Happy Diwali!

Diwali. What my mom calls the indian version of Christmas. I love this holiday partly because my mom was very adamant about celebrating it. We used to light candles every year on our porch and she would often throw huge Diwali parties so I could be exposed to this special Indian holiday. I also grew up in a town with a decent Indian community so every year since I can remember, there would be a huge program that got put on full of music and dance performances.  

To give you the rundown, Diwali is the festival of lights. It covers a lot of different events discussed in Indian folklore. One is the return of Rama from 14 years of exile. Another is the killing of Nakarasura, an evil demon. If interested, Wikipedia has a decent explanation.

Basically, it's an excuse to perform a pooja (our version of a church service) and then get together with all your friends and family, wear fancy new clothes, light candles and set off fireworks, and of course, eat a delicious home cooked meal.

This year I decided to have a little Diwali shindig of my own focusing on the meal. This was the biggest endeavor I've ever attempted as far as food goes. I basically spent 4 or 5 hours in the kitchen, blissfully content as the smell of curry tickled my nose. Add a little Bollywood music and the afternoon equaled perfection.

That evening, about 10 people came over and we ate till our bellies were full.  I must add that Justin brought over DELICIOUS naan (wonderful Indian bread) and our friend Slava brought over some much needed dessert, chocolate cake. Completely rounded out the meal.

I made the following dishes: (to be served with rice or naan)

Dal Makhani: Hands down, one of my most favorite Indian dishes.  It is a black lentil dish with kidney beans, onions, tomatoes and a ton of butter and cream. Delish.

Mutter Paneer: Paneer means cheese and mutter means peas so...it's a dish of cheese and peas in a tomato gravy.

Tandoori Chicken: A very popular chicken dish where chicken is marinated in fragrant spices and yogurt and then baked.


Aloo Gobi: A potato and cauliflower dry curry sauteed in a ginger garlic sauce along with chili powder.

 




I eventually hope to break down these curries for you all so you can try them at home!
Stay tuned...


Happy Eating!
Deepika

P.S. How beautiful do Andrea (my sweet housemate) and Aleza look in their Indian clothes?!