Happy Holidays

The above picture was taken by yours truly.

This morning when I stood on the weighing scale I reached a conclusion that the universe is conspiring to make me fat! I have a sweet tooth. I love all kinds of Indian sweets (called mithai) except Agra Petha and Karachi halwa. I will throw up even if I look at those two! I love jalebi…. I can eat and lose count of how many I have had. By the way jalebi and samosa is my favorite combination and so is the traditional Gujarati breakfast of "Fafda-Jalebi." I love gulab jamun, motichoor ladoo, mysore pak, kesari (saffron) peda, rabdi (thick sweet milk flavored with essences), kulfi, malai (cream) burfi, sandesh, Shrikhand, misthi dohi (sweetened creamy yogurt from West Bengal) etc. So basically sweets panning the entire Indian subcontinent. You name it, I love it! By the way I cannot believe the entries I found for desserts online. Some desi foodie must be updating Wikipedia. Those of you who are not from the Indian subcontinent you can read here.

When I was a child, my maternal grandmother would make these delectable sweets (including the amazing mysore pak and jalebis) but she was pretty strict about the quantity. She wanted to instill discipline in her grandchildren and also the fact that too much sugar is bad for your teeth. My grandfather would always sneak in something extra for us. It was his bribe so that we never tell on him to our grandmother the fact that he used to hide and smoke. My late grandparents were so cute together. Both are deceased now but I still miss them!

As I grew up and got more sophisticated in my taste I included desserts from other parts of the world to my list of favorites. Therefore, I absolutely adore crème brulee, cannoli, bakhlava, and even babkas (especially chocolate). Not to mention chocolate mousse, carrot cake, red velvet cake, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies etc. At my work place during the holiday season two of our secretaries who are excellent bakers always get homemade Christmas cookies. One of them makes the most amazing rum balls. By the way there is nothing like alcohol to survive the craziness at my workplace. The other one came in this morning with a fabulous fare. I tried to be good but then I am only human.

If that is not bad enough, a few days ago our cleaning lady at work who is from Poland introduced me to the wonderful world of Pierogies. She had made spicy ones with sauerkraut filling and potato filling. Out of the blue she comes to my office with a box for me. I could see a layer of butter sitting lazily on the top and challenging me! I asked her why she went through all the trouble. She said that I have a nice heart and that she wanted to thank me (or rather give me a heart attack). I asked her what she was smoking to think that I was nice and that whatever she might be smoking would be illegal in this country. I informed her that I have a reputation to maintain as Ms. Mean and that she should not go around spoiling it! Anyway K and I binged on them and I asked her for the recipe. Of course I just love to collect recipes so K if you are reading this, I won't be making them anytime soon.

This morning I went to give her a Christmas gift. She had sweet pierogies, with a nice berry filling and topped with whipped cream and also some homemade cookies. I wanted to be good and not have them but hey! Tis' the season to be jolly. Therefore, I stuffed myself and now I am feeling rather guilty. I am a person who wants to diet, lose weight and stay slim and trim but people around me just don't let me be!

Anyway Happy Holidays to all of you! Hope you all make to Santa's nice list and not get any coals in your stockings.

Diwali

(The above photograph is of the rangoli pattern that I made for Diwali. I got regular earthern lamps and decorated them and then burned tea lights in them. Traditionally one uses earthern lamps with a cotton wick and oil)

Diwali or Deepawali is a major festival celebrated by Hindus all over the world. Holidays like Diwali makes one reminisce about the wonderful times spent with one's loved ones. This is especially true for all expatriate Indians. For the past few years I had had some professional commitments which made it impossible to celebrate Diwali. All we did was buy sweets and go out for dinner. Besides the past few years we have been visiting our families during Thanksgiving so it wasn’t really a big deal. This year however we won’t be going to India during Thanksgiving and I was determined to continue my family tradition. Also Diwali fell on a weekend which made it possible to have a traditional Diwali.

Today is Narak Chaturdashi. This day commemorates Krishna’s victory over the evil demon Narkasura. Chaturdashi means fourteen in Sanskrit. It is the fourteenth day since the full moon. In the evening people decorate their homes with rangoli, decorative lamps (called Kandeel) and oil lamps. It is believed that Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) visits your home. People also have Lakshmi Pooja (or prayer to Goddess Lakshmi) in their homes or in their offices/place of work. Tomorrow, i.e. October 22nd, when the moon completely wanes, would be the official Diwali day! Another important day is the day after Diwali, which is "Diwalicha Padva" in Marathi or "Balipratipada" in Sanskrit, which is the beginning of a New year and on this day married couples celebrate their love for each other. The festival ends with Bhau beej, where women celebrate their love for their brothers.

