India celebrates life, in a big way! On cultural grounds, a lot of festivals come with spiritual sanctity which is observed with feasts and fasts. Food and social gatherings are the essence of every Indian festival besides idol worship. Tourists flock India throughout the year, hence you can be here anytime and be a part of the celebrations.Spotlight on major food festivals with religious sanctions.
Diwali – Diwali, the festival of lights mark the victory of good over evil. Diwali is celebrated throughout India with homes lit up with candles and oil lamps. Fire crackers accentuate night sky! Cuisines include sweets — lots of them. Ladoos rule! Poori bhaji (flour flattened and fried in oil served with vegetable curry. Food is mainly vegetarian as the carnival is dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi or Goddess Kali.
Pongal — Tamil Nadu – The harvest fest begins with worshiping Sun God. Celebrated on January 14 every year, it is the largest festival in Tamil Nadu. There are different sets of food reserved for each day of Pongal.On day one, families celebrate with vadai (rice served with chickpea fries) and poli (pancakes). Venpongal,(stramed rice and pulses) are served with The feast gets grand on the second day, with friends and relatives. Usually women choose to cook during the festive season. Venpongal,(stramed rice and pulses) are served with chakkarainpongol (dessert made of ghee and jaggery).
Holi – Holi is the festival of colors, wherein people greet each other by dabbing colored powders on each other. Bhaang, an intoxicating drink made of dry fruits, milk, rosewater and leaves of cannabis, is an essential part of Holi. However, a major part of the population celebrate with thandai (milk blended with dry fruits) too. Yummy! The main food consists of gujhiya (a sweet dish prepared with milk poder stuffed with nuts). Dahi vada (fried pulse balls dipped in curd), besan papri (gram flour fried and served in small square pieces), sweet rice puddings, gulab jamuns are high on the list.
Ganesh Chaturthi – This is one of the main festivals of Maharashtra which is dedicated to Lord Ganesha. It is celebrated with pomp and splendor in every marathi family. Authentic marathi cuisines include Kudumullu (rice and flour dumoplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery), Malai Modaks ( sweet dish prepared with ricotta cheese, sugar, cream, milk and spices) Uppu Undrallu (streamed salty rice balls), Pala Undrallu (rive-flour dumplings served in coconut and sesame sauce), Paramannam (rice pudding), Pachi chengapappu vadalu (fried gram patties) among many others.
Durga Puja – The biggest festival in Bengal. Durga Puja marks the homecoming of Maa Durgra with her four kids. The festival is celebrated in different pockets of the country too. Being a hardcore Bengali carnival, the main delicacies owe its origin to Bengal. Bhog (meals consumed after being offered to the deities) usually include khichdi (a mixture of rice and pulses cooked together with vegetables) served with charachari (cocktail of veggies and spices), and payesh (rice pudding). A huge variety of Bengali sweets are also on the list.
Eid-ul-fitr -Celebrated in the month of Ramdan, non-vegetarian dishes galore. The highlights being beef curry, cheese naan, beef biryani (beef served with rice cooked with spices, chicken rose water biryani, sweet dishes made of carrot and pumpkin, walnut and pistachio pudding served with ice-cold. The followers of Islam ask friends from other communities to join them for the lavish feasts.
We don’t believe in communalism, hence there’s one religion — cricket! Be a part of the celebrations, just to enjoy Indian delicacies! Indulge and you’ll have the aroma to last a lifetime!
