Jeth Ji Sesa~AlifBe~12

Alka Keswani — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 15:31:45 +0000

The 12th consonant in Sindhi Alif Be is ڄ, a unique one, because it is used in very few languages, one of it being Sindhi (Saraiki is another language where this is used). In Roman Sindhi it is written as J^ and as ॼ in Devanagari. ڄ is a Voiced (vocal chords vibrate when you utter this) Palatal (middle of the tongue touches hard palate) Implosive ( you breathe in instead of breathing out while uttering this). You can check this link to know how ڄ is pronounced! There are limited number of Sindhi words starting with this alphabet. Some examples are j^aari (the net), j^ibh (tongue) and j^ethu. J^ethu is the third month in Lunar calendar, also known as Jeth or Jyeshtha. There are barely any Sindhi dishes that start with the letter ڄ. So I thought to share a food ritual related to a lesser known festival of Sindhis, called J^eth Ji Sesa ! Sesa festival is observed on J^eth ji Ummas i.e Amavasya (No moon day) in Jyeshtha month as per lunar calendar . The festival is known as J^eth Ji Ummas or Khumbh or simply Sesa! Some Sindhis do observe it on the next day of Ummas which is a New moon day (Chand)! Some festivals or rituals stay close to your heart and you derive from it a certain warmth, some comfort and a feeling of being loved and cared for. Scientifically this ritual may not have any valid point but if you believe that faith can move mountains and calm the wild seas then you do believe in rituals like Sesa too. The festival reminds me of my school days, when the new academic year would start around this festival and so would rains, mostly! The thrill of reuniting with school friends after summer vacations, the pre monsoon showers bringing temporary respite from sultry summer heat and the feeling of happiness in the chaos of festivities were some of the things that would make the Sesa a special day, then, and the memories of those lovely moments still warm the cockles of my heart! Khumbh or Sesa or J^ethu Umaas/J^eth Puja, is, kind of, a patriarchal ritual followed by (generally) Sindhi ladies for the well being of male family members, in olden days. Now the ritual is either not observed at all or many Sindhis do observe it even for the girl child in the family. In olden days the male clan would often travel overseas for business purposes and the family would be worried about their safety, particularly if they happen to travel during the times when the turbulence in sea or rivers would pose a threat to the human lives. At the beginning of J^eth month a vow was taken to offer a sweet dish to the Sea/river and prayers were done for the safety of the family member/s and on the Amavasya of the J^eth month Sesa ritual was done. Elderly ladies in the family would dedicate a sweet dish to each male member and that same sweet was/is to be added to Sesa every year. I find it amusing as how our feelings and thought processes change with time. While as a kid I loved the Sesa ritual, as a headstrong teenager I disliked the aura of patriarchy this festival was surrounded by! Years later we started including sweets or dryfruits/ nuts for girl child too and that’s when I started observing it again! I remember how my mother would get busy since early morning to make the feast for J^eth Pooja and then we would accompany her for the pooja rituals in the neighbourhood. Ladies would gather and chit chat while preparing for the rituals and kids would anxiously wait to hog on the puris and pakora, mangoes and sweets. Lunch on this day, in most of the Sindhi homes would be Chola chaanwar. After reserving some boiled chole for prasad, the rest of it would be cooked in an onion tomato gravy and was had with turmeric laced rice…such a bliss! In the Thali : Whole wheatflour Puri, shallow fried potatoes, Gulabjamun (home made), Seyun, B^aat Jo seero (Broken wheat halwa), mangoes and turmeric laced rice. Ps: Updating the blog posts with fresh pics from J^eth Ji Sesa – 2021 We generally add Mesu (Mysore Pak) too but couldn’t find it in the shops around. A Sesa i.e a prasad/offering of boiled kabuli chola ( Garbanzo beans) and peela chaanwra ( Turmeric laced rice) along with seyun (sweetened vermicelli), fried potatoes or pakora, Puri, Mesu (Mysore pak), Gulab Jamun and dedicated sweets, is plated in a Thali. The ladies gather at the water bodies. Though traditionally the ritual was done near a river or sea, nowadays the urban ladies perform the ritual around taps in the home or a temple and then the food offerings are either fed to birds/cows or collected by volunteers and immersed in a lake/pond or river nearby. Sesa or J^eth ji Ummas’ Ritual: Some grass is collected and mounds are prepared of grass and some Puri, shallow fried potatoes, pakora, seyun ( sweet vermicelli) along with the respective dedicated sweet/s, coconut etc are taken from Thali and are placed on the mound . A portion of the mound is then taken and tapped with other had and a small prayer is recited: “Aamra Leemra ( aamro leemro) khayi bharyosein paet, Jiyan muhinja Putra, potra, dhotra, jin rakhaayo J^ethu. J^eth seyun khaaraye, J^eth mesu khaaraye…( Include all the names of sweets offered).. J^eth maal khaaraye ” Roughly translates as: (had) Mangoes/ lemons (or does it mean ‘lim’ i.e neem?) and filled our tummies, Long live my sons and grandsons who made me observe J^ethu rituals. J^eth feeds seyun (sweet vermicelli), J^eth feeds Mesu (a sweet), J^eth feeds us a feast. Please note: I may have erred while translating this so if you know it better, please leave a comment on this post and I will rectify! The mounds are then collected and fed to birds/cows or as done in olden days, immersed into a water body. The rest of the food brought by ladies is collected, mixed and then distributed or shared with neighbours. Another Sesa Thali, with Mesu (Mysore Pak)! At our home we pray for all the family members and particularly for Sesa ritual a sweet/dry fruits/nuts are dedicated for children irrespective of gender. Please check the following links if you seek the recipe! Seyun and Patata Gulabjamun B^aat Jo seero Atta Puri Ps: Adding this small video that I made on Sesa (2021)! And finally check this video to known or learn the formation of Sindhi letter ڄ!

