Diwali Delights
posted in Mydish's blog on Thu Oct 25 2007
One month before Diwali my mother used to make my elder sister and I clean the house from top to bottom, draws were turned out and dusted, doors and skirting boards were scrubbed clean, old clothes were given to charity and my mothers hundreds of saris and sari blouses were re folded neatly and put away in her cupboard.
The kitchen normally took a week on its own, all contents from jars, bottles and canisters were decanted onto plates and washed until sparkling clean, then dried thoroughly and then refilled this was pre dishwasher days, these were the days where every thing was done by hand, including sifting through bags of spices to remove dirt and stones before using.
If we asked why the house had to be so clean just for one day and a few visitors, we were told that if we had an unclean messy house during the five religious days of Diwali then during the rest of the year the same would be mirrored. I’m sure we mentioned that spring would be around the corner and that we would be forced to do the same again.
Along with all the cleaning came all the cooking, the very large event of making at least 4 kilos of Mathias, a popadom like savoury made from the brown Mutt bean. The dough itself would take at least an hour to make with at least another two neighbours to help with the process.
To knead it properly the dough would be placed into clean plastic bags and then trodden on by the larger ladies in the group! I know it sounds rather peculiar but was in fact very effective. The dough was then divided into small balls and then individually rolled and then deep-fried until golden brown, absolutely delicious!
Sweets obviously featured very highly during the festive period, Fresh barfi were made using milk powder and saffron, little sweet shortbread biscuits were baked and then decorated with rose petals.
During Diwali diwas were kept lit to welcome Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity into our home, and special prayers were sung both morning and evening.
The food took a week to make and then very quickly consumed in two weeks, we not only ate ours but also visited our friends and family and ate theirs to.
Kindly provided by Renuka Patel - http://www.mydish.co.uk/shopping/9/courses
The kitchen normally took a week on its own, all contents from jars, bottles and canisters were decanted onto plates and washed until sparkling clean, then dried thoroughly and then refilled this was pre dishwasher days, these were the days where every thing was done by hand, including sifting through bags of spices to remove dirt and stones before using.
If we asked why the house had to be so clean just for one day and a few visitors, we were told that if we had an unclean messy house during the five religious days of Diwali then during the rest of the year the same would be mirrored. I’m sure we mentioned that spring would be around the corner and that we would be forced to do the same again.
Along with all the cleaning came all the cooking, the very large event of making at least 4 kilos of Mathias, a popadom like savoury made from the brown Mutt bean. The dough itself would take at least an hour to make with at least another two neighbours to help with the process.
To knead it properly the dough would be placed into clean plastic bags and then trodden on by the larger ladies in the group! I know it sounds rather peculiar but was in fact very effective. The dough was then divided into small balls and then individually rolled and then deep-fried until golden brown, absolutely delicious!
Sweets obviously featured very highly during the festive period, Fresh barfi were made using milk powder and saffron, little sweet shortbread biscuits were baked and then decorated with rose petals.
During Diwali diwas were kept lit to welcome Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity into our home, and special prayers were sung both morning and evening.
The food took a week to make and then very quickly consumed in two weeks, we not only ate ours but also visited our friends and family and ate theirs to.
Kindly provided by Renuka Patel - http://www.mydish.co.uk/shopping/9/courses
