Happy Pongal/Sankranti!

Our guests would know that ours is an inter-cultural marriage, with Swarup being a Tamilian and I (Khushi) a Sikkimese Nepali. Our first Sankranti/Pongal as a married couple was last year, where we celebrated the festival with Swarup's parents. I remember my mother-in-law in the kitchen, fussing over 2 kadhais of pongal - savoury and sweet. And here I was just getting used to the fact that "Pongal" was both a festival AND a dish! She made us stand in front of the stove and repeat "Pongal-o Pongal!" multiple times. This phrase means "to overflow", and signifies the Pongal - a mixture of rice, toasted lentils, milk and spices - to boil over the pot, believing to bring abundance to the household.

This year, it is just the two of us here in Sikkim, but I was determined to make it special nevertheless. Hence, we celebrated Pongal/Sankranti today! As is our custom every year, I prepared some boiled sweet potatoes and pan-fried "घर तरुल" (purple yam), along with beaten rice, sautéed spring garlic I had harvested from our garden this morning, a piece of jaggery and a dollop of ghee. To honour my partner's Tamilian heritage, I also prepared both sweet and savoury pongal, like how I had seen my mother-in-law do it last year. We ended up having a mini feast for breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day!