For the "sundal" fans!

There is more to it when one talks about the Marina Beach, the longest beach in the world. Any lover of street food and fast food would talk about the delicious “Sundal” sold there by the urchins. However, this cuisine of Marina becomes a regular snack during the nine days of “Golu” or the “Navarathri”, a grand festival celebrated predominantly in South India.

The “Thenga, manga, pattani, sundal” appears in various forms and varieties and is made all through the nine days in all the families who keep this “Golu”. To mention about golu, which almost all South Indian bloggers would have blogged by now, Golu is adorned with dolls arranged on steps made specially for the occasion. The Gods and Goddesses are daintily seated as dolls on the steps.

It is to worship Shakti that Navaratri is celebrated. Shakthi is the embodiment of three powers : iccha shakti (desire), kriya shakti (action), gyana shakti (wisdom). In South India, Navaratri is divided into three parts, each of three nights; the first of the triad is reserved for Lakshmi (wealth), followed by Parvati (courage) and lastly, Saraswati (learning)….It is indeed an irony that in a country where a female child is considered unwanted and also abused , where dowry plays an evil role, a woman is worshipped as the Supreme Power!

Years back, this occasion was fun and extra special to the young girls during these nine days. They wore silk skirts or pavadais, went to each and every house in the neighbourhood and invited each other. They sang songs on Gods and Goddesses, more so with their thoughts on the “sundal” which was offered as ‘naivedhyam” to the Gods and Goddesses in the golu and then distributed at the end when they leave. The sundal was neatly wrapped in a newspaper. By the time the girls reached their homes, they would have made a grand collection of these sundals. The younger kids tagged along with them and collected their sundal packets as well. The men folk waited for the sundals of the neighbourhood. Somehow the sundals of next doors always tasted better to them than the one made at home either by their mom or the wife! Actually, it was a pot-pourri of sundal during those nine days. The days have changed and Navrathri has become a modern celebration but the craze for the sundals remains the same though the mode of packing has changed and sundals are distributed in plastic boxes or plastic wrappers.

Sundal is not difficult to make. There are varieties of sundals which one can prepare , not only during the Navarathri, but also during other days. The channas and other dhals and peas are the main ingredients and are highly nutritious because they contain high protein.

Here are the recipes of sundals which one can make easily:

Kothu Kadalai (Chick Pea) Sundal
Chick Peas - 1 1/2 cups
Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilly - 2
Curry Leaves - some
Asafetida - a pinch
Oil - 1 tsp

Soak the Kothu kadalai overnight to prepare sundal the next day. Wash and clean the soaked chickpeas and pressure cook the chick peas in water. Decant the water. Heat up the oil and fry the mustard seeds, urad dhal, asafoetida, chilly and curry leaves. Add the coconut and salt and remove from heat. Stir to mix well. Now add the cooked peas and reheat. Stir well for a few minutes.

Pattani (Green Pea) Sundal
Green Peas - 1 1/2 cups

Grated Coconut - 3 tbspSalt - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp

Dry Red Chilly - 2

Curry Leaves a few Oil - 1 tsp

Lemon - 1/2

Mango - a small piece

Soak the peas overnight, wash and clean the soaked peas and cook in water or pressure cook. Decant the water. Do not overcook. Fry the mustard seeds, urad dhal, chilly and curry leaves. Add the coconut and salt and remove from heat. Stir to mix well. Now add the cooked peas and reheat. Stir for a few minutes until the salt and coconut are evenly distributed. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Add the shredded mango and lemon juice.
There are other sundals which can be made with groundnuts (verkadalai), dhals and rajma also. It depends on the creative thinking of the sundal-maker! Cut onions (can be used on days other than navarathri) and shredded mangoes enhance the taste of the sundals. Visiting friends and relatives for the occasion over a cup of sundal helps in interaction. Navrathri is special not only for the dash of music and dolls but the exhibits of culinary specialities as well!

So let the women come out with more and more creative sundals and contribute to "sundal socialising"!

A house full of memories

“Do we have to demolish this house?” Shantha asked in a sad tone.

“Yes, Shantha, is there any other solution? My brothers are waiting to get their share….
After all, they have a right to this property, isnt it?’

Thilak was bent on giving the house to the flat promoters. “Thank God, my brothers agreed to settle down in the apartments given to them as their share” He thought.

Otherwise he would have lost even the ground in which this house majestically stood on.
The brothers were adamant but he did not blame them, they had a right to their share and they had every right to claim it.

That was the last day in the house. Thilak and Shantha were temporarily allotted an apartment till the completion of the new building which was going to come up in the next few months.

