Diwali- Festival of lights! and 'Saat'

Diwali/Deepavali (row of lamps) is truly a colourful festival which we all eagerly wait for! This was the day when Lord Rama after killing Ravana, came back home in Ayodhya. To celebrate this homecoming, people lit lamps all around. As children, we would be excited to receive new dresses to wear and of course, the crackers! As we grew older, the fun was lighting the lamps decorating our home with flowers. Amma would get busy in the kitchen making a variety of sweets and savory to be distributed to our near and dear ones! The entire air is full of joy! India is the place to be during Diwali!!!

Since, many of us are geographically distant from our native land, nonetheless, we do our bit to make this a happier occasion with our dearest around. Early morning, clean up the house, wash and clean God's lamps, light diya (lamps) of Ghee. This day, we have a special bath with Coconut oil and Haldi (Turmeic powder). Wear new clothes, which have been placed near the God's mantap and devour the delicacies prepared. Evening we perform Lakshmi pooja to please the Godess and light Candles!!!

One more sweet...!!
'Saat' is a typical South Canara dish prepared from Maida (All purpose flour). The dough is first prepared which is fried in Ghee and then dipped in sugar syrup. Its a very simple sweet to prepare and just melts in your mouth.

Ingredients:
(For the dough)
Maida(All purpose flour)- 1 cup
Melted Unsalted butter- 1/4 cup
Milk cream- 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder- a pinch
Sugar- 4 tsp (Optional)

(For the sugar syrup)
Sugar- 1 cup
Water- 1/2 cup

Method:

Mix all the ingredients for the dough and mix well. Knead well. Sprinkle few drops of water, only if required.
Divide this dough into small balls and give it a gentle press in the center. In a frying pan, heat Ghee and deep fry in low heat. Allow them to cool. In a vessel, add water to sugar and bring to a boil. Contuinue boiling till you get 1 string consistency. Remove from heat. Place all the fried 'Saats' in the sugar syrup for just 2 minutes. Let the sugar syrup form a coat. Delicious Saat ready to be all eaten up!

Preparation Time: 4o Minutes
Quantity yield: 10