In Suriname it is customary that at least one religious service is held at the home of a Hindu in a year. There is a "pandit" (spiritual people) on such an occasion and he holds a service to worship the gods. Most Hindus invite family, friends and neighbors to attend the service. As Suriname Indian's we like to call almost every gathering were there's a lot of food as a "nauta" (Party). I was invited as a family member lol at this one and when you're invited you always think of how the foods going to be and how much you will eat. Sometimes we don't even eat 3 to 4 hours prior to our visit, because we want to reach our destination as hungry as possible. There is a lot of work involved in such a religious service. You go looking for a "pandit" and if he does not have a "nauw" (helper) you have to search for him too, because you can not really start anything on that day on your own. You definitely need some assistance from the nauw especially when preparing the offerings. You usually get a list of all the things that you need at the service. The nature of such a puja (service) determines which persad/prasad (offerings) (sweets, fruits) are involved. Please note! Everything is vegetarian on this day and the person sitting on the puja as well as the other house members are vegetarian at least a few days in advance. Usually you go that morning or an evening before (the services start very early in most cases) to the (super) market to buy fresh vegetables and fruits that you prepare on this day. The common Hindu prepares standard vegetarian dishes with this service. Beside of the the main dish(es) that's prepared on that day you also have sweets, which I will blog about in my other experiences.
On the photo you see: pumpkin prepared in onions, garlic, pepper, salt, sugar, cumin and massala (no other spices are added), a "dhaal" of black mung beans mixed with yellow peas; added ingredients are: garlic, union, pepper, massala, cumin and salt. When the "dhaal" is cooked with all the things mentioned before, they put some oil on the stove and add garlic and unions in it and leave it to fry. The frying of the ingredients continues until all of it is brown and then added to the "dhaal" to complete the cooking. Adding the cooking oil with the ingredients gives an exotic taste to the "dhaal". Potato with yard long bean in massala (standard), eggplant with potatos in massala (optional) with coconut milk and tomato tjutney and of course not to forget the "Karhi". Popularly called "soup with balls". in the karhi the ground ingredients are the yellow peas and massala. The balls are pre-fried in oil and later added to the soup that is also prepared with ground yellow peas. All the dishes above have the standard ingredients of: garlic, union, salt, pepper, cumin and massala. And last but not least: the "roti", this dish is made out of flour, water, baking powder, salt, soda. Usually the roti has a filling of either yellow peas or potatoes. Both of the fillings are cooked before and added to the roti when rolling it out. All these dishes are eaten with a roti and or rice. It's up to you what you prefer to eat.
I ate my belly full, because we don't have access to these foods on a regular basis.
"smakelijk eten"
Stay tuned for my next food adventure!
Untill then be safe and enjoy my article.
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