Deepavali 🪔

"'Twas a light that made darkness itself appear a thing of comfort.

- Robert Southey

The traditional Deepavali lantern or 'kandeelu' as we call it, did just that to me. They still evoke fond memories of lights, delicious food, new clothes and a general feeling of love, laughter and warmth.

It was one of the must-haves of Deepavali as were growing up, hanging right outside the house on the porch, spilling muted light into a pool of warm glow. I vaguely remember the excitement of the whole family participating with comments, opinions, advice and anticipation as the lantern was being hung up just before Deepavali every year, but I clearly remember standing under it afterwards, gazing at the beauty of it and a general feeling of "all's right with my world" filling up my heart and making me insanely happy.

Those colourful paper lanterns were made by local artisans and sold at the local market around Deepavali. In recent years they seem to have disappeared and have been replaced by cheap plastic versions. Chinese plastic lanterns in garish colours seem to have flooded the shops and the only other alternative are the cloth ones with mirrorwork on them, that you find hanging in almost every restaurant and cafe in touristy places like Goa.

I've been searching for the lanterns from my childhood for many many years now, but haven't had any luck.

 

 

So this year I decided to make my own version of a lantern. My medium is yarn, and my art is crochet, so I went with that. I did some research for a pattern but could not find any that I liked, so I winged it, and crocheted this lantern.

If you do crochet and want to know how I made this, please ask and I'll write up the pattern for you. 

 

It kind of looks like stained glass and looks absolutely gorgeous hung up on my balcony with a soft yellow light bulb inside. 

 

Just look at the light pattern it throws out! 

 

Muted light - check

Warmth - check

Feeling of accomplishment - check

😇

 

For the next year's Deepavali though, I AM definitely learning how to make my own paper lantern like the old ones. You know, the octagonal ones where each panel has a different colour, and has trails of paper streaming from the bottom... If you know where I can buy them, or a tutorial which will teach me how to make one, please let me know in the comments and I'd be forever grateful to you!

Happy Deepavali, everyone! I wish upon you a festival full of sweet childhood memories, a home full of light, a heart full of joy and a life full of love. 

 

♥️🪔

 

Halubai

 

Rice, coconut and jaggery - three things that define Havyaka cuisine. When all the three combine to make a dish, with very little else added, how awesome do you think it will turn out?

Although I don't have a big sweet tooth, halubai is something I will never get tired of eating. With its melt-in-the-mouth, jelly-like texture, you hardly feel it disappearing down your throat, but leaves such a lingering sweet flavour in your mouth...my absolute, all-time favourite sweet.

There are several versions of halubai recipes out there, but I wanted to write down Amma's version of it which I love, so I'll always remember. It's slightly more gooey than the popular version. Here's the recipe if you would like to try it too:

Ingredients:

(enough for 4 people (although I could eat the whole thing myself at one go if no one was looking and judging))

1 cup rice

1 medium size coconut

1cup jaggery powder or shaved jaggery (slightly more if you like it sweeter)

A pinch of salt

Crushed cardamom seeds from 4-5 pods

Ghee 2 tsp

Pure coconut oil 3-4 tsp

Prep:

- Wash and soak the rice for 3-4 hours.

- Grate or chop the coconut and grind with a little water. It need not be very fine. Coarsely is ok. With a thin muslin cloth, strain the ground coconut to get its milk. Add a little water to the coconut and strain again. Do this two more times or until the water you strain is very thin.

- Grind the rice fine and add enough water to get it to a milk-like consistency.

- Smear a thin layer of ghee on a plate and keep aside for pouring later. You can even place banana leaves on the plate if you have it on hand and smear ghee on it.

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients except the coconut oil in a wide thick-bottomed pan. (Amma uses an antique bronze uruli passed down from my grandparents.)

 

 

2. Place the pan on the stove with the flame on low and start stirring.

 

 

 

3. Keep stirring. (You can't multitask when you're cooking this. It needs constant stirring!) The mixture will start to thicken soon. Make sure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

 

4. Keep stirring and mixing for about 10 minutes.

 

 

 

5. The halubai is done when it stops sticking to the pan and comes away, and is thick enough to fall in folds.

6. Turn off the heat and pour the halubai on to the prepared plate and smoothen the surface. 

 

 

7. Drizzle coconut oil on the top.

8. Once it's slightly cooled, you can cut them into any shape you like.

 

Tadaa it's ready to be all gobbled up!