Did you ever hear of the arrival of the turkey on to the Thanksgiving table being heralded as the arrival of the ‘dulhan’ or Indian bride? For Sunita Advaney’s family fixing the 30 lb bird was like preparing for an elaborate Indian wedding. Trust desis to bring their own take on this American holiday, imprinting it with their own special flavor!
Browsing: Thanksgiving
If Thanksgiving is a festival of gratitude, then Indians have been preparing for it their whole lives.
In India, take a walk down the Mumbai waterfront in the early morning mist, and you see ordinary citizens quietly feeding the fish and the birds. Their daily day doesn’t really begin until the deities in their home shrine have been venerated with fresh flowers and offered prasadam.
It is only after eating a little of this blessed offering does the family sit down to their meals. Many remember to keep aside a portion of the food for a hungry person or the birds. It is all about sharing.
Indians have whole-heartedly embraced this American festival because it is inherently about what Indians believe in – togetherness, family and gratitude to the almighty. Thanksgiving is also about expressing gratitude for making it in a new world.
If you don’t know anything about Thanksgiving – here are some fun facts!
Happy Thanksgiving! Introducing Vice President Elect Kamala Harris’s Cornbread Dressing – and some choice coments from the Twitter World!
If the Pilgrim Fathers revisited America this year, they would certainly be amazed by the aromas, tastes and colors of the diverse Thanksgiving table. New York is, of course, one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. and its residents trace their roots to hundreds of countries and ethnicities. Each immigrant family brings its own culture and food habits and incorporates them into the Thanksgiving meal.
A no-turkey Thanksgiving should make both vegetarians and the turkeys very happy!
As each successive wave of immigrants come to America, they introduce their own well-loved foods to the Thanksgiving table and in the process create new traditions.
For the last eight years we have seen President Barack Obama do this symbolic act of pardoning the turkey, though of course lots of turkeys are going to be eaten today! However, there is freedom and respite for these two lucky turkeys, Tater and Tot.
When Sunita Advaney, now married and settled in Forest Hills, was seven years old, she came home from first grade and asked her immigrant parents about Thanksgiving. Her father Lal Lakhati, who had migrated from India, didn’t just explain the holiday to her, he actually went out and bought a small rotisserie bird and all the trimmings and the family had a Thanksgiving dinner. In later years they did two turkeys – one traditional and the other a bright red, coated with tandoori spices, coloring and stuffed with biryani and boiled eggs. Says Sunita, “We need our chillies and it was a good way to ease people into turkey because turkey is not our culture.”
Last call – the Thanksgiving countdown has begun! But what if you’re a klutz in the kitchen and would rather not be performing stomach surgery on a turkey? What if you’re tired of the traditional turkey taste and are yearning for some spice and fire in your bland holiday meal? The Indian culinary elves are at your service with Thanksgiving dining and takeout options.