Today is Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Happy Diwali!
The name itself means “a row of lamps” and describes the traditional ghee-filled earthenware lamps which are traditionally lit in their hundreds and thousands. An unforgettably beautiful sight.
There are a number of different reasons and stories behind the festival which you can read about here and here.
In our family, we light a candle in every single room of the house, and also place one at each external door. Mum cooks a wonderful Indian vegetarian meal for us to share.
My favourite dishes include mum’s simple potato curry with gravy served with fresh, hot, crispy pooris.
image by Arne Hückelheim, Wikimedia Commons
This year, my personal Diwali celebrations started early, when I was invited to a Diwali-themed supper club hosted by Luiz (The London Foodie), catered by Maunika (Cook In A Curry) and sponsored by Tilda Basmati Rice.
This was a great coming together. Luiz is a consummate host and I’ve enjoyed many a wonderful evening in his beautiful home. The newly extended and refitted kitchen was even more envy-inducing than the old one, and is a fabulous venue for his regular cooking clubs and supper clubs.
I regularly find myself salivating when reading Maunika’s twitter stream, as she describes in loving detail the many fabulous Indian dishes she cooks on a regular basis, both at home and in her career as private chef, food writer and radio presenter. Born in Bombay, Maunika has researched and become an expert in the many varied cuisines of the Indian subcontinent and shared several of her favourites with us during the evening.
The unique properties of basmati rice – the magical flowery scent and woody undertones – are well known. Tilda is a brand that has been associated with sourcing and selling top quality basmati rice since the late 1960s, when it started a business importing and selling to the immigrant Asian community in the UK. Today Tilda’s rice is readily available in the UK and over 40 more countries worldwide. If you are of the mind set that “rice is rice” and surely all basmati rice is much of a muchness, I set you the challenge of buying a bag of Tilda and a bag of the cheapest value brand of basmati you can find. You will notice the difference!
My favourite dishes of the evening were a Paneer Haraa Tikka for which Maunika marinaded cubes of paneer with garlic, chillies and sprinkled them with kala namak (dark Indian rock salt with a distinctive pungent taste from the dissolved sulhur), a fantastic Pineapple and Black Pepper Chutney, a flavour-packed Haraa Masala Chicken hailing from the Khoha community of India, full of coriander, mint and caramelised onions and a Keralan Fish Curry called Meen Moilee, consisting of moist fillets of sea bass in a rich coconutty gravy. Maunika’s Lamb Yakhni Pulao, made of course with Tilda Basmati, included succulent morsels of lamb mixed with rice that had been cooked in lamb stock and butter.
All delicious and very enjoyable. Thank you to Luiz, Maunika, Tilda and Wildcard for a wonderful evening. Happy Diwali!
Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!6 Comments to "Happy Diwali!"
Your meal sounds wonderful, and I fully agree about the quality of Tilda rice compared to cheaper brands (and I didn't get a sponsored meal to say that!).
Tilda basmati is so much more fragrant! And I find it cooks more evenly too,
I love Divali and look forward to my mother-in-law's cooking. The kids just go crazy with all the lights.
Thanks for the lovely write-up Kavey, and your generous words, it is always such a pleasure to see you and Pete at my house. Roll Burmese cooking club, hey! Lx
Bright festival with a lovely concept! Though I am not an Indian I like to see the celebration of this wonderful event. Different kind of lighting spread all over the place and make glow every gloomy part. I wish all the Indians ‘Happy Diwali’ though it’s just gone for this year.
One of the most dazzling event of Indian culture what I like too much for it’s colorful celebration. The another attraction of this festival is tasty food and a special drink ;P Thanks for sharing your joys.