Thala Deepavali celebrations

Yesterday was our first special Deepavali together and in a way, a trend setter for how we celebrate all major festivals henceforth. What defines an Indian festival celebration better than great food, a temple visit and having close relatives around? Well, being in US now, we had to figure out how best to squeeze out the fun with family and friends far away. So there I was, yesterday morning, my morning cuppa of tea in one hand, a cook book in the other.
After hubby left for work, I had the kitchen and my wits all to myself.
I discovered that putting together a menu that is true to the Diwali spirit is no easy task for a novice chef [ of course I did have some mor kuzambu in the fridge as a last resort]. Well, one idea led to another.... the cook book said that aama vadai during this festival was a must, so that was a given, and then Murali wanted to sweeten it up with semiya payasam, the rava kesari was my idea ( most of it has been sent to be distributed at hubby's workplace today), and then I remembered how at most funtions at home pooris were almost always prepared. So pooris it was, with the quintessential accompaniment- aloo curry? and of course a bit of rajma.....so there it was.....my first Diwali menu....
So whats different about celebrating Diwali in the US? Nothing really.....just that now I don't know what to do with all the excess food in the fridge!!

Rava Kesari:

This one was from the Chandra Padmanabhan cookbook " Dakshin", one of those cookbooks that I am glad I bought before I got married (in spite ot its steep pice of Rs. 295/-).This book has been my constant guide during the last few months and its literally in tatters now due to overuse! Her proportions of ingredients in each recipe are spot on and she gives a very interesting twist to most recipes. I have almost always attained near perfect taste by simply following her recipes to the T. We began our meal with the kesari and it definitely was a sweet beginning.

Pooris:
This was tricky as my husband and I have made a resolve to keep junk food and oily stuff out of the confines of our home. Well, on this one day, we decided to make a very strict exception.

Aama Vadai:

This recipe was dutifully followed from Meenakshi Ammal ( the secret of homely South Indian food for the third generation straight). My granny passed the cookbook on to my mom who passed it on to me ( just that I have the English version). My first attempt at making aama vadais (another exception to "keep the fried stuff out of the house").

Poori Aloo Curry:

My hubby told me about how he used to eat this dish often at a little Udupi restro in Neyveli and this kinda inspired me to center our Diwali menu around it. Another Chandra Padmanabhan recipe. Her recipe goes great with masala dosais too. My mom makes this a lot at home, except that hers has more of a gravy consistency. Someday, I hope to acquire her expertise at this dish too.

Rajma Curry:

This was just another accompaniment for the pooris and I thought I'd freeze it and make jeera pulao over the weekend and have it with the rajma. I have this great recipe for rajma from a book by Rohini Singh ( a gift from my dad) called " Cooking for brides, bachelors and those who hate cooking". Simple recipe, yet it captures the essence of this popular kidney beans dish.

Semiya Payasam:

And then....semiya payasam, I had to actually quarter the recipe given in the Dakshin book, and yet, I have a lot of semiya payasam still sitting in my fidge. This is my second attempt at semiya payasam, the first time I tried this recipe was during Varamahalakshmi.