Feast fiesta

When I flip the calendar page to next month, the first thing I look for is the festival dates. While I do that for holidays like others, another important reason is the feast.

Fe(a)stival is all about the feast for me. As a kid, the mind was always on the food than the god. Inquires about the menu would start on the previous night; whilst the body stayed in puja room, nose would be sent onsite to the kitchen to gather prior details on the delicacies, and the eyes switching between the god and the stove. After joining the job and being old enough to proclaim a non-believer, there was no need to sit in puja room. Just wait for Amma (mom) to prepare the lunch and finish the puja, before I (we – dad, me and bro) launch your lunch feast. So, officially the festival is about feasts now. There were instances where I travelled unreserved in buses and trains for 7-9 hours to native, just to relish the festive specials.

Though every festival (and thanks to Hindu gods, we have so many) menu includes a hot item (usually Pulihora – tamarind rice/puliyogare), a sweet item (generally paramannam (rice kheer)/semiya payasam (kheer) and optionally (for major festivals) second hot item (bajjis) and sweet items (gulab jamoon/bobbattu), some festivals have their trademark food items. The recipe will signify the festival. Based on the recipes, I rank those ‘feast’ivities.

1. Varalaxmi vratam (or Gowri puja) :- That falls on Sravan (Shravan) Fridays and Tuesdays with primary festival on second Friday. Though the festival is for women, I (and my Dad) wait for the vayinams, the polythene bags with Bengal gram, sprouts, nut-powder, pan-leaves. On a rainy monsoon evening in August, return from school and eat roasted nuts/sprouts that are delicious and nutritious – beat that! And on the main day, Amma prepares poornalu (poornam burelu) – I can (could) eat 10-20 of them on a day with 3-4 in lunch :-)

2. Vinayaka Chaviti/Ganesha Chaturdhi: Ganesha is a big food lover and we could pray him well only by offering good food (and later consume it). Undrallu (Modak), Kudumulu (fried modak), Burelu (fried jaggery-rice cakes), Garelu (like wada), Bobbatlu (Obbattu/Puran poli), the list goes on. No wonder, he is praised “O bojja ganapayya” – he fills my bojja (belly).

3. Dasara (Dussehera/Navratri) – A festival of 9 nights and 10 days with a variety of prasadam everyday (and every temple) culminating in feasts on last 3 days coupled with Dasara holidays to school after first trimester exams. What else can I ask? No, we don’t do Navratri fasting. In AP, on each Navratri day, the goddess is in decorated in one avatar (E.g.: Kali, Saraswati, Rajarajeswari, Balatripurasundari, etc.) and a variety of prasadam is distributed – pulihora, daddhojanam (curd-rice type), kesari, sprouts, etc. We kids, used to tag along with the moms’ batch to temples to savor different prasadams.

4. Sankranthi (Pongal) coming in January starts with preparation of Ariselu (rice-jaggery cake) with new rice (rice from that year’s harvest). Sankranthi holidays (after second trimester exams) are enjoyed with a tin full of Ariselu and another tin full of Karappusa(chakralu/murukulu/jantikalu – baap of Kurkure). The final two days - Paramannam and chakra pongali (sweet pongal) with new rice on Bhogi is followed with katte-pongali (pongal) and kalagapulagam curry (curry made with vegetables with condition that knife should not be used – so, generally beans and cucumber are used) on Sankranthi.

5. Ugadi (Telugu new year) falls in March/April makes me look for Ugadi Pachadi (chutney/pickle) – which is a mixture of 6 tastes – salt, sour (tamarind), bitter (neem buds), hot (new red chillies), sweet (jaggery) and vagaru, something between bitter-sour (raw mango). Some fear this pickle, but I am a big fan. Everyone at home takes one or two spoons and the rest is left for me to relish throughout the day. I visit temples and friends’ homes to have different kinds of this pickle. Amma used to scare me about possible dysentery but I never faced it.