Traditionally in Maharashtra during Diwali, people wake up at the crack of dawn and take a ceremonial oil bath which is massaging with scented oil and using an herbal concoction called “utane” in lieu of soap. This is made of sandalwood, camphor, rose, orange skin, turmeric etc. There was one custom that we followed as children on Narak Chaturdashi, which was to break this tiny melon like fruit/vegetable which is called “kareetee” in Marathi (I think). This fruit symbolized Narkasura.

For me, diwali meant the early morning bath, wearing new clothes, and eating the various goodies that my mother painstakingly made with help from her two maids (whom she had trained so well). The lovely rangoli patterns that we would draw with our mother and of course not to mention the fire crackers. My mother is very artistic and would make Diwali cards at home. My older sister and I would help her in that as well (my younger sister cannot draw to save her life). My father, like all fathers, would enthusiastically buy different types of firecrackers for us. Of course we didn’t have a brother and were so girlish that we were happy firing delicate pretty crackers as opposed to the loud resounding firecrackers that are so popular in India! Another important day for us was Bhaubeej. Since we did not have a brother all my cousins (from my father's side) would come to our home for Diwali without fail! We would have a major bhaubeej luncheon party at home. My cousins would then fire the loud resounding crackers, which we girls were too scared to fire! We also got teased a lot by our cousins, which seemed annoying then but brings back fond memories now. We never missed having a brother because even today I know that my cousins will always be there for us! My mother's three brothers would come to visit us in the evening and my father would go and visit his two sisters in the evening.

By the way there is nothing like an herbal concoction for your skin. "Utane" exfoliates and moisturizes as well and has this lovely mild fragrance. This is a kind of product Bath and Body works can only dream of carrying in their store!

Anyway this evening, we went to the Hindu temple for the Lakshmi Pooja. It was really nice to see a lot of people dressed up for the festival. We came home and had a wonderful vegetarian dinner with some nice White Zinfandel. I must add that Riesling, Vouvray and Zinfandel's are my three favorite wines with Indian food. These wines complement the spicy flavors of our food really well. Of course I am not an oenophile or a person who has pretentions about understanding wines but this is my humble opinion!

Reminiscing Navaratri

Navaratri, which means nine nights in Sanskrit, is a Hindu festival of worship and dance. The nine days are devoted to the worship of the Supreme Goddess. This culminates on the tenth day with Vijayadashami or Dassera. This year Dassera will fall on October 2, 2006. For more information please check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaratri

This morning I was recollecting how I spent Navaratri as a little girl. Typically Garba and Dandiya Raas, originating from Gujarat are associated with Navaratri, which I might add are pretty well known. I thought I might write about how Maharashtrians celebrate Navaratri. My sisters and I grew up in a fairly cosmopolitan environment and therefore had friends who weren’t of the same faith or even the same community as us. My mother however used to organize “Bhondala” for all our friends to teach us, her daughters, about our own Maharashtrian culture.

My mother would make some interesting sweets and snacks for us. Each girl got along with her a sweet or snack made by her mother. So it was like a potluck party. An elephant was drawn at the center using rice flour and we held hands and formed a circle around it. We would perform a semi-dance around the circle singing the customary songs. Of course then we would lose our enthusiasm and sing other popular songs. The evening would culminate with regaling each other with stories and childish gossips from school, not to mention wicked impressions of our teachers! There are nine songs for the nine days. The other Maharashtrian families in our neighborhood would invite us on the remaining days. The fun part of this was that there were no divisive factors like religion, community etc. Our non-Hindu friends would celebrate with us.

I was trying to recollect the songs but couldn’t remember all of them. I did a Google search and found a website devoted to those songs. The URL is http://www.onesmartclick.com/marathi/marathi-gani-bhondla.html .

I also remember “kumarika poojan,” which means basically worshipping the aspect of Goddess Durga in young (prepubescent) girls. One of my mother’s friends would invite my sisters and me and her little nieces. I am not sure if these customs are still prevalent in Maharashtra.

I was doing online research and came upon this webpage, http://www.4to40.com/discoverindia/music/index.asp?article=discoverindia_music_peninsularsouth , which described the folk music and dances pertaining to the Deccan region.

Since Navaratri always clashed with my mid- term exams I have absolutely no memories associated with it during my later school and college years. I do however remember my dear friend from architecture school who was a complete Dandiya Raas fiend. It didn’t matter to her that she had deadlines for assignments or even exams; she never missed going every night for Dandiya. Despite that she still managed to excel in school! Goddess Durga sure loved her a lot!

Saturday is Ashtami (eight day of Navaratri), which is very special to me. My nephew, who is the apple of my eye, was born on that day thirteen years ago. As per the Hindu calendar he will be thirteen this Saturday. I am sure he reads my blog therefore here is wishing him a very Happy Birthday!