it cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. This should be good for a week or so outside and slightly more inside the fridge.

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Diwali Recipes: Diwali Legiyam

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Diwali is the one time, when everybody, irrespective on their take on fitness and healthy eating, throws all of it out of the window and eats like there’s no tomorrow! You start the day early and start stuffing your mouth (and stomach) and stop probably four days later, when either you can’t have another morsel or you’ve run out of goodies to eat!

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The legiyam is traditionally eaten as soon as you take your bath and pray and much before you start stuffing your mouth with all the delicacies. This legiyam is an herbal medicine, made with things found in your pantry to strengthen your digestive system. This medicine also helps the body adjust to the changes in the temperature when autumn moves to winter. This medicine re-ignites the digestive fire, digests toxic build-up in the body and helps us fight the ill-effects of the heavy foods that we may indulge in at this time.

Each family has its own traditional recipe and the recipe below is the one my mom makes. Most people I know do not cook according to a recipe, they just have approximate amounts and then cook as they go along, adjusting the recipe to suit palates. I made the recipe slightly sweeter than what she suggested as I know S & BB can’t take spicy food, so if you can eat the spicy ginger, then go ahead and reduce the amount of jaggery in the recipe.

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Ingredients:

  • 150 gms of ginger, peeled and chopped into smaller pieces
  • 3 tsps of coriander seeds
  • 1.5 tsps of cumin seeds
  • 1.5 tsps of whole black peppers
  • 10 pieces of cardamom, only use the pods, discard the outer covering
  • 10 pieces of cloves
  • 10 pieces of thippili
  • ¾ tsp of cinnamon powder (you can use a 1 inch piece instead)
  • 2 tsps of dry ginger powder (saunth/sukku)
  • 1 cup (less or more) jaggery (according to taste)
  • 3-5 tbsps of ghee (according to taste)

Method:

  • In a largish bowl, put the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppers, cardamom pods, cloves, thippili, cinnamon powder and dry ginger powder and soak them for around 10-15 minutes.
  • While the above are soaking, peel and chop the ginger into smallish pieces (this depends on the size of the mixer you will be using).
  • Grind the ginger and when it becomes a paste, add in the soaked ingredients and continue grinding till it becomes a smooth paste
  • Then in a non-stick pan, add the paste and start boiling it. The paste will be quite watery at first due to the water content, but as you cook it, it will gradually get harder. At this point, add the jaggery and 1-2 tbsps of ghee. You may want to add the jaggery a bit by bit, tasting as you go along so that you add only the right amount and it does not taste too spicy. The ghee will help it cook and when it reaches the consistency where the mixture starts leaving the sides of the bowl, it is ready. Remove from the flame and cook.

Have this first thing in the morning when you are going to indulge in heavy food and this will definitely help your stomach! This keeps for a few weeks in the fridge.

Diwali: Festival of Lights

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Tomorrow is a festival, which as a child, I used to wait for. Diwali or Deepavali as it called sometimes is also known as the ‘Festival of Lights’.’ This festival is one of the most important Hindu festivals in the year and is celebrated by Hindus all across the world. Deepavali literally means ‘row of lamps’ in Sanskrit and all households – whether rich or poor would have a few lamps outside the door. The lamps are to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the goodess of wealth into homes. It is said that on this day, she will roam around earth and where she sees lamps lit to welcome her, she will bless that home with prosperity for the coming year.

There are many stories which are told for the origins of Diwali. In the northern part of India, this festival is celebrated to welcome Lord Rama, his wife, Goddess Sita and his brother Lord Laxman to Ayodhya after their 14 years of exile. Dusshera is celebrated as the victory of good over evil when Lord Rama vanquished the demon king Ravan in what is modern day Sri Lanka. The time between Dusshera and Diwali (approximately 2 weeks) is the time taken by the trip to reach Ayodhya in Northern India from Sri Lanka.

In Southern and Western India, this day is celebrated as the day Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. Therefore, when Diwali comes on an Amavasaya or a new moon night, we have to wake up early (4:30 – 5:00 am) and take a bath before sun-rise to commemorate this occasion. This day is called Naraka Chaturdasi

As for me, I’m almost done with my preparations. Made some savories and sweets and have tidied the house a bit. Exams are going on, so papers and assessment books are all over the place. We will wake up early and take an oil bath. Then wear new clothes and light the lamps. The children will play with crackers (only the simple ones as the others are banned here) and then visit a temple. Then home for a scrumptious lunch and then…..Study! GG & BB have English on Friday, followed by Maths on Monday and Chinese on Tuesday.

So here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali and may the festival of lights be the harbinger of joy and prosperity in your lives…