6. Sri Ram Navami (the day Rama returned from Ayodhya) falls in April – he is offered Panakam (Jaggary-pepper juice) as prasadam in AP. While everyone limits to one glassful, the rest is for me and my Dad. The rest are warned to be aware of dysentery for excess consumption of this.

7. Deepavali (Diwali) is not a big festival food-wise, but for sweets. Special sweets like gulab-jamoon, kajjikayalu are dedicate for Diwali – fire a bomb, come inside, have a sweet and go out – A cycle to be followed for 2-3 days.

8. Kartika vanabhojanalu, the Kartika lunar month starting next day on Diwali involves group outings (colony/college/school/office, etc.) to a nearby garden/beach with everyone bring some food special – enjoy the trip and share the special recipes in the afternoon group lunch. Kartika Pournami (full moon) and Kartika Somavaram (Monday) bring a fasting for the whole day and a feast in the late evening.

Living in a secular country and having friends from other regions and religions brings chances – like semiya through Ramzan, cakes through Christmas and New Year, Onam, Pongal, etc. But, being a vegetarian cuts down the options like haleem, bakreed, etc. Ok, these are the major festivals, though occasions like marriages and funerals bring in extra opportunities along with usual pujas and vratams by moms and wives. 

However, I should not forget to salute my Amma – who, all these years never found it hard to wake up early on the mornings of the festival and go extra mile to bring all these items to the table while doing pujas and visiting, when I (and my bro) treat it as a holiday and look for an extra hour of sleep. Thank God (no I don’t believe, it’s just a usage), I got a wife who knows cooking :-)

'Journey' - My Tryst with Accidents

I have recently watched a Telugu movie named, Journey (dubbed from Tamil: Engeyum Eppodum). The movie is about love stories of two couples and the impact of a major bus-bus accident on their lives. Excellence (subjective and of course as per Indian/Tamil standards) in various departments like story, screenplay, photography, music and direction has made the movie worth watching and the accident scenes needing a special mention. But, this post is not about the movie, but about what it wants to convey – road accidents.

The accident scene in the movie is shot in such a realistic and horrifying manner that it has started playing on my mind, which has never been the case.

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While I was in teens, whenever I read/watch an accident news, specially a major one – I used to think why not me; why I was not in that bus/train; I too travel often (every vacation – Dasara/Pongal/Summer); I used to dream that I was travelling in such a bus/train, but miraculously escape from the accident. But, sadly it never happened after I grew up. *Please, don’t assume me as a sadist/psycho/wicked.

While I was 7, a lorry (truck) hit our scooter on which Dad, Anna (brother), Mom and I were riding at Benz Circle, Vijayawada - everyone was jumped off the scooter – I rolled on the road for quite a distance and stopped dangerously close to the rear tyres of the truck. Though I escaped with minor injuries (scar disappeared in a few years), I don’t have a vivid memory of the complete scene.

Then, when I was around 11, I sat alone beside a right-side window at the back of the bus leaving mom and Anna sitting at the front. On a busy road, when the bus was stationary, the rear end of a truck coming from opposite side touched the bus and its rear-door chains stuck into the window exactly where I was sitting. Everyone including mom were scared, but I was watching it as a fun. I was sad too as it was not that thrilling with not even window getting smashed.

The itch (to come alive out of an accident) grew exponentially during my engineering, when I had to travel to a college on NH5 40kms away. I used to see damaged or over-turned vehicles on the road side almost every day. Why not one of them happens while I watch? Why not that happens to the bus I was going? During those journeys, I had seen some major accident scenes. Some happened few moments before we passed and some could have happened to our bus, but the chance went to the preceding. One of such accidents had one side of a private bus completely ripped off and some 30 bodies were moved into autos.

