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| Diwali at the Shiv Niwas |
The beginning of Advent always reminds me
of our time in India. We were in Udaipur through Diwali (the Hindu festival of
light) and it was a magical time. In the days preceding, people decorated the
outsides of their houses with Rangoli patterns of coloured powders and filled
every windowsill, nook and cranny with earthenware pots burning oils and
candles. The streets were filled with fairy lights and garlands and the
newspapers were full of stories about the dangers of illegal fireworks – not
only were they made without regard to Health and Safety and liable to explode
in your face but they were generally made by hand by children paid pitiful
wages (or no wages at all) and then sold on the streets to anyone who had a
spare rupee.
Most
evenings we ate at small cafes or at street stalls and always had wonderful
food but the posters for the Shiv Niwas Hotel’s Gala dinner caught our eye and
we decided to treat ourselves and booked a table. I bought a new Salwar Kameez
for the occasion and we took a leisurely evening stroll through the crowded
streets to work up an appetite for our meal.
Now
cows are sacred in India so it is not unusual to walk the streets and have to
make way for a rust coloured bovine barging its way along the pavement and this
was just the case on Diwali night as well only that night many of the cows had
garlands around their horns where revellers had shared their decorations with
the beasts – a mark of respect I think. The early evening had brought everyone
out to enjoy the festivities, take in the twinkling lights and cower from the
illegal fireworks. We both had huge grins – from the infectious excitement, the
beautiful lights and the prospect of a very posh meal and we walked along in
the melee, holding hands and lingering round gift and trinket stalls. Taking
our time till we went to the Gala.
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| Diwali celebrations in Udaipur! |
And
then I felt a new sensation – a warm, wet sensation that crept between the toes
of my right foot, oozing under the straps of my dainty sandal. I think I must
have made some kind of audible expression of surprise or distaste as the crowd
parted, duly revealing my foot. Or rather a couple of toes sticking out from the
thick, greeny-brown swathes of cow muck – and judging from the warmth, this was
fresh cow muck!
At
once I was the centre of attention – a kindly stall holder found me some
newspaper, another brought a bowl of water and one way or another we got my
foot reasonably clean – all the while being assured that this was in fact
lucky. Auspicious. Something I could be pleased about. Indeed, many passers-by
commented that I would undoubtedly come into money (now that’s something you
like to hear when you’re on a year’s backpacking).
We
made it to the gala dinner with only a faint hind of aroma and a pale tinge of
green. And, as the dinner was taking place in the pool garden, lit by candles
and fairy lights, there was little chance of anyone spotting the offending foot
anyway. The meal was great, we splashed out on gin and tonic before our beer
(we could not bring ourselves to pay for the wine) and enjoyed the festivities
whilst listening to the conversations of rich Indian families. Finally, we came
to the prize draw. It turned out every person there had had their name placed
in a hat and there was a table with three beautiful Diwali hampers, packed with
sweet treats, ornaments and other goodies. There was great anticipation in the
crowd as the waiters and maître d’ managed to make the event as exciting as an
X-Factor final. And who should be drawn out first?
Me
– of course – so the muck really was for luck. Second place went to a lovely
lady on the opposite side of the pool and then, third place was drawn and it
was Rob! Now I hadn’t thought there was so much slurry but there you go. Being
kind-hearted souls and also backpackers (would you want to carry two hampers
round the world?) we asked them to draw again for third place. But we took my
winning hamper back to our room, picked a couple of souvenirs to take with us
on our travels and left the rest for the hotel maid.
A
perfect Diwali.
Recipe:
Sardines with home-made Alioli
Inspired
by: loads of chefs – but I like Gary Rhodes’
measurements for mayo
Ingredients:
Sardines (I bought
fillets this time as they were on offer but I wouldn’t again – they were badly
filleted and full of bones – if you cook the fish whole it’s easy to remove the
bones afterwards).
2 x egg yolks
2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped and crushed with a pinch of
coarse salt
150ml extra virgin olive oil
150ml sunflower oil
Vinegar or lemon juice (I judge this based on what I’m serving it
with)
Dijon mustard (optional in Alioli)
Salad ingredients to serve
Here’s
What I Do: Put the egg yolks in a bowl and add the
mustard, garlic, vinegar or lemon juice, blending to a paste (for these
quantities I start with a tablespoon of vinegar or a whole lemon and a teaspoon of Dijon). Start to
add the oils (you can mix these in a jug) a little at a time and beat with a
balloon whisk (I used to use my food processor but it doesn’t take long to make
by hand and is very therapeutic). When you’re about 2/3 of the liquid through,
start to taste the alioli and adjust the flavourings as you like. You may not
use all the oil (choose the consistency as you prefer), equally you may want
more garlic or more acid (lemon/vinegar). When you have a lovely mix, put it in
the fridge till you’re ready (if you have a sterile jar available it should
keep a week (two weeks without the garlic). Next prepare your salad and
carbohydrates (I served this with new potatoes but it’s also nice with beerbread). Lastly grill your sardines (if you’re using whole ones you may like to
stuff the cavities with some herbs and slices of lemon.
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