Thursday, November 08, 2007

Happy Deepavali


kolam

To my Hindu readers, Happy Deepavali! The kolam is an apt design to start off the celebration with. It is a design drawn on the floor and filled in with coloured rice powder as a sign of welcome and prosperity.

deepavali lamp

The festival is celebrated with lamps and lights, signifying the victory of good over evil.

Deepavali feast

Deepavali Day is always celebrated with a lot of food cooked by my mother. This year, sis-in-law, Kat, took over some of the responsibilities and passed with flying colours.

Mutton curry
Mutton curry by mum

Penang achar
Penang achar by Kat

mutton peratal
Mutton perattal by mum

fried chicken
Fried chicken by Kat

fruit salad
Fruit salad by Kat

What's unique is that these two ladies (mum and Kat) do not come from an Indian background. Having married men of Indian/part Indian heritage, they picked up the skills and can now cook a fantastic array of Indian cuisine, some of which are influenced by their Chinese and Nyonya heritage. And this is what being truly Malaysian is all about. I can't help but salute these two women. (Note: Lyrical Lemongrass' area of specialty is eating, and not cooking! We all have our strengths. :-P )

Deepavali cookies and muruku assortment
Deepavali cookies and muruku assortment (muruku, kara muruku, achi muruku, omapodi) by mum and Kat

Those who are unable to view my pictures on flickr, including the good people of Abu Dhabi, may click HERE to view the pictures.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Deepavali to you, too! A truly scrumptious array of goodies there!

bha said...

Happy Diwali to you and your near and dear ones.

LianneK said...

Happy Deepavali Meena! Wow .. did you do the Kolam ? its even better than those I'd seen in shopping mall! All the food looks super yummy .. and wow, i love the flower arrangement for the last pic ..

Henry Yeo said...

Wow, how fast did you post this? from your parent's house?

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Manisha: Thanks and Happy Deepavali to you too!

bhags: Thanks. Happy Diwali to you.:-)

imbi & itchy: Thank you! No, the kolam shot was taken at my office...I think it's really pretty! The flower arrangement is sweet, isn't it? Sis-in-law did that. I basically ate. That's my job. :-P

Argus Lou said...

Everything looks wonderful! Happy Festival of Lights to you and your family, Lyrical.

Now my mind's tongue is tasting every single yummy dish... ooo.
Reminds me of days when I visited my Chinese-Indian classmate Shanti's home - her Chinese mum made wonderful Indian cuisine. Unforgettable!

Kenny Mah said...

Dear, the second photo is just crying out to be made into a book cover... very ethereal...

...and I'm such a non-foodie that it's the non-food pic that captures my imagination? Ah well. We can't all be floggers...

*runs away and hide, er, gorges himself on murukku*

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali, Lemongrass!

Can we have some of the recipes, pretty please! Especially the one for mutton curry! :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely shots as usual. Looks like such a cosy, homey lunch with loved ones. *sniff..*

Flower arrangement never do, kolam never do. I thought you are the artistic one?? BEagle never gave you any meaningful glances meh, as all the goodies rolled out?? You could've given him bragging rights that his wife did all the decorations even if she doesn't cook... :P

Happy Deepavali, woman! :)

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Argus: That's a nice memory. Gone are the days when we used to visit friends' houses freely. Nowadays, many have adopted the "balik kampung" thingy, so friends' houses are basically deserted!

Kenny: U can use my pic for one of your bookcovers as long as you buy me a really expensive meal. :-P

maninas: well, since I've cooked this mutton curry before, I do believe I have the recipe stashed away somewhere. U've given me an idea to replicate this dish and reproduce this recipe. Look out for it in one of my future posts. ;-)

Kat: Hahaha...I'm quite teruk, hor. I do my bit for Christmas la. Once a year enuff, rite? :-P

sra said...

That's another fabulous post on Deepavali, Happy Deepavali!

msiagirl said...

What a lovely family celebration. Those other non-food pics just beyootiful as usual and did your family roll their eyes when you were taking pics to share their delicious food with us? Glad you did!

Steve said...

Happy Deepavali Lemongrass!

Can I ask about the fruit salad? I've never seen fruit salad in a dresing like that. What was in the dressing if it wouldn't be giving away one of Kat's most closely-held secrets...

Precious Pea said...

Happy Deepavali my dear sista. Lovely feast you got there...yumzz! You should also cook your braised pork belly you have just learnt. Hehehe..next year perhaps?

Bernsy said...

nice... Happy Deepavali to you... nice pics of the kolam, lamp, and flowers...

k.t.x said...

hehehe, vanakarmmmm!

happy deeep deeep punye valley!!!

somehow, hv 2 get someone to invite me to a deepavali open house...!! lol.

John (logicsoul.com) said...

Ah.. Deepavali celebrations look fun.. Too bad there aren't many Indians here in KK ( so indian food is really expensive ) and I wasn't invited to any open house celebrations .... :(

hmmm... time to go search for muruku...

Congrats on your blog's 1st anniversary ! :P

bee said...

happy deepavali to you.

UnkaLeong said...

muruku? get well soon!

Anonymous said...

Loads of good food..! yummy..!! Happy hols..!

teckiee said...

The Kolam looks damn good! Happy Deepavali!

Big Boys Oven said...

Happy Deepavali from us! Have a great celebration.

M.H. said...

Diwali greetings! I was working, too bad. But looking at your pictures makes me hungry and I hope to catch some yummy murukus soon...

KellytheCulinarian said...

Happy Diwali! I just learned about the holiday.

By the way, those are fabulous photos, what kind of camera are you using?

Cynthia said...

Happy Deepavali! It is a pity that I live so far away, I'd have enjoyed this feast your mom and Kat prepared and you are right, each of us have our areas of strengths! :)

wmw said...

Happy Deepavali and happy holidays!

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

sra: Happy deepavali to you too!

msiagirl: My family didn't expect that I'd bring my laptop and post the pictures immediately on the blog. But there was another reason for doing this...to share the deepavali photos with my two brothers who are currently working abroad, and who are missing the celebrations right now.

steveky: I believe it's a mayonnaise based dressing. :-)

precious pea: Hahaha...that's quite an unlikely dish to serve during deepavali! Maybe I'll save it for the CNY celebrations, eh? :-P

bernsy: thanks! and thanks!

k.t.x: so did u enjoy your deepavali holiday?

namor: aww that's a pity! Well, I hope you'll be able to come to KL soon and sample some of the good and cheap indian food available here!

bee: Happy Deepavali to you too!!

unkaleong: I'm enjoying my muruku at home right now. Mmmmmm.

mama bok: Thanks!

teckiee: yes, it's pretty, isn't it?

BBO: Thanks! It's been great so far.

myf: I hope you managed to eat enough muruku. :-)

kelly mahoney: we have been having a string of great festivals in Malaysia these few months. :-) I'm using a Canon EOS 400D. Thanks for the compliments!

Cynthia: Oh you'd love the food we have here, especially during the festivities. And I'm glad you understand the different roles we all play. hehe.

wmw: Thanks! I hope you're having fun too! (See ya Wed!)

Anonymous said...

Fried chicken looks yummy!