But, the wait was over one day. During third year, I and four other classmates got into an Express bus at college leaving another close friend MK who had a student pass. After 10 minutes, the driver tried an ambitious overtake around an overloaded (chili bags) tractor – the tractor fell half-way into a side-by ditch and a truck from opposite hit the bus on the right. Nobody was injured.  We were put into another bus. This time, I was standing beside the driver.  Twenty minutes into the journey, while trying to overtake an 18-wheeler truck-trailer the left-front side of the bus hit the trailer. That was a wow moment for me, to watch a live accident and had two incidents in a single journey; though, not fully satisfied as it was a minor hit. Again, none was injured. 

I was looking for more. A few months later, I and a friend LM (can compete with Kumbhakarna for his sleep in buses) got into a bus on return journey leaving MK on that instance too – I took the last seat and he was one row ahead. LM started sleeping; I tried to sleep on the last row lying horizontally, but could not. So, I got up and started gazing through the left window; Suddenly a BANG! And another BANG! A truck in the front applied sudden brake; our bus driver tried his best, but couldn’t avoid hitting; the front windows got smashed. At the same time, another truck hit our bus from rear; it was an old truck that had engine coming out (like cars). The engine protruded into the bus damaging the right side of the last row. And, there I was, on the left side on the same last row seeing this collision.

No, I was not shocked. I was not injured. Many in the bus got injured, mainly with foreheads hitting the front seats due to sudden brake. I woke up LM (yeah, still sleeping) and he asked rubbing his eyes, “What! Guntur came up so quickly?” I need not tell how much I pulled his leg in the college later. I can write a full post on his sleeping in the buses. Yeah! We had never left MK behind while taking bus.

Then, we were put into a different bus and there it was – my moment – my dream – everyone in that bus asking for the details and me telling the story – a live accident that I had live through.

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Now, for the last 7 years (excepting the US stints), I have been travelling regularly (once or twice a month) from Hyderabad to my home-town Guntur – most often by bus (private/APSRTC) - start on Friday night and return on Monday morning . The journey includes NH9, one of the most accident-prone highways in the country, taking away hundreds of lives every year.

On every such journey, I see at least one accident and many ‘just-miss’ incidents. Two minor accidents happened to the bus I was in. Many times, I would be sitting in the left side window of the last rows, running parallel to a truck driver, only for the truck driver to put brake at the last moment to allow our bus to slide in. Still, I never had a ‘heart in the mouth’ kind of feeling because I have seen many before during college. However, since the day I watched this Journey movie, I have become philosophical about life as well as little worried about journeys. Wish, I come back to myself quickly as now I dream of driving car to Guntur one day in near future.

Hope at least 1% of these horrendous drivers that watch this movie think twice when they come on the road.

Vegetarianism - Vegetables - Nutrition

**** Read after your lunch/dinner *****
BeetRoot Poriyal and Pakoda Koorma - read the South Indian menu in my office canteen. I bet half of those interested in taking SI meals would have backed off on seeing beetroot. I was equally depressed by seeing Pakoda Koorma, though was delighted to see Beetroot and Dosakai Dal (Cucumber) after weeks of Bhindi (Bendakaya/Okra/Ladies Finger) complimenting permutation and combination of Aloo (Potato), Patta Gobi (Cabbage), Gobi (Cauliflower) and Carrot (Gaazar) with a change in name - Mix Veg Curry, Veg Kurma, Veg Kadai, Veg Jalfrezi, Cabbage-Carrot poriyal.
For reasons like not having hygienic Andhra mess in the vicinity, well wishers’ concerns about the expansion of my pot-belly and the heaviness of the Andhra food at nights means that I generally visit a North Indian food joint for dinner. And the menu usually has a curry made up of one or more of Aloo (Potato), Mutter (Green peas), Rajma (Red Kidney Beans), Paneer (Cottage Cheese), Tomato and Gobi (Cauliflower) and occasionally with Palak (Spinach), Lauki (Sorakaya/Aanapakaya/Bottlegourd) or Methi (menti/Fenugreek) .


