Latest features Diwali - a food loving festival

Date Published:

09/11/2007

Lights, savouries and sweets; Humayun Hussain casts a culinary eye over the Hindu festival of Diwali

Indian communities throughout the UK and around the world will this week be celebrating the annual festival of Diwali, which marks the end of the old Hindu year and the beginning of the new.

Known as the 'festival of lights', the festivities last over a period of five days, during which it is believed the Hindu god Lord Rama triumphed over the demon Ravana and returned to his village, lit up with lamps to welcome him back. The celebrations culminate on the fifth day, which according to the Hindu astrological calendar falls this year on Friday 9 November.

Diwali is seen as a time to start afresh. New business ventures are begun and household goods are bought. Homes are cleaned and decorated with rangoli, which uses rice coloured with pigment to produce elaborate designs and patterns. Lamps or deyas are lit up around the house with fireworks lighting up the sky. Families wear new clothes and exchange gifts with relatives and friends for a real sense of bonhomie, while prayers are said in the temple.

Of course, no festival is complete without a feast and Diwali has its fair share, although unlike Christmas for instance and its traditional associations with turkey, Diwali food doesn't feature any particular types of seasonal dishes. Instead, families cook up large, primarily vegetarian, meals with food they enjoy eating, albeit with some regional differences. These include delicious snacks and curries, many of which can be found on the menus of Indian vegetarian restaurants in the UK, to an array of vividly coloured sweet items.