As the month of February ends and winter cusps towards spring and harvest, as nature renews itself all around us and March and April bring new colour, new smells; and as the brown land turn into fresh shades of greens, and as the bounty of crop, flora and frond stem forth, India celebrates the change of season, with verdancy and vivaciousness. Spring is the beginning of the harvest season, and most parts of India welcome this new season of happiness and prosperity with so many different festivals. And do I need to say that what makes Indian festivals so exciting is all the food that these celebrations bring.
The first festival that literally inaugurates the season of spring is ‘Vasant Panchami’. Coming on the heels of ‘Makar Sankranti’ and ‘Pongal’, ‘Vasant’ means spring and ‘Panchami’ means “the fifth day”. The festival is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the month of ‘Magha’ and is like a pre-welcome ceremony for spring and for Holi, which comes about 40 days after. Sounds a bit complicated? It actually isn’t. It’s a spring festival 40 days before Holi, but sets the tone and mood for the season ahead.
As with most festivals, this one too is associated with divinity, in this case, the Goddess Saraswati. Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge, so it’s supposed to be a good time to start new endeavours. But the most endearing aspect of this festival is the use of colour to emphasise its significance. The colour of ‘Vasant Panchami’ is Goddess Saraswati’s, purported favourite colour, the colour yellow. But it is also the colour of mustard fields that bloom at this time, the colour of ripening crop, the colour of the sun that blazes in all its glory, as well as the colour of light, prosperity and optimism. The colour yellow defines the season, and children and folks alike, not only wear yellow clothes but cook yellow food and make yellow sweets.
When I say yellow food, what comes to mind immediately is yellow moong dal and khichdi. The Vasant Panchami khichdi is celebratory. Especially during Saraswati Pujo in Bengal. In Bengal they cook khichdi, or “Kichuri” with scented gobindo bhog rice, and split moong dal. This ‘khichuri’ is festooned with an array of vegetables like carrots, green peas, cauliflower, potatoes and the like. The strong aroma and robust flavour to this “kichuri” comes from ginger, garlic, cumin, green chillies, and garam masala. And then there is ghee. It just finishes the kichuri and gives it that righteousness and sanctity of the festival.
Other yellow foods cooked in Bengal during Saraswati Poojo is Beguni. Beguni is a pakoda made of eggplant. Nothing goes better with dal-torkari-rice or khichuri as Beguni does. It’s quite simple actually, thin slices of brinjal dipped in a batter of besan, rice flour, salt, sugar, turmeric powder, and Kashmiri red chilli powder, deep fried cautiously, emerge as crispy golden yellow discs of joy.
Seems like the simplicity of Vasant Panchami’s Khichdi because after that we have a feast of rich, delicious and saffron filled sweets that are not only yellow but full of cream, milk and dry fruits. Starting with North India’s and Rajasthan’s favourite Halwa, the golden yellow Moong Daal Halwa. Made well, this halwa can be rich and decadent. It’s a simple mixture of moong, that turns opulent with sugar, loads of ghee and cardamom powder, and is slow-cooked in milk and khoya, garnished with chopped nuts and painstaking to make, but it’s all worth the trouble. The coarse moong dal turns into a sweet, soft, crumbly moist and luxuriant dessert.
My favourite yellow sweet is the Boondi Ka Ladoo. As we all know, the word Boondi comes from the Hindi word ‘Boond’ which means drop or droplet. So Boondi is made from besan or gram flour. Small bead-sized round balls of besan batter are deep fried in hot oil or ghee to create crispy pearls that could either be sweet or savoury. These besan pearls are soaked in saffron flavored sugar syrup mixed with ghee, nuts, cardamon and dry fruits and then rolled into small balls or Boondi ka Ladoos. The other version of the Boondi ka Ladoo is the Motichoor ka Ladoo. It’s the same Ladoo, it’s just that Boondi ka Ladoo has bigger boondis and Motichoor Ladoo has smaller ones. Both the Ladoos are made from gram flour or besan batter. But in Maharashtra we make our Boondi Ladoos, crisp, hard and impossible to bite in, but otherwise it is a sweet and soft decadent affair.
Speaking of balls of sweetness, in Bengal, there’s Rajbhog. A throwback to the Royal culture of Bengal, Rajbhog is often made during special occasions and festivals like Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Pujo. Rajbhog is a rosogolla, but a rather large rosogolla. Made with cottage cheese (chena), this massive yellow Rosogolla is stuffed with almonds and pistachio and drowned in sweet saffron sugar syrup. The challenge is to eat this voluptuous sweet yellow ball in one mouthful.
In South India, spring is celebrated with the sunset yellow, Rava Kesari, which is called Sooji Halwa in the North and Rava Shira in Maharashtra. Made with rava (sooji or semolina), the rava is roasted in ghee until it turns golden and starts releasing a nutty, toasty aroma. Then mixed with raisins and nuts and soaked with saffron and reduced with condensed milk. The end result is a soft, fluffy opulent and melt-in-your-mouth pudding with a silky yet grainy texture. In Maharashtra, the Rava Shira is considered auspicious and is served as “prasad” or “bhog” during most pujas. I don’t know why, but our family always added a few sliced small bananas in the halwa.
In Maharashtra and Gujarat, we also make yellow Shrikhand. Creamy and flavourful Shrikhand is made of hung curd. The curd isn’t hung long enough to turn into paneer but hung for just the right amount of time to reduce some moisture. The slightly crumbly curd is then mixed vigorously with powdered sugar till it turns thick, smooth and creamy. To this is added saffron, and dry fruits. Especially pistachio. Shrikhand is often eaten with hot deep-fried puris.
And finally, a really indulgent yellow sweet is Meetha Chawal or Kesari Bhaat, which is similar to Rava Kesari, but is made with rice. Rice is cooked in ghee with cinnamon, and cloves and then with sugar and saffron. When fully cooked and is slightly sticky, the rice is flavored with cardamom and nutmeg. So similar to Zafrani Pualo or Zarda. Blasphemous as it may sound, I like to eat my Kesari Bhaat, with spicy mutton kheema or prawn pickle. After all, aren’t festivals supposed to make you happy? And this is what brings me great joy.
Kunal Vijayakar is a food writer based in Mumbai. He tweets @kunalvijayakar and can be followed on Instagram @kunalvijayakar. His YouTube channel is called Khaane Mein Kya Hai. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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