When I went to native for a week long Diwali vacation, I told my Mom to not include Okra (Bhindi), Potato, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Carrot and Tomato in any menu. And, what I had the following for a week – The menu commonly included one curry and dal supplemented with a freshly grounded chutney (noorudu pacchadi) with a vegetable or a leaf (Gongura, Pudina/Mint, Kottimeera/Corrainder), one or two pickles (preserved chutney/ooragaya) like Avakaya (Mango), Chintakaya(Imli/Tamarind), Usirikaya(Amla/Gooseberry) Nimmakaya (Nimboo/Lime) and a grounded powder like Gunpowder, Kandi podi (Toordal powder) or Palli podi (Groudnut/peanut powder).

Curry was from one of the vegetables of Dondakaya (Tindora/ Ivy Gourd), Vankaya (Baingan/Brinjal/Eggplant), Kakara Kaya (Karela/Bittergourd), Sorakaya (Lauki/Bottlegourd), Chikkudukaya (Large Beans with seed), Goruchikkudu (Beernis/Long thin beans used in Fried rice), Beerakaya (Turai/Ridgegourd)


Dal was either Toor Dal (Red lentils) or Moong Dal (Yellow gram) cooked with a vegetable from Tomato, Dosakaya (Cucumber), Mango, Sorakaya or a leafy vegetable from Palak (Spinach), Chukkakura (Sorrel spinach), Thotakura (Amaranthus), Bacchalikura (Malabar Spinach), Menthikura (Methi/Fenugreek).

I haven’t even got a chance to relish my favorite and Mom's special Chemadumpa (Arvi/Taro root) Vepudu (Fry). I haven’t yet talked about other root vegetables like Beetroot, Kanda (Yam), Potlakaya (Snake gourd), Aratikaya (Plantain), Gummadikaya (Pumpkin), Panasa pottu koora (Jackfruit).


There was no need/time for regular Sambar, Pulusu (similar to sambar), Majjiga Pulusu (sambar type of preparation with sour buttermilk), Menthi Majjiga (rasam type preparation with Methi), Rasam/Charu and Pachi Pulusu (Dry Soup).

Ok, enough of foodies, what I wanted to tell is vegetarianism is not always about Dal, Aloo, Gobi, Paneer and some pulses like Rajma, Chole and Chana. It is primarily about all vegetables, though not a daily dose of salads with raw vegetables and cheese as Americans think. Also, eating raw vegetables in India is not advisable sometimes due to high pesticide use.

Many people (irrespective of generation) like to eat only a few varieties of vegetables and face problems while eating anywhere outside their home. I pity them. The world is full of vegetables and I like to eat all of them, though I enjoy some of them at one or two levels up. Though recently, starting to hate Bhindi and Cabbage courtesy the FC caterers. Curries are not that boring if the vegetables are rotated and the preparation is tweaked.

My Mom (sometimes I too) can prepare a curry out of a vegetable in at least 3 different methods. Add to that you get excellent combinations when you mix two three vegetables (No, not talking about cabbage-carrot poriyal or Mix Veg Curry served in canteen).

Whatever I get at home is a proper Vegetarian Meal that provides nutrition as below:
Rice/Roti – Carbohydrates
Dal – Protein
Vegetables – Vitamins, antioxidants, Iron and other minerals
Curd/yogurt and Majjiga/Buttermilk/Chaaz – To cool down the stomach and improve digestion.

A Pakoda Koorma, a Malai methi chamn, some Kofta or Kadai (Besan/Bengal Gram Fluor + Buttermilk) and even Rajma/Chola/Chana would not give me same nutrition.

Note: It is not only about Andhra or South Indian. Most of the Indian menus have given due importance to all vegetables, though I would say the Andhra menu includes a higher number of vegetables.
P.S.: I am a vegetarian (lacto-vegetarian to be specific) with not eating egg (exception to birthday cakes).
P.S.2.: A caterer produced a new dish called 'Chola-Soya Ka Dostana' today!