Uttarayan’s rooftop delicacies
Uttarayan in Gujarat is more than just kite flying and saying ‘lapet’. It also marks the end of the kamudta (the inauspicious period), making it a bigger reason to celebrate! And of course, no celebration in Gujarat, big or small, is complete without a plateful of heavenly Gujarati delicacies. Here’s all the food that makes your Uttarayan truly lipsmackingly special
Uttarayan in Gujarat is more than just kite flying and saying ‘lapet’. It also marks the end of the kamudta (the inauspicious period), making it a bigger reason to celebrate! And of course, no celebration in Gujarat, big or small, is complete without a plateful of heavenly Gujarati delicacies. Here’s all the food that makes your Uttarayan truly lipsmackingly special.
Chikki
An Uttarayan prerequisite, chikki with its nuts and jaggery mixture marks the onset of winter owing to its nutritious values. But orders go high during Uttarayan as this brittle, crunchy, hard boiled confectionery makes for the perfect pick-up snack when flying kites. You won’t ever find a Gujarati home sans chikki. While tal papdi and shing chikki are the regulars, there are the mamra (puffed rice), coconut, chana and dry fruit varieties also to look out for.
An Uttarayan prerequisite, chikki with its nuts and jaggery mixture marks the onset of winter owing to its nutritious values. But orders go high during Uttarayan as this brittle, crunchy, hard boiled confectionery makes for the perfect pick-up snack when flying kites. You won’t ever find a Gujarati home sans chikki. While tal papdi and shing chikki are the regulars, there are the mamra (puffed rice), coconut, chana and dry fruit varieties also to look out for.
Undhiyu
This lipsmacking preparation is a must-have at every Gujarati winter celebration.Typically made with green beans, new baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam and eggplant and methi na muthiya (fried fenugreek dumplings), undhiyu is a healthy winter dish that’s prepared by marinating fresh and seasonal winter greens in a gorgeous mix of spices and sesame oil and cooked in a clay oven/ earthen pot. The cooking process in itself is a treat to watch and being able to savour it is sheer bliss!
Dhokla
Although not a typical Uttarayan staple, Gujaratis don’t need a reason to enjoy these fluffy, steamed delights, tempered with mustard and sesame seeds and curry leaves. These serve as convenient finger foods on the terrace when people are busy flying kites and don’t want to get things messy. A plateful dhoklas with some tangy green chutney or drizzled slightly with oil can easily make you smile!
Although not a typical Uttarayan staple, Gujaratis don’t need a reason to enjoy these fluffy, steamed delights, tempered with mustard and sesame seeds and curry leaves. These serve as convenient finger foods on the terrace when people are busy flying kites and don’t want to get things messy. A plateful dhoklas with some tangy green chutney or drizzled slightly with oil can easily make you smile!
Fruits
Rooftops dotted with hordes of people sitting on chattais and chairs with an array of plates and giant steel and plastic dabbas, is a normal sight on Uttarayan. Amidst all these delicious cooked varieties, one can easily spot big platefuls of Uttarayan specific fruits. Slices of red and white juicy guavas, sprinkled with a tongue tickling masala and delicious chewy sugarcane cut into pieces that you can simply pick up and pop in your mouth are blissfully savoured by everyone. Bor or the Indian jujube is another festival favourite. While some prefer to bite into the big ones, others love the smaller, red variety also known as chani bor.
Chavanu
The staple Gujarati teatime snack, chavanu is delectable mix of an array of fried snacks like tumtum, sev, fulvadi, boondi, peanuts, ganthiya, vatana, daal and lots more, packed together with a mouth-watering mix of powdered sugar and the choicest of spices. Giant steel dabbas containing chavanu are passed around as people eat these by spoonfuls and in proper Gujarati style, fistfuls!
Rooftops dotted with hordes of people sitting on chattais and chairs with an array of plates and giant steel and plastic dabbas, is a normal sight on Uttarayan. Amidst all these delicious cooked varieties, one can easily spot big platefuls of Uttarayan specific fruits. Slices of red and white juicy guavas, sprinkled with a tongue tickling masala and delicious chewy sugarcane cut into pieces that you can simply pick up and pop in your mouth are blissfully savoured by everyone. Bor or the Indian jujube is another festival favourite. While some prefer to bite into the big ones, others love the smaller, red variety also known as chani bor.
Chavanu
The staple Gujarati teatime snack, chavanu is delectable mix of an array of fried snacks like tumtum, sev, fulvadi, boondi, peanuts, ganthiya, vatana, daal and lots more, packed together with a mouth-watering mix of powdered sugar and the choicest of spices. Giant steel dabbas containing chavanu are passed around as people eat these by spoonfuls and in proper Gujarati style, fistfuls!
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