Holi is the festival of colors, where people play with colors in the day and in some parts of India they also celebrate in the night on Dol Purnima or the full moon on Holi night. There are various origin stories of Holi related to Lord Vishnu, Prahlad, and Holika, the deities Kama and Rati, but it is primarily associated with the love between Radha and Lord Krishna as well as spring, romance, and playfulness.
Sweets are an important part of celebrating Holi too. This is our Holi platter, which has sweets of different types made from milk, chickpea flour, semolina, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.
My favorites below~~
Jalebi and Peda
Shrikhand with pistachios and saffron
Moti Pak
Gulab Jamun
Thandai
There are different drinks prepared too, one of which is thandai or a cooling drink containing milk, sugar, almonds, rose petals, saffron, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, cardamom, and black pepper.
In this series of diverse Indian cuisine, I'll talk about Parsi food. The Parsis (derived from Persians) were followers of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra who migrated to India between the 8th and 10th century to escape religious persecution by Persian Muslims. In India, the small community settled in the western states of Gujarat and nearby port towns and became some of the most influential traders and business families in the country. They still practice Zoroastrianism and currently the majority of Parsis live in Mumbai. Their food is influenced by Persian and Indian cuisine and offers a delightful confluence of two of the richest culinary traditions of the world. They are also well known for their breads, cakes, baked meat pies, and bakeries. Edit: Freddie Mercury from Queen was Parsi and was born as Farrokh Bulsara! He changed his name to Freddie while in school in India.
I had a chance to try some Parsi food in Mumbai in a quaint but busy Parsi restaurant called Jimmy Boy! Here are a few snacks and main items I had:
Chicken Farcha: Parsi-style fried chicken or chicken drumsticks coated with egg and deep fried with mild spices.
Arabic Za'atar Bread: Flatbread baked with cheese and Za'atar, a blend of earthy spices like oregano, thyme, toasted cumin, coriander, sesame seeds, salt and sumac. I had earlier used Za'atar in the butternut squash with pearl barley recipe from the Dreamling fic wylmk by @beatnikfreakiswriting.
Mutton Kabab: Minced mutton and potato patties mixed with spices and fried or grilled. Served with various chutneys, usually mint and coriander.
Chicken Cutlet: Ground chicken patties, flattened and coated in eggs and breadcrumbs and fried till crisp. Served with fries and condiments.
Paneer Puffs: Puff pastries filled with paneer curry. Chicken and mutton fillings also available.
Chicken Berry Pulao: An Iranian style rice pilaf dish with chicken koftas, raisins, cashews, saffron, and Persian barberries or cranberries. It is a confluence of the Persian Zereshk Polo and the Bombay Biryani. Mutton and vegetarian options also available.
I also got Mom's birthday cake from Jimmy Boy, a rasmalai cake or one made with sweet Indian cheese balls soaked in sugar syrup and milk.
Last year I had made the Tiramisu from the Dreamling fic Scratch a little itch by @valeriianz for Mom's birthday.
Few more must-try Parsi dishes and snacks:
Bun Maska: Sweet bread with raisins and a generous layer of butter.
Keema Ghotala Pav: Minced mutton curry served with buns.
Mutton Dhansak: Mutton stewed with lentils and spices.
Patrani Macchhi: Pomfret fish cooked in banana leaves.
Salli Murg: A chicken curry topped with fried potato sticks/shoestring fries or Salli.
While I have listed mainly non-vegetarian items, most of these dishes have vegetarian options and I hope you give some of these a try!
This is primarily a Dreamling blog but I may post some pics from home tagged #indian spring. You can block it if you don't want to see those posts. Here are some photos of mehendi/henna I had put for new year celebrations. I have a lot more photos but these are my favorites because I like my clothes here too.
I love mehendi and I always apply it every time I go home. This was done by a new mehendi artist that I had never met before but she was adorable and very fast. I like how it turned out.
If anything can beat the explosion of flavors whenever I go home, it's the explosion of colors! My wardrobe usually consists of earthy shades, lots of black, and some pastels. But when I'm home, I wear the most vibrant colors! The fabrics, textures, patterns all make me feel like I've blended into a riot or colors because everyone around me is dressed like that. Today I went to a silk store nearby to add to my collection and took a picture of the narrow staircase along one of the floors--there are thousands of saris and mekhelas here.
These silks are traditional designs from different parts of India like Chanderi from central India, Paithani from western India, and muga and pat from eastern India. The south is very well known for its silks too, but I haven't worn any this time. The ones below are super expensive because they are handwoven with the most intricate designs and are for special occasions. I can't wait to wear my new muga on New Year! I'll post more designs if I remember to take pictures!
