Diwali

Day Before Diwali - Preparations

1. Clean the entire house
2. Tie mango leaves at the entrance and puja room
3. Prepare a palagah (wooden plank):
   • Draw a kolam on the palagah.
   • Place a veshti or towel on it.
   • Keep new clothes on top of it.
4. Draw kolam in the puja room
5. Prepare the valak (oil lamp):
   • Fill with oil.
   • Place a new thiri (wick).
6. Place a few crackers on a separate palagah, away from the valak.
7. Prepare bakshanams a day or two before diwali. (Sweet + Karam) - like thengol, muruku, mysore paak, 7 cup cake, etc
8. Keep valaks/ diyas ready which is to be kept around the house the next day

On Diwali Day

Early Morning Rituals:

• As soon as you wake up, light the valak.
• In the puja room, keep:
  • Homemade bakshanam (snacks/sweets).
  • Diwali leghyam (herbal digestive paste) (mentioned below or click to open recipe) .
• Prepare the oil for head application:
  • In a pan, warm 2 tbsp sesame (til) oil with ¼ tsp peppercorns.
  • Transfer to a small cup and place it in the puja room.
• Before applying oil, apply kumkum on forehead and take a bite of a small portion of bakshanam.
• An Elder of the house applies the oil:
  • On the head and cheeks.
  • While applying, sing “Gowri Kalyanam Vaibhogame”.
  • Cheeks application is a symbolic ritual to avoid being born as a monkey/donkey (“Koranga porakakudadhu”).
  • Sit on a palagah (with kolam) facing East to apply oil.
  • If no palagah, sit on a mat – do not sit directly on the floor.
• Take a headbath
• Wear new clothes that was kept on the palagah.
• Put a nice big kolam at the entrance along with Kaavi (Red ochre powder)
• Burst crackers to mark celebration

Food Guidelines for Diwali Day

• Strictly avoid onion and garlic.
• Breakfast is usually Idly, sambar/ chutney
• Prepare paruppu-based items (dal-based dishes) such as:
  • Sambar
  • Mor Kuzhambu
  • Rasam (must not be the only item)
  • Curry
  • Kootu
  • Payasam / Kesari
  • Vadai
• Avoid:
  • Togayal (chutney-like dish)
  • Having only rasam as the main dish

Evening Celebration

• Decorate the house with lights:
  • Use diyas or electric lights.
  • Light up all areas of the home

Diwali Leghyam

Ingredients** (Use any consistent measuring cup):

1. Readymade Diwali Leghyam Powder – 1 cup
2. Jaggery – 2 cups (same cup as powder)
   • Note: You can reduce jaggery slightly if preferred, but do not increase.
3. Ginger juice – ¼ cup
   • To prepare: Grind fresh ginger with very little water and extract the juice.
4. Ghee – 2 tablespoons
5. Honey – 2 tablespoons
6. Water – ¼ cup (for melting jaggery)

Preparation Method**:

1. In a pan, melt jaggery with ¼ cup water.

2. Strain the melted jaggery to remove dust, mud, or impurities.

3. Return strained jaggery to the pan and boil until it reaches a thick paste-like consistency

   (just before “kambipaagu” stage — not string consistency, but thickened).

4. Mix the leghyam powder with ginger juice to form a lump-free paste.

5. Add this paste to the boiling jaggery and mix well.

6. When the mixture starts thickening slightly, add 2 tbsp ghee.

7. Do not boil too long after adding the leghyam powder – it will harden too much on cooling.

8. Once it starts to thicken (but still pourable), remove from stove.

9. Add 2 tbsp honey and mix well.

10. Let it cool completely, then transfer to a clean, dry container.

Storage Instructions**:

• Can be kept outside for 2–3 days.
• Refrigerate after that.
• Shelf life: Up to 3 months when stored properly.

Note:

• Til (sesame) oil is not used in this family recipe.