Celebrate the New Year with Kindness, Food and Festivities!

January 13, 2021

India is about as diverse as a country can get, and with all those cultures and communities comes a calendar packed with festivals we all love to celebrate. The first big Hindu festival of the year is Makar Sankranti. Celebrated across the country in honor of Surya, the sun god, it marks the harvest, the triumph over our inner demons, and a fresh start to the year — a time to let go of old grudges and simply forgive.

Makar Sankranti is widely celebrated throughout India and is marked by feasts and bonfires. The first day is known as 'Bhogi' where we worship the sun god and step out of our houses to fly kites! The second day is called Sankranti, which has created a tradition for married women to dress up in traditional Indian attire and have a get-together event called 'Haldi-Kumkum'. This event involves an exchange of gifts of personal adornment and delicacies.

You can’t really talk about a festival without talking about the food. Wherever you’re from, the dishes on the table are half the celebration, and they have a way of holding a community together — you taste something once a year and it instantly takes you back. That pull only gets stronger during festivals, when the cooking carries memory and meaning along with flavor. It’s one of those rare things that cuts across culture and religion, sets the mood for the whole day, and leaves you with memories you keep coming back to.

While many Makar-Sankranti traditions are followed throughout India, two specifically popular Makar Sankranti food items that are served and enjoyed on this day among the people from the state of Maharashtra are Til Ladoos/Polis and Gud Polis. It is impossible to imagine a Makar Sankranti celebration without Sankranti snacks which everyone loves, Til Ladoos, Gulaachi Poli, and Puran Poli. The names of these delicacies are enough to induce a sudden rush of happiness! The innate sense of satisfaction that follows relishing these dishes made from jaggery (gud), gram flour, and sesame seeds with dollops of ghee can barely be expressed in words!

Any festival in India is incomplete without Halwa! The flavorful Badam and Suji Halwa are also a part of the important dishes of Makar Sankranti. The goodness of semolina and almonds kick in the festive mood for all of us. Tilwale Paneer is another such delicacy, when perfectly cooked, is a great appetizer to nibble while enjoying the kite-flying season, which is a great alternative for people who don't prefer dishes with sesame seeds and look for gluten-free authentic delicacies.

Our ancestors have upheld the best of tradition and hid the health benefits in the food items made during specific occasions. The benefit of consuming til and gud can be seen in the multitude of long term and short-term advantages it offers. Not only is it prized as two of the most winter-perfect foods that help to keep our body warm, but it also increases our immunity, which is something we all need after surviving through a pandemic. The oil present in the sesame seeds generate body heat and keeps the internal body temperature from dipping. On the other hand, Jaggery's (gud) iron and vitamin C content has also been used as a traditional remedy for respiratory disorders and throat problems.

We all know that reading about such healthy dishes and their traditional authentic recipes can be mouth-watering. It is not something we need, but something we all deserve after a tough year!

Every festive season, we help families across the area enjoy authentic regional treats like Gud Poli and Til Wadi as part of our Sankranti specials. That same love of traditional sweets carries through our regular dessert menu too — Puranpoli, Kharvas, Jamun Basundi, and our steamed Ukdiche Modak, which we make to order on a 48-hour pre-order. You’ll also find Maharashtrian home cooking on our weekly tiffin menu, with a rotating mix of curries, dals, and both sweet and savory items. And if you’re looking for an Indian restaurant in Edison, NJ for a relaxed dine-in meal, come visit us at 1103 Inman Ave or call (908) 279-7460.