Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





News

This is an archive of all the news posts that have appeared on this site over the years. Please bear in mind that some of this information is almost certainly now out of date!

Diwali or Deepawali

October 19th, 2019

We at mamtaskitchen wish all our visitors a very Hally Deepawali. May the coming year be happy, healthy and prosperous for you.

Editing of Indian vegetable dish names

October 1st, 2019

In Northern India, where I come from, when vegetables are cooked without gravy/sauce, they are simply called Bhaji or Sabji. For example, potatoes cooked without a sauce will simply be called Alu Sabji or Bhaji. When they are cooked with gravey or sauce, they will have an additional word 'Rasedar', meaning 'with gravy.

When I first started the website, mamtaskitchen, many, many years ago, very few people here in UK recognised this, so I called bhajies 'dry curry', meaning a curry without a sauce/gravy, technically an incorrect name.

Now that many TV chefs have familiarised the public with correct Hindi words, I think that it is time I removed the word 'Dry Curry' from my recipes too. It irritates me every time I read it!

A recipe's name of the dish is the same, I have just removed the words 'Dry Curry' from their title.

Mamtas Kitchen on facebook

January 11th, 2019

If you cook using any of our recipes, share your experiences and pictures with others. Answer and ask questions on mamtaskitchen Facebook page.

Happy New Year!

December 31st, 2018

We at mamtaskitchen wish all our visitors a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Have a great 2019.

Merry Christmas!

December 20th, 2018

We at mamtaskitchen wish each and every one of you and your family a very merry Christmas.

Have a great time!

Mamta, Kavita and Pete

Happy Diwali and love to all :)

November 5th, 2018

Both the words Deepawali and Diwali are made of two Hindi words; deep + awali=deepawali and diwa + ali=Diwali. Deep and Diwa both mean 'a lamp'. Awali and ali mean 'a row of'. So, it means 'a row of lamps'.

Diwali, a Hindus festival, is also called the festival of lights. It is one of the biggest and grandest festivals of India.

There are many stories about Diwali celebrations;

  1. It is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya, with his wife Sita, after an exile of 14 years imposed by his father (see the epic of Ramayana). He defeated Ravana, the evil king of Lanka, who had abducted his wife Sita. On this day, he returned to Ayodhya with his wife and younger brother Lakhshaman, to claim his Kingdom. His praja, his people, celebrated his return by lighting rows upon rows of ghee filled earthen lamps all over the city, a celebration of victory of good over evil. The day prior to Diwali is known as Choti or little Diwali, celebrated by lighting only 25 lamps. Hindus believe that on this day, the Monkey God Hanuman arrived in Ayodhya to inform the people that Rama, Sita and Lakshman were arriving the following day. So they held minor celebrations in anticipation.

  1. Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, is also worshipped by all Hindus on Diwali. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and white washed, to welcome the Goddess. The lights are to make it easier for the Goddess to find her way easily into homes. In fact a large Deepak (lamp) of ghee (clarified butter) is kept lit throughout the night, so that the Goddess can visit at any time of the night. Diwali holds special importance for the rich people and for business communities. New account books are opened for the coming year.

  1. Krishna and Govardhan Mountain are also worshipped during Diwali. It is believed that the people of Gokul, the town where God Krishna's adoptive parents lived, used to celebrate a festival in honour of God Indira at the end of the monsoon rains. One year, on the advice of Krishna, the mountain deity of Govardhan was worshipped instead of God Indira. This angered Indira and he sent down a severe thunderstorm to submerge Gokul. God Krishna saved his people, by holding aloft the Govardhan Mountain on his little finger, using it as an umbrella. This day is celebrated as the day of thanksgiving to Lord Krishna.

  1. In olden days there was a devil called Bali. He vowed to carry out 100 Ashv-Megh Yajas (a type of prayer) to please God Vishnu. When he had completed 99 of the Yajas, he became very powerful. Lord Indira was worried that Bali would take his throne away if he completed the 100th Yaja. He prayed to God Vishnu asking him to stop this from happening. In answer to his prayers, God Vishnu appeared in the form of a Brahmin and disrupted the 100th Yaja, thus destroying Bali's chances of becoming all powerful. As a reward for his other 99 completed Yajyas, God Vishnu granted Bali a wish. Bali asked to have three days a year designated as his kingdom on earth, to be celebrated by lighting lamps and performing Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth) prayers, welcoming Her into people's houses and business places.

  1. In Bengal, eastern India, ceremonies are conducted during Diwali to pay respect to the souls of one's forefathers. Torches are lit on long poles and held aloft with the intention of guiding the departed souls. The day is celebrated as 'Kali Pooja', in the worship of Goddess Kali.

