Indian Mahotsav And Traditions

The next few months in India is the most hectic phase of the year when we have a plethora of festivals and celebrations happening in different parts of the country. This is the phase in our modern fast paced world strives to slow down to imbibe and cherish each of these amazing festivals and be part of them to cherish our rich traditions and family bond. I remember my grandmother’s kitchen would run full swing for these months making amazing sweets and savouries. The feel of an industrial production house with large brass , bronze and cast iron cookware used in cycle to make these favourites is unforgettable. Sneaking into the kitchen and opening the traditional brass thooku and containers to get a taste of these wonderful home made creations gives our younger self a sense of adventure and mischief. Looking back these memories have played a significant part of how we celebrate these traditions and festivals today. I am sure many are nostalgic and wonder how our grandmother’s could create amazing savoury and sweets with utmost precision and in large quantities. To us now days, this seems to be a daunting task to re-create even a fraction of what our grandmother’s could do and predominantly all by themselves. The concept of making sweets and savouries to celebrate these upcoming festivals in steeped in rich traditions that date back centuries. Our idea of community built on the foundation of trust and amicability results in each household becoming part a ket fulcrum in leveraging these festivals to strengthen the community bond. As the saying goes, food is a great way to someone’s heart and our traditions take this concept very seriously. Whether is wedding or any celebrations pertaining to a specific household or festivals that is celebrated by everyone, the concept of galvanising the community is a strong/central characteristics of all our celebrations. The kind of sweet and savouries we make may differ in different parts of the country but the underlying concept has not wavered whether you celebrate Dussehra, Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi or Diwali. Let us look into some of the most widely used cookware that would be of immense value not only for these festivals but for life time. Do check some of these options that might enable you to re-create your grandmother’s magic ! Modak Patra - This Ganesh Chaturthi do make sure you bring home some exquisite copper Modak patra that will help you make the most amazing sweet and savoury items. These steamers will be useful going forward with making other dishes like momo’s, steamed Idiyapam and more! Paraat - Go for the authentic brass ones as they will last for generations and for many festivals. This could help you with kneading the dough for all your favourite preparations this festival season, but can be a trusted companion if making rotis on a daily basis. Idli Pathram - These large brass Idli vessels can be a multi-purpose addition to your kitchen. You can use it not just for idlis but to steam kozhukattai, Idlis or making Idiyapam. Also the outer vessel can also double up to make gravies / vegetables in large quantities. This is simply a vessel worth having it at our homes! Kadai- Most of our celebrations have good deep fried savouries and sweets need a good kadai which can enable you to make these dishes easily. Cast Iron might work well for everyone but even the brass or bronze kadai would be a great inclusion as well. Brass Storage Containers - Brass is the ideal metal with its anti-oxidant properties to store cooked food for days without it getting spoilt. Leverage these traditional storage mediums to store cooked savouries and sweets! Bronze Bowls - Kansa also called Shudha Dhatu - “purest of metals” and is known to remove any free radicals present in food. Traditionally all offerings to gods is done in Kansa. What has been mentioned above as identified through discussion with many grandmothers as a critical tool to making a traditional functioning kitchen. Traditional Kitchen has multiple aspects and relevance in modern times especially with enhancing the taste of cooked food, health benefits and long life! This festive season, immerse yourself in the traditional wisdom of our ancestors by bring some of these hand-crafted tools from www.Zishta.com that bring back fond memories that can be passed on to the next generation. It is our imperative to make sure the traditions are followed and best of these are passed on and enable longevity of these traditions. Let us bring back our grandmother’s wisdom to our daily lives and enrich it for posterity!