🌟 The Heart of Grandmother’s Kitchen 🍲💛✨

Dear Readers,

❄️ Winter is truly magical in some parts of our world. It arrives with snow and fog, bringing a quiet warmth and a gentle festive mood. These are the days when life slows down, especially during festival seasons, allowing us to savor calm, unhurried moments. 

🍲 In many homes, preparations begin well in advance. Sweets are made ahead of time, spices are freshly mixed, and kitchens slowly fill with familiar aromas. This early planning makes festival days lighter and more joyful—less rush, more laughter, and more time spent together. 

🥘 The variety of dishes prepared during these occasions is endless. Each one holds its own story and tradition. If I were to name them all, it would take pages without end. 

✨ Instead, I will share a few of my favourite festival treats, lovingly prepared in my grandmother’s kitchen. 

🌾 Rice flour forms the base of many traditional snacks: Ariselu, the soft and rich sweet rice cakes; Janthikalu, shaped into delicate savoury spirals; Chekkalu, crisp rice crackers; and Chegodi, crunchy rings meant for slow munching—all carry the familiar taste of festival afternoons and oil-scented kitchens. 

🌻 Gram flour adds its own warmth and comfort: Mysore Pak, with its melt-in-the-mouth richness; Boondi Laddu, made of tiny sweet pearls; Boondi Karalu, their savoury counterpart; and Karapusa, the fine sev that disappears almost as soon as it is made—often the first to vanish from the storage tins. 

🍬 Other festive sweets and snacks made from simple, wholesome ingredients include Kajjikayalu, Sunnundalu, Rava Laddu, Kobbari Laddu, Dry Fruits Laddu, Nuvvula Vuntalu, and Pappu Vuntalu. Lentils, wheat, coconut, nuts, and seeds—humble ingredients brought together with patience, care, and the quiet wisdom passed down through generations. 

🙏 On festival days, the kitchen fills once again with dishes prepared especially to offer to God. Most of these foods are ready to consume and made using simple ingredients such as rice, ghee, wheat flour, and other familiar staples of the traditional kitchen. 

🌰 Sesame seeds and jaggery are true companions of winter. Sesame, rich in healthy oils, calcium, and zinc, gently warms the body from within and helps keep bones strong when the cold settles in. Jaggery, kinder than refined sugar, provides iron and steady energy, nourishing the body through shorter days. 

🧈 All of this is held together with generous spoonfuls of ghee. Ghee keeps the joints supple, supports digestion, and helps the body absorb nourishment that winter often takes away. 

💛 During festival time, these sweets are not merely indulgences. They warm the body, support digestion during winter, nourish skin and hair, and quietly strengthen immunity. 

🤝 Beyond the body, they carry deeper meaning. Sharing til and jaggery along with kind words reminds us to remain gentle with one another, to speak sweetly, and to feel grateful—for fresh harvests, full kitchens, and hands that cook with love. 

👧 I still remember how, while these foods were being prepared, my grandmother, mother, and aunts would gently warn us not to linger around the kitchen. But I was a little naughty. I would quietly sneak in and steal a taste of the freshly made treats without letting them know. Somehow, my aunts always found out that my cousins and I had been there. Since I was the youngest, everyone would turn to me at once—and I would stand there, caught, yet secretly pleased. 

⏳ There were times when a little oil would spill on me, simply because I kept running and playing too close to the cooking area. My mother would then come quietly, hold my ear gently, and ask me to leave that place—with her big, watchful eyes saying more than words ever could. Looking back now, I realize how serious it could have been and how troublesome I must have been. Yet, my grandmother would always come to me with a gentle smile, quietly asking my mother and aunts not to scold me, and she would slip me a little freshly made sweet to taste. 

📦 One of the best things about these traditional sweets is their longevity. When stored properly, they remain fresh for weeks, sometimes even for a whole month—much like the memories they create, lingering long after the festivals have passed. 

🍴 Food is the one thing that connects with everyone’s heart. No matter how heavy a day may be, a good meal shared with loved ones has a way of easing even unspoken burdens. So, if you have the opportunity to make someone’s festival a little brighter, add your positive energy to their celebration—with a simple offering of food, a warm smile, and kind intent. 

💌 And do share your favourite festival food with me; I would truly love to read about it.

With warmth and love,

✍️ Raasi