Twenty-twenty was supposed to be the year you finally took that trip you wanted to go, to have fun by partying with your friends, exploring the different restaurants in the city and finally enjoy your life that you dreamed of, except COVID-19 hit and the entire world went into a lockdown and you stayed and worked inside your house. Your house became your entire universe at least for a period of 8 months. Whether 2020 was a good year or not, let’s try to see the flash back of the sequence of events that happened in 2020, Here are a few food related events to catch upon on:
1) January galatta.
January sure did start off well with new year celebrations with all the family get together, the friends party and the amazing food shared with our closed ones. January is the time when the year is welcomed with the festival of Pongal/ Maha Sankranti. It was a four-day festival ending on January 18,2020 where traditional Pongal dishes such as chakkara pongal, paal payasam, ven pongal was majorly cooked and eaten at hometowns.
Chakkara Pongal is a must during this harvest festival. It is made out of the harvested rice and offered to the sun god. This easy-to-make, tasty dish is prepared using loads of jaggery, a generous helping of desi ghee and dry fruits. This is a delight to all the sweet loving Indians.
Ven Pongal is one of the traditional savoury dishes, it is prepared with ghee and pepper pods and served with coconut chutney or sambar. It is considered to be one of the best Pongal special dishes, both to prepare and to consume.
2) Frozen February.
All of us were excited for the leap day in 2020 as it comes once in 4 years, but in this month food such as chocolates, cakes, brownies etc. were on a hype where people celebrated the day of love by gifting their loved ones with any favourite food dish. In UK, people celebrated the month by sharing pancakes.
The Olney Pancake Race: At 11:55 am on Shrove Tuesday each year, energetic local ladies in traditional housewife attire (including skirt, apron and scarf) run 415 yards through the streets of Olney carrying a frying pan. Pancakes are tossed at the start of the race and the winner must toss her pancake again at the finish. The race has been run since around 1445 and since 1950, the contest has been an international event between Olney and the town of Liberal, Kansas in America.
3) Mirchi March
Did anyone expect that there would be lockdown in India because of the Covid-19 hit? Definitely not because we were strong enough to believe that corona wouldn’t hit India because of its climate advantage, but to our surprise the spicy twist in our lives came up which was the starting point to stay safe at home. No matter what surprises throw up this year, gujiyas and dahi bhalla have dominated the great Holi spread. If there is anything that comes as close in terms of popularity during Holi is the thick, creamy and ever-so-delightful thandai.
4) Anti-April.
During the month of April, we not only learnt new words such as quarantine, social distancing, sanitizers, lockdown, we had also started exploring that one room at our homes where our mothers spent the entire day, the kitchen. Not only did home made food boost during this month, but immunity boosting food such as rasam, kashayam, etc were very much demanded by people. The scare of corona made each one of us to drink kashayam like a starter soup.
5) Madness May.
As people started exploring their homes and their kitchen, there was one dish that hit the social media trends with posters, videos, reels etc. The hype of dalgano coffee was started where a normal coffee would be prepared as per recipe to make it look tempting and perfect.
Every active social media person would have definitely got carried away with this dalgona wave in the whole world. This coffee is all about incorporating air into a paste of coffee and sugar by beating it with a whisk or spoon until it becomes thick and frothy, by beating the mix with a spoon. It is all about the taste.
6) Immune June.
Two of the greatest challenges of monsoon and winter is to keep oneself warm and prevent illnesses. A simple way to achieve these objectives is by including more healthy and immunity-boosting foods in your diet.
In the month of June many immunity boosting food items such as Turmeric milk, tulsi tea, chyawanprash, spiced tea, nilavembu kashayam, sakthu urundai(Panjiri or ladoo), amla etc. were made on a regular basis at homes.
7)Juicy July.
Bakrid is observed every year to honour the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an acceptance of Allah's command. On this day, a lamb or goat is sacrificed and the offering is distributed among friends and relatives. A variety of special dishes or foods are made on Bakrid. These Eid dishes are mostly meat preparations, but certain traditional sweet dishes and desserts are also prepared, as friends and relatives come over after the morning Namaz. Few dishes that make the day special include nalli bhuna, zarda pulao, mutton biryani, nadir yakhni, seviyan and so on.
