Plump, juicy mangoes the colour of the setting sun would beckon as I cycled past them on my way home from school in the beginning of summer. The vendor would spray the golden fruit with water and the droplets glistening on its smooth skin made them look all the more alluring. I’d request my parents to bring us some on their way home from work, knowing all the time that there was no way I could have any till the Tamil New Year or Puthandu as we refer to it. And so, a long wait ensued.
Come April 14, and amma would spend the morning grating raw mango to make a variety of dishes — maanga sadham, maanga pachadi and maanga paruppu . Appa, on the other hand, would carefully arrange ripe mangoes on a plate for the pooja, all the time keeping a watchful eye on us mango thieves. The highlight of the day, of course, was when we would be handed a whole mango each at the end of lunch — we’d bite into the succulent flesh, revelling in its flavours, even as the juice dribbled down our chin and hands. And so, yet again, food came up trumps at a festive gathering.
With several Indian communities gearing up to celebrate the first day of the Hindu calendar, I can’t help but recall how food plays a central role in the festivities — be it Ugadi for Telugus and Kannadigas, Gudi Padwa for Maharashtrians, Baisakhi for Punjabis, Rongali Bihu for Assamese, Puthandu for the Tamilians or Pohela Boishakh for Bengalis.
NEW DELHI, 13/04/2015: Artistes of Miri Piri Khalsa Gatka Akhara from Amritsar, Punjab performing on the first day of two days Baisakhi Mela at Dilli Haat Janakpuri in West Delhi on April 13, 2015. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
For instance, on Ugadi, my Telugu colleagues and friends would bring boxes of freshly-made bobbatu or puran poli and the flavoursome Ugadi pachadi , a delicious concoction of tamarind water, chilli, jaggery, salt, neem flowers and raw mangoes. Kannadigas make a similar concoction, minus the spice, and call it bevu bella . There are variations — in some homes, the eldest member of the household hands over a pinch each of tender neem leaves and jaggery to the family; in others, red-green neem leaves and white flowers are mixed with a little jaggery and tamarind water and spooned into waiting hands. The idea, says a colleague, is to celebrate all the aspects of life. It is also believed that the first flavour one tastes signifies how the year ahead will be — in this case, the bouquet of tastes will hopefully reflect in a bountiful year.
Kosambari (a South Indian salad made with pulses and cucumber, garnished with coconut, coriander and lemon juice and tempered with mustard seeds) and obbattina saaru (made with the water used to boil the dal for holige or poli ) are some of the other popular Kannadiga dishes made for Ugadi as well.
shrikhand
How can I forget the Gudi Padwa delicacies I sampled during my college days in Mumbai? I would gorge on the creamy shrikhand (sweetened hung curd flavoured with cardamom and saffron) and stacks of crisp puris that my classmates would bring for lunch. Some Maharashtrian households also whip up a mean chana usal (black chickpea gravy) , chakli ( murukku made with rice flour) and kesari bhath (sweet saffron-flavoured rice).
If you’ve planned a trip up North around this time of the year, chances are you might just get to do the gidda in Punjab, as they celebrate Baisakhi. An important festival for Punjabis, Baisakhi marks the New Year as well as the harvest festival. For Sikhs, this is the day when Guru Gobind Singh laid down the Panth Khalsa. And, of course, there’s plenty of good food to go around as well — right from lunch at the langar in a gurdwara to a feast at home that has delicacies such as coconut and wheat laddoos,makki di roti and sarson da saag .
The Bengalis ring in their Pohela Boishakh with a medley of panta illish (fermented rice and fried hilsa), payesh and patishapta . While, in Assam, it is all about using fresh local vegetables to cook up a feast to mark the harvest season. An Assamese colleague fondly remembers the pithas made with sesame and coconut that are synonymous with Rongali Bihu. “Making it is an art. A lot of care needs to be taken; right from making the sticky rice flour to the temperature of the clay pan that it is cooked in,” she says. The first day of Rongali Bihu is dedicated to livestock, with farmers bathing their cows with a special mix of herbs with antiseptic properties. A traditional breakfast of sira, doi and hurum is mandatory, as is the sungat diya saul or rice cooked in tender bamboo hollows.
So, what are you going to do this New Year? Take a chance, dig up traditional recipes from your grandmother’s kitchen, revive old flavours and mark new beginnings.
