The simple sheen of sogadu
January is cute in bengaluru in every manner. Ribbons of mist raise the quilt off metallic-grey mornings, exposing dancing slabs of sunlight.
The tune of the cuckoos and the squawking of parakeets, the hissing of idli-bearing strain cookers and the frothing up of coffees, all supplying warmth against the nip inside the air. And to pinnacle all of it, the festival season kicks off with sankranthi, decreeing an order of freshness about the entirety. Newly harvested grains, lentils, sugarcane, ash gourd, pumpkin, indian jujube, mango fronds and coconuts fill the markets. Bright orange and yellow chrysanthemums carpet the gardens like little suns unto their personal merit. However the best draw is the starchy, almost tinny aroma - the sogadu - of avarekai, hyacinth beans.
Arrangements for sankranthi are usually on for some weeks, as we hull mounds of roasted groundnuts, their papery skins swirling around us like fairy dirt; chop de-skinned, dried coconuts into little squares; jaggery (bella) into tiny cubes; and blend all of it up with roasted sesame seeds (yellu), for the yellu bella - a type of healthy path blend, packed in little sachets and shared with pals and family as a token of affection, along side figurines of ducks and deer, bananas and pineapples, crafted by means of pouring molten sugar into wooden moulds.
Plant-based totally, fusion & beyond...
The points of interest, smells and the general essence of the harvest pageant are pleasant: rangoli designs decorating front yards, depicting motifs of the harvest season, like pots, sugarcane plants, and the sun. Mango fronds hung above doors, interspersed with flower garlands. The peppery warmth and pointers of hing in the khara pongal, and the sweet notes of raisin-speckled, cardamom-infused sweet pongal. The tang of jujubes, the juicy fibrousness of sugarcane chunks. The kaleidoscopic splendour of kites fluttering against spotless blue skies.
The simplicity of a concept like - yellu bella thindu, olle maathaadi - which translates, as a perfect metaphor for our times, as - consume yellu bella, and talk of suitable things.
In my domestic, the show goes on, and we are at the nose with most of everything, right from the rangoli to the mango fronds, the festive fare (we even use millets in our pongal, for a special, local flavour) and the yellu-bella blend. However the candy sogadu of the avarekai has vanished like a soapy bubble, and the entirety is adorned beyond recognition - there are orange cows and inexperienced elephants within the sugar figurine lots, earthenware pots painted with colorful vines wherein to take the yellu-bella mixture - now made and bought via condiment stores with psychedelic, spiky sugar balls.
This heavy-responsibility commericialisation of the entirety is certainly scoring massive on production consent, and a fleeting feel of happiness.
There are over 500 tonnes of waste generated at some point of this precise competition in bengaluru on my own, and as soon as we wash our fingers after the festive meal, we too forget approximately all of the matters we are going to discard in the days to return.
Right here are some recommendations to minimise waste and be aware of ways we consume all the ones calories throughout sankranthi:
compost overwhelmed sugarcane and fruit peels for your own home or balcony lawn. It takes a few weeks for that stuff to show into soil, but it will be well worth the wait.
distribute the sweets in reusable glass bottles or jars, and say no to plastic or use-and-throw ornamental dabbas.
accumulate the skins of shelled peanuts and avarekai and provide them for your local dairy farm, to feed the cows.
turn the sugar balls and figurines into syrup to apply in your beverages or cooking - that manner, you now not most effective stretch the shelf-life of the sweetener but additionally get into a more mindful technique of using the filtered product at the same time as controlling the amount.
Here are 3 methods to re-purpose the yellu bella aggregate, which has a tendency to accumulate in the snack dabba and through the years, turns rancid.
Gojju
Substances
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1 cup freshly grated coconut
• 1 crimson chilli
• half cup yellu-bella mixture
• 2 tablespoons rasam powder
• three-4 tablespoons tamarind extract
• a pinch of hing/ asafoetida
• 1/four teaspoon turmeric
• salt consistent with taste
• water to grind
Approach
Grind all the ingredients to a smooth consistency, adding water slowly, among pauses. Use it to make gojju when you fry the veggies of your choice (like okra, capsicum, bitter gourd or pineapple), including water and extra salt as you pass. Revel in with warm rice and ghee!
Chana dal chutney
Substances
• 1 teaspoon groundnut oil
• 4 tablespoons chana dal
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon methi/ fenugreek seeds
• four crimson chillies
• half of cup yellu-bella mixture
• 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1 tablespoon tamarind extract
• a pinch of hing/ asafoetida
• salt in step with taste
• water to grind
Technique
Fry all the elements within the oil, except yellu-bella, coconut, tamarind extract, asafoetida and salt. Once cooled, grind all of it in the mixie to a rough finish, including water slowly, between pauses. It tastes incredible with warm rice and ghee.
Chutney pudi (powder)
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons chana dal
• 2 tablespoons urad dal
• 1 tablespoon moong dal
• 1 tablespoon tur dal
• 2 pink chillies
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• half cup yellu-bella combination
• half of teaspoon tamarind powder
• a pinch of hing/ asafoetida
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Approach
Dry roast all of the ingredients except yellu-bella, tamarind powder, asafoetida and salt, in batches. As soon as cooled, grind it all within the mixie to a coarse end. Cool, keep in an hermetic container, and enjoy with dosa/ idli.
(ranjini is a communications professor, author, and podcaster, straddling many different worlds, in bengaluru. She's obsessed with urban farming and sustainable residing, and can in most cases be determined cooking and baking in her little kitchen, in which, surrounded by heirloom espresso kettles and mismatched tea cups, she unearths her chi.)
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