  1. Lord God Krishna killed the demon Narkasur on narakchturdarshi and returned home victorious. People decorated their houses with lamps to welcome him back. This became deepawali or diwali. He also freed 16000 princesses from Narkasur. They were not accepted back by their parents because they were supposed to be tainted. Krishna married them Himself, in name only, to give them and their children social status.

PreparationsPrior to Diwali, market places are decorated with lights and buntings. Shops are overflowing with sweets, fireworks and other goods. Temples are cleaned and painted, statues of Gods adorned with new clothes and jewellery. Youngsters compete to buy the loudest and most colourful fireworks available. Rich people spends thousands on buying new clothes, jewellery and fireworks. Sweets, kheel (parched/fluffed grains of rice) and batashe (a kind of egg-less meringues made in various shapes of animals and toys), are distributed to family, friends and workers.

Diwali foods:

Every family makes their own favourite meal in the evening. In our house, it consists of Rasedar Aloo (potato curry with gravy, new vegetables of the season like cauliflower , sweet pumpkin, mooli-ka-lachha (grated white radish with salt and lemon dressing), poori, and urad dal kachoris. A large selection of sweets are either made at home or bought from sweet shops. Search for Indian sweets on this site.

Baisakhi - 13th April, 2018

April 8th, 2018

Baisakhi is the Solar New year for Indians and it is celebrated on the 13th of April each year all over India. It is on this day that Sun enters Aries, the first sign of Zodiac. This signifies the New Year. It has special significance for Hindus and Sikhs of all of India. Hindus believe that the sacred river of Gods, the Ganges (Ganga), was persuaded to descend from heaven to earth on this day many thousands of years ago, following rigorous prayers of Bhagiratha (look for the story of King Bhagiratha’s ancestor King Sagara). To celebrate this, Kumbha Mela is held every twelve years at Varanasi and Haridwar. People believe that bathing in Ganges washes all their sins. Dying are given a drop of holy water of Ganges, to absolve them from any sins they might have committed.

Sikhs believe that on this day in 1699, their 10th Guru Sri Gobind Singhji gave Amrit, the nectar of eternal life, to his five disciples known as Panj Pyare (the five beloved ones). He said, "where there are Panj Pyare, there am I”. This was the birth of the Khalsa religion. Sikhs take their holy book ‘Sri Granth Sahib' in a procession, which is led by the 'Panj Pyaras', five senior Sikhs, who are symbolic of the original Panj Pyaras.

It is a colourful harvest festival in Punjab, where Sikhs and all Punjabis dress in colourful clothes and dance the energetic folk dance called Bhangra to the beat of Dholak, a Punjabi drum. This dance has now become very popular in UK too and often involve enactments of tilling the soil, sowing of seeds to gathering of harvest, and many local folk lore. Many fairs are held all over Punjab on this day. Special foods for this day are Sarson ka Sag, Makki Roti, Gajak, a candy like sweet made from sugar (or jagary) and sesame seeds.

On this day, harvest festival is celebrated in many other parts of India too.

Happy Hindu New Year (2074-2075)

March 18th, 2018

Today is the 1st day of the Hindu Year 2075.

In most parts of India, start of Vikram Samvat, the Hindu calendar year, is considered to be on the 1st day of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra, which always falls in March-April.

Vikram Samvat was started by the king Vikramaditya of Ujjain, India, following his victory over the Saka dynasty. Vikramaditya or Chandra Gupta II, was the grandson of King Chandra Gupta I and the grandson of King Samudra Gupta. He was one of the most loved, prosperous and progressive king of the ancient Gupta dynasty that ruled India from 320 AD - 520 AD. It is said that Vikram Samvat year used to start in the Hindu month of Kartika originally, on Diwali day or the festival of light. Later on, it was changed to the month of Chaitra, to synchronise with the Shaka calendar, which had been running since around 5500 B.C. In Gujarat, the start of Vikrama Samvat, or the Hindu New Year is still celebrated on Diwali. This day is also the beginning of Navratras.

Happy New Year to all our visitors!

December 29th, 2017

We at mamtaskitchen team wish you, peace, health, happiness, love and prosperity in the 2018.

Eat well and be happy!

If you cook something from here and like it, you can post your photos on https://www.facebook.com/mamtaskitchen

We are now able to offer our Mamta's Kitchen aprons for sale again. Please go through to the Apron Shop!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to

December 19th, 2017

We at mamtaskitchen team wish you, peace, health, happiness, love and prosperity at Christmas and in the coming Year.

Eat well and be happy!

We are now able to offer our Mamta's Kitchen aprons for sale again. Please go through to the Apron Shop!

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