Bhatura, Jilebis, Pumpkins And Books!

Dear Srama,
It was a lovely snippet that took my memories to older times.In a big joint family of twelve daughters

i was the youngest of all.I have witnessed all the weddings with kai murukku and jangiri made at home.

When Amma was grinding rice
for idli,she used to give a handful of pasted rice to practise doing kaimurukku on a

small cloth.we will be doing and redoing until amma appreciated our work.it was mixed with idli batter.Within 12 month

we became experts in doing kaimurukku. Whenever weddings were arranged in our village,summer myself and my sister

would make our assured presence and help in making murukkus of seven rolls with the names of bride and bride groom appearing within murukku.

we learnt the art of jangiri making also.A thick kaada cloth was taken and a small hole was made with a compus.The

double folded cloth was stitched well around the hole.Now training was with urad flour.We prepared jangiries and let them into a

basin of water.Initially we were disgusted,There were lines of urat dal inside the basin and no jangiri of any

kind..Amma taught us the technique of revolving our fist very fast so that we could do jangiri rolls within the circle.

After having trg for a month, we were given opportuniy to do jangiris while amma was watching.

we had 20 percent success.out of 15 jangiris 3 were very good in shape.Other 12 in bits and pieces were

distributed among us.Amma consoled us saying"full jangiris are only for seeing.We have to eat in pieces only."When


I was in standard X ,for a deepavali I tried Jangiri and i could make 18 full jangiris out of 20.I felt elated when

everyone appreciatedme.After marriage I have made jangiris for nearly 45 years since it is the cheapest sweet

and worked out to just four annas in those days for a sweet when made at home.After children have left abroad, Deepavali has lost all the sheen and your snippet has kindled my memories.

Thank you Rama for the delightful way in which you have coined your take. All the best.

Jayaala 42

 

Dear Sabitha,

It is always nice to share our culture, festivals, and even food with people from other culture! As you probably know by now, I am part of Sri Sathya Sai Baba center here in Tampa, Florida. The problem I have is the Westerners know more about our culture and tradition including food items than me personally. They ask deep questions about Advaita philosophy, asking me to explain Ilayaraja's "Thiruvasakam", and sometimes inquire about Bollywood movies. They all visit India regularly and spend 2-3 months in Sai Baba's Ashram in Puttaparthi and come back. They are pleasantly surprised how a hospital is run in the Ashram totally free of charge. They ask always how people in India are so friendly and hospitable despite so many challenges. I remember a Polish guy fluently reciting "Adhitya Hrudhayam", a British citizen reciting "Rudram & Chamakkam". When we have a celebration in the Center, they come early and participate in flower arrangement, tying mango leaves in the enternace and watch the Rangoli made in front of the building. They even ask when we are ready to serve breakfast whether we have any Pongal (pronounced Puangale) or Upma (pronounced Youpma). They enter into vigorous debate about the teachings of Sai Baba. They take over completely when we celebrate Christmas including Christmas carol singing. Them singing Sanskrit Bhajans is spectacular to watch and they sing them with deep devotion.

As far as your garden is concerned, even at such a distance, we enjoy just listening to your narration and no wonder she was enjoying your garden so much. I always struggle to explain the difference between Jangri and Jelabi. The rate at which Indian restaurants are opened here in Tampa is delightful to watch and 90% of the customers are westerners. They are very fond of Nans and curry.