Homemade kuswar brings in true spirit of Christmastide Though preparation of Christmas delicacies are not exactly a lost art, families are finding it difficult to prepare kuswar due to paucity of time, apart from it being labour intensive. The attitude of majority is — when its available in shops, why bother? But for Janet Calderia in Jeppu, Christmas is incomplete without homemade kuswar. This has been a religious practice in her house for the past two decades. Moreover, her children Dylan and Elton insist they will have only kuswar made at home. Yes, homemade Kuswar has something special, apart from the love you put into it. Whats Christmas without homemade kuswar? It adds to the Christmassy atmosphere, says Janet. She prepares five delicacies — guliyos, kidiyos, nevriyos, rose kokkisa and rice ladoo. The homemaker doesnt find this work taxing. Only nevriyos take time as it needs dried and desiccated coconut, she says. Nevriyo (sweet puffs) is a deep-fried delicacy stuffed with raisins, cashew, white til, desiccated coconut and white khus khus, depending on the budget. She starts the preparation a week in advance. After the ingredients are brought, it doesnt need much time. I start at my convenience. As the proportions need to be well-balanced, I dont allow others to prepare them, notes Janet. If you are her neighbour, you should be thanking your lucky stars — youll definitely get a small kuswar hamper during Christmas. The hamper is delivered to her kith and kin also. But an offshoot of this labour of love has been that others also crave for of these homemade goodies. About a decade ago, some persons who had tasted my kuswar said they are really good and I should display it at the Ladies Club kuswar sale. Now I prepare a small quantity and keep it for sale, she said. Janet says commercially made kuswar also attracts people if it tastes good. But most families do not have the time or energy to prepare it, as it needs a lot of work, she observes. Her husband Austin, employed in West Asia, makes it a point to come home during Christmas to add joy to the season. Music runs in the family — Austin was once a drummer in a good old band of this coast Sweet Serenade and Dylan and Elton play the guitar. Dylan also sings and has his own band. There are also families which prepare two to three kuswar delicacies so they dont miss the Christmas atmosphere at home. Source: TNN
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 18:21:49 +0000
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