Festival Food - East West North South

[Milagai]

Tamil Nadu:

around Jan end: Pongal (harvest festival)

celebrate by making pongal (sweet and savory versions)

and other goodies.

Other festivals also have specific dishes associated with them:

e.g. sundal at Navaratri

Cheedai for Krishna Janmashtami etc.

Kalandha saadams for Tamil new year (next week) etc.

The list is very long, and varies by religion, region, and caste....

Recent issue of India Abroad had a great article with Easter

recipes from Kerala.

Ammini: any insights / articles on this?

Milagai

[deliad]

I remember this sweet yellow rice around basant ( springtime )

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Wow, Those sweet yellow rice. Covered with almonds and kishmish (raisins)!!!! Yum!! Yum!!

Most of the menu will have a yellow hue on the Basant Panchami day. Kadhi Chawal for Lunch, Makki roti for dinner.

When we were kids, my Mom would actually make all of us wear something yellow on that day.

Cheers!

[FaustianBargain]

Isn't it time for Vishu Kani again? I havent celebrated any festivals for a longish time. Vishu used to be one of my all time favourites. We are Tamil Iyers, but we celebrate Vishu. Go figure. Could be a border thing? I think I will make it home for Vishu this year. Any festival that involves good food and gift money cannot be bad. I cannot remember, but doesnt the Tamil New Year coincide with Vishu? I am told that Ugadi, the Kannada New Year is on April 09th this year. Are they all the same day? For some reason, I always think of Tamil New Year on the 14th April tho'. It has something to do with the regional/religious calenders?

I am especially fond of chaka pradhaman. Setting up the Kani is one of my favourite memories and shopping for the vegetables, fruits and flowers. I love..LOVE..the combined fragrance of all them together. The yearly ritual became painful after my grandmother passed away. As matriach of the family, she presided over all the festivals throughout the year and Vishu more than any other festival was particularly difficult without her.

edit: does Vishu have something to do with the Guruvayur temple or something about a boat race? I really wish I can make my memory cells work!

Edited April 7, 2005 by FaustianBargain (log)

[Peppertrail]

does Vishu have something to do with the Guruvayur temple or something about a  boat race? I really wish I can make my memory cells work!

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Vishu represents the passing of the sun from Taurus into Aries, a solar event that marks the beginning of a new astrological year. Based on ancient astrological calendar it was considered New Year's Day in Kerala. However, our New Year's Day was changed to mid September in 825 A.D. Vishu is the celebration of hope and expectations of a new dawn. The traditional rituals followed in the festival are believed to usher in a year of prosperity. This year Vishu falls on April 14th. Many devotees worship at Guruvayoor temple on Vishu. I have a piece on this festival as a couple of recipes at this link.

[Peppertrail]

Recent issue of India Abroad had a great article with Easter

recipes from Kerala.

Ammini:  any insights / articles on this?

Milagai

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Milagai:

Sorry didn't see your post till now. Before Easter many religious Christians in Kerala observe a strict vegetarian diet for several days. On Easter Sunday they celebrate with a variety of meat dishes. Being a vegetarian my understanding of these recipes is very limited.

[Kerala]

We got together for Onam a few weeks ago, in Maidstone.

As Sister Sledge said, I got all my sisters with me!

This pic above is not my own, but a useful reminder of what to serve and where to place it. We were lucky to get real banana leaves on the day rather than use paper substitutes.

I made carrot thoran

and white lemon pickle.

 

And helped with a bit of prep too.

 

It was lovely being with everyone, fourteen of us this time, and getting the meal done. I wonder if the kids (all young adults, mostly mid-twenties) will carry on the tradition.

Edited September 30 by Kerala
Mo'better (log)

[Bhukhhad]

Thanks Kerala for the picture of the sadhya. Can you tell us more about the placement order of dishes on the banana leaf. 
Also distinguish for us the layout for a regular meal and a special or festival meal? 
I know such a placement that exists in my Gujarati Thaalis. And have also enjoyed the sadhya or banana leaf meal in my south indian friend’s homes. But I dont know the placement order.

How about the fresh lemon pickle recipe

please 

Thank you

Bhukhhad

[Kerala]

@BhukhhadPeople do get quite finicky about the placement of the various preparations, but it really does vary. Sorry about the mess, but this pic shows a fully plated up leaf.

And here's a prettier photo.

Anyway, the cut end of the leaf should be on the right, the pointy tip to the left. The curries etc along the top with pickles on the left upper extreme. Pappadam, plantain, fried banana coins and jaggeri coated banana pieces below that. Rice served with daal, then with sambar, then with yoghurt and mango curry. Then three kinds of payasam. Yes, we are prone to diabetes in South India!

 

Here's the list we worked from

This was the first time we did it without our mother sorting things(she's in India this year). My big sister bravely led from the front and organized Onam at her house. We coordinated between us what dishes to make, but the bulk of it was inevitably shouldered by Big Sis. 

 

 

 

[Kerala]

"19 years later..." Ha,ha! Didn't realize, but it's a great thread. So many fabulous voices from the past.

[KennethT]

Thanks for this @Kerala.  Were you able to get fresh banana leaves or were they defrosted from frozen?

[haresfur]

This discussion is very interesting because I am realising that most of what I know about Indian festivals and food, for that matter, is heavily slanted to northern India. I just watched a video of a race between incredibly long canoes for this festival, which links several of my interests. The whole context for the food is fascinating imo.

[Kerala]

On 10/1/2024 at 12:35 AM, Bhukhhad said:

How about the fresh lemon pickle recipe

please 

Thank you

Bhukhhad

There are lots of different approaches, it seems, but I used this from Shaan Geo. I halved the quantities involved, so 500g of lemons. It should ideally be ripe yellow limes, but we don't really see them in the UK.

 

The video has English sub-titles.

 

For ease of reference, the quantities he uses are:

1kg limes, cut into 8ths

8 tablespoons (100g) salt

150g garlic cloves, peeled and halved

3/4 of a cup of coconut oil

2 teaspoons of mustard seeds

2 teaspoons of fenugreek seeds

3/4 of a cup of ginger cut to matchsticks

30 medium green chillies or 100g bird's eye chillies

6 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of vinegar

curry leaves

3/4 teaspoon of turmeric

 

I pretty much followed him cut-for-cut, and the whole thing was easy and straight-forward. Everyone was happy with the results: sour, salty, sweet, hot, herby. He says put aside for at least 5days in an air-tight container. I made it about 2 weeks before our Onam get-together.

[Bhukhhad]

Thank you thank you thank you. 

 

I was busy with Ganesh Chaturthy and Navratri and did not check back. You answered BOTH my questions. For this I am indeed grateful. Now I will plan to impress my TAMILIAN friends with the properly plated sadhya and make lemon pickle. In Gujarat where I am from, we almost would not have ginger with lemon in the pickle. But this is very tasty I know, I have tried it. SO I will follow your recipe too. 

[Kerala]

@Bhukhhad It's straight forward, but as always there are pitfalls and subtleties. My sister loved it, but correctly identified it as a Christian variant because it had garlic in it.

On 10/1/2024 at 5:05 PM, KennethT said:

Thanks for this @Kerala.  Were you able to get fresh banana leaves or were they defrosted from frozen

We were lucky enough to find them fresh that day. It's really not that easy, but I guess it depends where in the UK you are.