Whenever winter comes, it takes me to the memories of childhood wrapped in the warm blanket of love and care of my mother. My childhood was spent in the hilly areas of Madhya Pradesh, located in the central part of India where the weather vacillated between extremely hot summers and freezing cold winters.
As far as I can remember, winter started from November and remained till March and in the month of December and January when the temperature stayed between 2 to 5 degrees centigrade, sometimes, I was excited to see a layer of ice over stored water which melted down during the day.
Wrapped in thick woollen clothes, our weight increased to some more kilograms as we looked for a little warmth. I used to sit in our balcony wrapped in a warm blanket and cherish the view of our garden filled with vibrant colours of marigold and roses, and in our kitchen garden grew green vegetables.
Poush Sankranti commonly known as Makar Sankranti marks the beginning of the winter solstice when the zodiac sign Capricorn (Makara) enters into its trajectory around the earth.
On this occasion, the Sun God (Surya) is worshiped. Makar Sankranti is also celebrated by flying kites in different parts of India.
Every region has its own set of recipes to celebrate this festival. So, we enjoy a variety of food spreads on this day.
In Bengal, Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. The most common delicacy for this celebration is called pithe, which is made from rice flour and the festival is also called pithe parbon. There are various kinds of pithe that are made on this day. Each district has its traditional pithe and a variety of gur or jaggery as an accompaniment. Along with pithe, which is both sweet and salty, Payesh or rice pudding is made from rice, milk and date palm jaggery as a winter dessert and offered to the Gods virtually in every household.
In my home, I remember the preparation started two to three days before when my sister and I, went to the market with my mother to buy the required ingredients and then one day before the occasion, my mother would start preparing the delicacies after her bath. She would begin by offering her prayers to Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth in Hindu mythology).
My father used to help her and the actual preparation of the delicacies started in the evening. Rice and pulses (moong dal) were ground beforehand. I remember we used to have ample amount of milk in those days at a very cheap rate. In Bengal cows’ milk is preferred but at our place cows were not available so all the milk products were prepared from buffalo’s milk. We were not allowed to enter the kitchen so we used to observe the preparation from outside.
My father grated the huge number of coconuts purchased from the market. We loved to drink the coconut water. In Bengal, during winter, jaggery was used in the preparation of Peethe but it was unavailable at our place so we used to store the jaggery in advance. My mother prepared the doughs of rice and pulses at first, followed by a special sweet mixture of grated coconut, jaggery, sugar, dried fruits and few specific spices like cardamom and cinnamon to add flavour. The mixture was made into a dough and gently made into different shapes with coconut stuffing and transferred into the boiling milk or boiling water as per the delicacy. I remember we used to have a few items of rice and fresh vegetables too. The entire house wafted with the flavour and smells of the delicacies. I remember on the next day we used to distribute all these delectable sweets in our neighbourhood.
I loved the rice peethe dipped in thick and creamy milk which was golden-brown in colour due to the jaggery, in Bengali we call it Dudh Puli. And one more delicacy that was my mother’s secret recipe was coconut chips dipped in thick jaggery with some special spices which were very helpful to keep us warm and healthy during the winter. My mother left us for her eternal journey in the month of January 2015 and her place has been taken up by my beloved wife. Now she prepares the delicacies on Poush Sonkranti with the same love and dedication but somehow I miss those childhood days and the touch of my mother. She lives on through my memories of those good old days.
@ Spondon Ganguli