Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi is a Sikh festival that takes place in April. This year Vaisakhi took place on the Friday 13^th of April. Vaisakhi is an important event because on this day in 1699 this was the day that both the Khalsa was formed and our religious book the Guru Granth Sahib.

Vaisakhi is celebrated for two main reasons. The first is that this date normally falls on the first harvest in India. So farmers celebrate that first harvest and see it as a sign of it being a good harvest for the rest of the year. Secondly this day is known as Sikh New Year. To celebrate, Sikhs wear bright coloured clothes and cook lots of fresh homemade vegetarian food. To those of you who have never celebrated or seen what Vaisakhi celebrations look like, I urge you to go to Southall next year. This is where I celebrate Vaisakhi every year as there is a huge celebratory parade in the street known as the Nagar Kirtan. All the locals get together and put up food stalls in the streets and give out free vegetarian food to the congregation. It is a lot like a street party (minus any alcohol and meat food).

The food is absolutely amazing and the streets are filled with a rich aroma of exotic dishes and snacks such as pakora, samosa, and mathiya! Pakora’s are similar in appear to an onion bhaji but have different ingredients. Pakora’s are made from besan (gram flour), onions, potatoes, aubergines and spices such as cumin and chillies. Once the batter is all mixed together it is deep fried in small batches. Once they are cooked they will look golden and crispy. One of my favourite Indian savoury snacks are samosa, these are also golden in colour when cooked. A samosa is a triangular parcel which is filled with potatoes, peas, onion and spices. Once cooked it has a lovely crispy pastry and is normally served with a spicy chutney!

Fresh crispy samosa's!!

The most religious dish we eat on Vaisakhi is Prasad. Prasad is given to the congregation after people have finished their prayers at the Gurdwara. It is a sweet semolina dish and is given as a blessing to each person. As the Prasad is blessed it must be accepted if offered to you, as declining it would be extremely disrespectful. My earliest memory of eating Prasad was when my Granddad used to walk me home when I was in primary school. He would always go to the Gurdwara before collecting me from school and would bring me a helping of Prasad. First he would make sure I have washed my hands and anxiously I would cup my hands together so he could place a small helping in them. The Prasad would always have a soft creamy texture that would melt in my mouth…

Here is a recipe for Prasad:

Ingredients:

1 cup of wheat flour

1 cup of ghee (unsalted butter)

1 cup of white sugar

3 cups of hot water

Time:

15 minutes

Directions:

1. You heat the butter in a saucepan on a medium heat.

2. Once the butter is heated you slowly mix the butter and add the flour. Keep mixing the mixture to prevent lumps.

3. Mix for 10 minutes on a medium heat.

4. Once the flour and butter mixture has cooked you add the sugar.

5. Continue mixing and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Before

After

My mum is so happy I have learnt how to make Prasad! I have a feeling that in the future I will be making a lot of Prasad!