Last Monday was Diwali, followed by Bestu Varsh, the Gujarati new year. This year is 2079.
I love Diwali, and most of all, I love the food. But Diwali isn’t like Christmas. I am usually full halfway through Christmas, but my stomach is an endless pit during Diwali. Samosas, jambu, chakri, chilli chips, it can never stop.
The food I love the most is my grandma’s famous 21 vegetables nu shaak, a curry with 21 different types of vegetables. It’s a pretty simple recipe, all the veggies sautéed in oil, rye, jeera, turmeric, chilli powder and ground coriander, which we serve with white puri (puffed flatbreads), rice and poppadoms. We eat this curry every Gujarati new year—eating this shaak on this day will allow us to have every single vegetable throughout the whole year.
Seeing all the cut-up vegetables in a bowl before they’re cooked is always so satisfying. It’s also a nice break from eating all the deep-fried samosas the day before.
Our collection of vegetables included aubergines, tomatoes, okra, peppers, tender stem broccoli, tindora (aka ivy gourd), peas, edamame, potatoes, spinach, saragva (aka drumstick) and about 5 different types of green beans. We actually managed to get up to 25 vegetables in there this year. I kept getting okra on my plate, meaning that I’ll be eating lots of ladyfingers this year!
Here’s to 2079! 🎉