Dosa with Sambhar and Chutneys | Fermented Lentil and Rice Crepes
Just pics of some of the dosas I had on my trip. Dosas are a South Indian dish and can be made using different ingredients, usually various kinds of lentils, which are sometimes not even fermented. However, what we commonly know as dosa is made of fermented rice and skinless, split black lentils, and a pinch of fenugreek seeds. It may also contain a bit of split Bengal gram. Once the batter almost doubles in size, salt is added and the dosa is fried in oil or ghee as a thin, crispy crepe. It can contain various filings, the most common being potatoes. Dosas are served with Sambhar, a tangy dal made of pigeon peas and tamarind, and different condiments like coconut chutney, mint and coriander chutney, and tomato, peanut, and onion chutney.
Dosas have also featured in a couple Dreamling fanfics.
For example, Blue Moon by MD Jensen or @asofterdream, where Dream spends 24 hours as a human and eats a lot of food besides doing other human things.
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"Luckily the food from this stall— Malaysian lentil stew and thin dosa pancakes— is harder to eat while standing, so Hob allows them to sit for their second course.
Well. Hob is onto his second course. Dream is hurrying to finish his kebab.
But he manages, and starts in on the stew and dosa; this, at least, is less greasy, but no less substantial."
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I don't know if the author is on Tumblr; if anyone knows, please tag them.
The same batter can also be used to make idlis after adjusting the consistency.
I have made the unfermented version of Oats Idlis for a Chef!Hob Fic.
Dosas are one of my favorite things to eat and although I make them sometimes at home, the fermenting process is long and I am too impatient. So I end up ordering them.
I have a few more food pics, items usually not found in restaurants in western countries, but are delicious and I would like to popularize the not so popular Indian foods too. It's a very diverse cuisine!
Took some pictures of vegetables sold in the market with Mom one evening. These are street or open markets and are set up every day by local farmers and small produce sellers from nearby villages. The vegetables are always very fresh and much tastier than what's available in department stores.
Indian vegetarian food has so many options and is absolutely delicious. I can happily be vegetarian/vegan in India because of the endless types of veggies available throughout the year.
Kamakhya Temple | Ancient Indian Temple | Shakti Pith
Kamakhya Temple is a pilgrimage site for Hindus, where the mother goddess Kamakhya, who is the divine feminine energy and embodiment of fertility and desire (Kama), is worshipped. Also known as Shakti, it refers to the cosmic energy and power that drive the universe's creation, maintenance, and destruction. It is part of a temple complex, which has shrines for multiple gods and goddesses, but this is the primary temple.
Considered a holy site by locals since ancient times, this version of the temple was built in the early 8th century by carving out granite rocks from the Nilachal (blue) Hills, where it is located, with expansions continuing till the 10th century.
The actual temple is underground inside a dark cave-like structure fed by a perennial stream, where the goddess is worshiped as an un-anthropomorphic form of a yoni-shaped stone, that is, the womb or vulva. Since cameras are not allowed underground, there are no pictures.
There are many stories of the origin of this temple in Hindu mythology. But the most important legend (with some added context) goes like this:
Sati was an aspect of the divine goddess, married to Shiva (the Destroyer), one of the principal gods of Hinduism. But her father King Daksha wasn't happy with the match. Once he conducted a holy ritual and invited all the gods except Sati and Shiva. Sati felt humiliated and went to confront her father, who insulted her husband again and refused to invite him. Sati couldn't bear the insults against Shiva and jumped into the holy fire of the ritual to sacrifice herself. When Shiva found Sati dead, he flew into a rage, killed Daksha, flung Sati's body on his shoulders, and started the Tandav or the cosmic dance of destruction. The rest of the gods pleaded with him to stop but he was too grief-stricken and refused to stop dancing till Sati's body disintegrated. So the gods called Vishnu (the Preserver), another principal god of Hinduism. One of Vishnu's instruments is the Sudharshan Chakra or the divine discus or the wheel of time, which also serves as a weapon. Vishnu sent the chakra which started to cut off Sati's body and her parts fell on earth, and every site where a part fell, a holy site was created. Gradually Shiva realized the weight on his shoulder and Sati were gone and he calmed down and the destruction of the universe was prevented.
It was Sati's womb, including her vulva, that fell on the site where we have the Kamakhya Temple today. Since Sati was one aspect of Shakti, although she died, she was later reborn as the goddess Parvati, Shiva's second wife.
Today thousands of devotees come to worship the goddess every day. I stood in line for over 7 hours before I could go into the holy womb and some people were waiting since 4 am! The temple is closed for a few days once a year, when the goddess is said to be menstruating, which is the busiest time of the year, although devotees cannot go inside.
It is also a site of Tantra, so Tantriks spend days in the temple complex worshipping the goddess during this time, when it always rains very heavily too.
Bonus: Here are some black and white photos I took; the stone carvings are gorgeous and the pictures don't do justice to the huge scale and intricate details of the temple complex.