8) Amazing August.
Ganesh Chaturthi, one of the most widely celebrated festivals across the subcontinent, especially in Maharashtra and Karnataka celebrated on 22nd August, 2020 with much fervour around the country. Some of the popular recipes during ganesh Chaturthi are Modhak(kozhukattai), Satori (a rich delicacy made from khoya or mawa, ghee, besan and milk).
Another festival in the month of August is Krishna Jayanti. One of the famous dishes for Krishna Jayanthi is nei (Ghee) appam or unni appam. This is similar to the sweet paniyaram that is made in skillets with tiny moulds. Rice flour, jaggery and a smattering of over ripe banana come together in this delicious sweet dish that is cooked in ghee. Another dish made of rice flour that comes into play during Krishna Jayanti is seedai.
9) September Sadhya.
Onam Sadhya The 10-day harvest festival began on 22nd August, and ends on 2nd September, 2020. During this period, people in Kerala commemorate the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali. Apart from fresh flower decorations and power-packed boat races, the highlight of the festival is an elaborate meal called the Onam Sadhya or Onam.
Onam Sadhya, which in Malayalam means 'banquet' is a sensational multi-course vegetarian meal that features over 24 dishes on a banana leaf. Onam Sadhya is enjoyed without any cutlery and is usually eaten while sitting on the floor.
The usual items in an Onam Sadhya include: kaaya varuthatha (banana chips), chena varuthatha (yam chips), sarkara upperi (Jaggery coated banana chips), mango pickle, lime pickle, puli inji (tamarind & ginger chutney), kichadi (Gourd in mildly spiced yoghurt), pachadi (Pineapple in yoghurt) , olan ( ash gourd with black beans in a coconut milk gravy), stir-fried vegetables with grated coconut, theeyal (mixed vegetable gravy), erissery (mashed beans and pumpkin with coconut gravy), avial, puliserry (yogurt based curry), kootu curry (black chickpeas curry), sambar, rasam, spicy buttermilk, bananas, papad and of course boiled rice.
10) Roaster October.
Dussehra is a significant Hindu festival that marks the end of Navratri and goddess Durga’s victory over the buffalo demon Ravana. Dussehra is celebrated in almost every part of India differently and even the delicacies prepared on the occasion are not same. In South India, especially in Karnataka, sweet Dosa is offered as prasadam on Dussehra and Saraswati Puja. It is prepared using coconut, rice flour, jaggery, and wheat flour. Rasgulla is a must-have on Dussehra too. This delicacy is popular in West Bengal and is considered a good-luck bringing sweet. Jalebi and fafda are also quite famous during Dussehra especially in Gujarat.
11) Remember November.
Like any other Indian festival, feasting is crucial to Diwali and everything from rich Indian curries to traditional sweets are gorged upon without any restrictions. Few of the dishes that we have during Diwali are kaju katli, rasmalai (melt-in-mouth sweet treat made with cardamom, chhena, cornflour and saffron), Mysore Pak, chawal ki kheer, gulab jamun (tempting khoya balls dipped in sugar syrup), gajar ka halwa, ragi coconut ladoo and so on.
12) Delicious December.
December is the last month of this very hard year and all could be the possibility for new beginnings as well. While people celebrate the month with plum cakes, joysticks and cookies for Christmas, the most famous Mei Ramew food festival happens in Meghalaya!If you love Meghalaya for its culture and food, then Mei Ramew festival is one of the not-to-miss out attractions in the the state. The festival is organized by North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society. Little known yet one of the most enthralling events of its kind, Mei Ramew is a traditional food festival which can be an amazing experience for food buffs. The festival proffers a chance to relish the finest taste of the authentic delicacies that are prepared and served by different communities of Meghalaya.
The month of November is also special because Sheplates has launched its meal menu consisting of home-made lunch dishes such as traditional veggie, meaty feast, pocket friendly meal etc and the meal plan where people can subscribe for home-made breakfast, lunch and dinner at their convenience.
So lets wrap 2020 with all the cherishing memories and begin the new year with a fresh, happy, amazing new year 2021 with health, wealth and GOOD FOOD!
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