Autumn Feasts

Tweet

Continuing my post of the Durga Puja festival... The questions which came up, " what about the food?" A topic that does generate a lot of interest. During the festival days , people have their food at the venue. This special lunch is called ,"bhog".The meal is first offered to the Goddess who blesses it. Because it is a community festival there are a lot of people who eat together. Apart from the neighourhood community any person who comes is also welcome to eat. Makeshift kitchens come up, professional cooks are hired and lots of volunteers get ready to prepare the meal of the day. So the lunch is kept simple and inexpensive. The main dish is "khichiri" which isa rice and lentil dish cooked together and garnished with special spices. Then there is a mixed vegetable dish which has all the seasonal vegetables cooked together.The accompaniments are brinjal(usually) deep fried, a sweet chutney made of tomatoes, dates and raisins, pickle and lime. A sweet dish "payesh" rice cooked in milk is the dessert . There are variations to this according to the budget of the particular committee.But the thing that everyone agrees is that this traditional bhog has an unique taste and can never be reproduced in the home kitchen. PS: My photo of bhog in my neighbourhood. The fried brinjal and sweet dish not in picture as they were served after I clicked.