The packers came in and packed their belongings one by one and started moving the articles. It was an emotional time for Shantha. Not one or two years, it had been 30 years since she lived in this house. She had spoken with every brick and stone in the house. She loved every single room in the house.

The house was near empty now. Thilak went to get food for them both while she wandered around to have a last look.

This has been a house where couples have enjoyed, babies were born, toddlers learned to walk. Families ate dinners and suppers together.. Some marriages flourished; others fell apart. Shantha has come in after marriage to Thilak. But soon she developed an attachment not only for the family but also to the house. Sometimes she felt she loved the house better than the people who lived there. She was responsible in bringing an aesthetic aura to the house.

The house consisted of many rooms, and in olden days, there were no specifications like calling them a living room or a dining room or even a designer bathroom. There were many rooms each leading to another, with doors and windows on all sides, and all the rooms were well ventilated. Fans or Air conditioners were not necessary as there was free flow of air and light though electricity was at its lowest voltage.. Somehow the house had all the space they needed, even for the visitors and relatives.

She could remember her grandfather who was fond of her who came now and then to see her and confirm that she was happy. .As she entered the living room, she could recollect her grandfather talking to her father-in-law, both sitting on easychairs, so it was called. The easy chairs were mainly used by grandfathers though children had fun lying and rocking on them when grandfathers went out for walks to buy the snuffing powders. The grandfathers had permanent visitors. The family astrologer was always present to guide them and would forever have a horoscope or the other in his hand ever forecasting either the good or the bad. Her grandfather enjoyed tapping the snuff box twice or thrice, taking a pinch of the powder, inserting it into the nose and letting out a sneeze even while they were all ears to the astrologer.

She stepped into the hall and looked for the swing. The swing had been removed. Sshe recollected the rhythmic screeching noise of the swing where her grandmother royally sat and commanded everyone around the house. When grandmother was not there, in her absence, of course the kids would move the swing to and fro and have a competition as to who would move it to a maximum distance and height. The hall was a place where her daughters learnt music. She could hear the music even while she glanced around the hall. As she hummed the basic notes, she loved the echo arising because of the empty space.

She then entered the kitchen; where she could imagine her mother sitting on the floor using a kerosene stove making countless dosas and hot hot upmas. Even while her mother visited her r, as per the understanding in the family the in-laws who visited had to participate and help in the kitchen chores along with others.

She has never seen her mother tired or weary. Serving food all the time to all elders and kids, grinding flour, churning butter , making snacks and sweets, looking after the sickly people kept her occupied all the twenty four hours. Shantha always wondered if her mother ever slept at all. It is needless to say that even when she visited her daughter, she kept herself busy.

Adding to it, now and then, there was a gathering at their home when there were occasions of marriage. She even remembered the heavy rain during a relatives’ wedding when they could not even set up or light fire for cooking.

Frequent visits by aunts and uncles who would definitely stay for more than ten days or even more were welcome guests those days. The rituals and festivals were all opportunities for people to meet and interact.

Now she felt that the years have fallen away but the images are still there. - .the kids running around, the old people keeping themselves pretty occupied and the middle aged ones taking care of the household and the children loitering around.. Whatever the differences of opinion may be in the family, there was harmony.

She was sad that Thilak’s brothers who have been attached to them, she, being the eldest daughter-in-law, have now distanced themselves with a hello-hello relationship. But she knew that in their inner heart, they would hold this house dear to them.

It pained her as she climbed the staircase and went to the first floor. She remembered how many times she climbed when the kids got scared imagining that there might be ghosts and monsters during night time , using their fear as an excuse to hear stories from her.

And she came out of the house into the garden. Every plant and every tree would speak of her. She knew each and every leaf and flower out there. Her favourite was the mango tree.

The children climbed the mango tree, plucked the mangoes, and fought with the urchins who stole the mangoes. They tied swings on the branches, jumped from one branch to the other and even fell down gleefully from the tree and hurting themselves and complaining about each other.

With a sudden jerk, she came back from her thoughts when she heard Thilak talking to the promoter.

“The mango tree has to be cut down, Sir!”

“Yes, if there is need for it, please do so!” How can Thilak ever understand her sentiment about the mango tree? It was her friend. She had been speaking to the tree every day!

It is indeed funny how time puts a different perspective on things.

It had been so hard to live there, cooking and washing dishes, mumbling and grumbling that she was not able to manage such a big house and would prefer a flat, but now? There was something magical about the house. But she resigned to fate and soon stepped out of the house without even looking back, a practical woman that she was.