Deepavali is like less than 2 months away. For some reason, im looking forward to it more than in recent years. My earliest memory of Deepavali celebrations was when i was around 4 or 5 i guess. Being the first grandchild in a young family i had the privilege of spending it with the whole family, as all of my aunts and uncles were still living under the same roof in a big wooden house in kampung baru settlements back in my hometown. I remember that year quiet well.

All preparation started weeks before.
Rows and rows of biscuit tins filled with murukku...


of all sorts, achi muruku, two types of ulunthu muruku, omapodi-the spicy version, porelanka urundai-the real hard ball made of an assortment of rice, dal, coconut slices, sesame nuts, laced with cardamon and dried ginger..these must have delicacy actually originated from the times Indian people had to make long trips for days travelling across India for various reasons and needed sustainment, it packed all the nutritions, the taste and the caramelised sugar that binds it also acts as a preservative and it can be kept for months as long its kept in a dry container or wrapped up in a small piece of cloth. So it is extremely convenient. But now it is a must have for Deepavalis. I remember that though we loved this urundey which by the way meens a ball, it would be last one to last after all the other sweets and savouries are devoured. Even a week after Deepavali, we would be gravitating to that last tin filled with this urundey and savouring it one by one.
Next of course, it the top of list of my favourites, the nei urundeys i.e. the ghee ball, the soft version which practically melts in the mouth.




My mother used to do it in three flavours, ravva(semolina), chick peas flour and or course the green pea flour. Mmmm....heavenly. And then we have the chittu urundey, a time consuming but nevertheless worth all the hassle, they are tiny sweet spicy urundey dipped in batter and fried in batches of three. But its rarely made now days. Then we have athirasam, the doughnut which everyone knows. My late grandmother's speciality was the halva i miss so much these days. Unlike the floury version you get in sweet shops, hers had this jelly bean like consistency, all because she used to sit for hours stirring the concoction and extracting gel-like sediments from it before pouring into a kuali and cooking it. Wow..words cant describe it! And then we have our mysore pak. And coconut candies...and of course all the different versions of cookies. Most favourites were of course the semperit, custord cookies, kuih gulung, cornflakes, ginger snaps, aromatic peanut cookies....at least 10 different kinds. That year we also had lemang cooking in our yard. And of course we had tons and tons of tosai and mutton kurma and chicken curry...all made with freshly grounded spices, no Babas or Alagappas then.
There were so many visitors that year, since many of my aunts and uncles also had started working, colleagues and friends thronged to our house. And meanwhile i and my youngest twin aunt and uncle were assigned the task of distributing sweets to neighbours. Donnign our new clothes, we would carry the containers to their homes and be rewarded with duit raya and the containers will be returned with sugars just as a gesture of appreciation. Sweet in return for sweet. A friendship bonded. Of course i vaguely remember my last uncle feeling so shy doing it, that he'd shove the the container in my hands and ask me to go and deliver while he waited at a corner! Hehe!
And that night there was great partying and most of my eldest uncle's friend were present. And we the younger ones, had plenty of fireworks to play. Not to mention my devilish youngest uncles had such fun shooting rocket fireworks into a neighbour's home...they were actually a bunch of Bomba bachelors staying opposite our house and they thought probably it was some idea of twisted fun! But I loved that Deepavali the best, with all at home and so much of merry making. I guess thats what makes it special, celebrating it with loved ones.
So, im planning to celebrate it this year in a special way since the last two years had been a quiet one. For the first time, i would be trying my hand at traditional Deepavali sweets and cookies. I hope my daughter will remember it for years to come.