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Seyun Patata|Sweet vermicelli with Potatoes

Alka Keswani — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:23:25 +0000

I can visualize many health conscious people, cringing at the food in the plate in above picture…but well yeah, Seyun i.e vermicelli cooked in desi ghee and sugar syrup, served with fried potatoes is relished by Sindhis for Breakfast.The sweet and savory flavors are a delight to eat, and though nothing much to say about the health (or unhealthy) quotient of this dish, I am not ashamed or afraid to say, I like this traditional combination of sweet sevaiyan with fried potatoes. Seyun Patata is almost mandatory to cook and offer to Brahmins during Shraadh (A Hindu ritual observed across 15 days during Pitra paksha, to pay homage to the deceased family members, by offering food, clothes etc to Brahmins and/or to needy people). Also, in Sindhi community, there is a ritual to send Breakfast of Seyun patata along with Dal pakwan to the newly wedded daughter’s new family (her in-laws). Whatever the beliefs be, whatever the rituals be and whatever the reasons be, the fact remains that this combination taste delicious and is as popular amongst Sindhis, as it is amongst the people of Somaliya (There, seyun is known as Cadriyad). Now lets check out this simple recipe! Seyun Patata (Sweet Vermicelli served with fried, spiced up potatoes) Print Seyun Patata|Sweet vermicelli with Potatoes Rating 5.0 from 4 reviews Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 22 mins Serves: 2 Sweet Vermicelli served with fried spiced up potatoes, a traditional Sindhi Breakfast! Ingredients 1 cup Vermicelli (Thick variety,un-roasted, semolina or wheat flour, any variety will do) 1tbsp Ghee/oil ½ cup sugar ( Use less if you like it less sweet) ¾th cup water ¾th Cup Milk (Optional. Read the Notes below) 2-3 whole green Cardamoms Blanched Almonds and/or unsalted pistachios for garnish A pinch or so of saffron, soaked in 2 tsp of water/milk (Optional. I didn't used any!) Khoya or Mawa for garnish (I didn't used any!) Method Heat 1 cup of water and add half cup sugar (less or more as per your sweet tooth) to make sugar syrup. Cook till sugar is dissolved completely.Keep it aside. In a thick bottomed pan, pour 1 tbsp of ghee/oil and toast (roast) the vermicelli and slightly crushed green cardamoms, on low flame till vermicelli are evenly golden brown. Be very careful as vermicelli tend to turn from brown to burnt,within a moment. Keep stirring continuously to get evenly browned sevaiyan. Drain excess ghee or oil, if any. Now add the sugar syrup, milk (if using) and mix well. Cook on lower flame till syrup is completely absorbed.Add saffron if using and cook for a minute or so. Garnish with chopped blanched almonds and pistachios and khoya. Serve it with fried potato chunks, that are sprinkled with salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and Amchoor. Notes Another way of making seyun (Sevaiyan) is to add water first, cook till sevaiyan is almost done and then add sugar.Cook for a while till sugar is no longer visible.Then add saffron and garnish with nuts Instead of milk, you can use more water i.e use 1 and ½ cup of water to make syrup. Different varieties of Vermicelli and different brands of it, require different amount of water to cook well.Thicker varieties of Vermicelli need more water than thinner ones. And also the time needed to cook varies. 2.2.6

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Jeth Ji Sesa~AlifBe~12

Seyun Patata|Sweet vermicelli with Potatoes