Happy Tamil New Year, Folks!

It’s April, and the air is redolent with the fragrance of delicate neem flowers. For a tree that’s so robust and the leaves and bark of which are supposed to have supreme anti-microbial and disease-repelling properties, the flowers are, surprisingly, tender and soft. The honey that’s made at this time is supposed to carry the special qualities of neem in it. There might even be a slight bitter note in the honey of this season, and it’s prized all the more because of this.
Tamil New Year usually comes in the middle of this month. Despite the efforts of earlier Governments to proclaim Pongal as the New Year, Tamilians all over the world have clung to this day in April. It’s considered auspicious to make a pachadi ( sort of chutney) and consume it on this day. The pachadi has the sweetness of jaggery, the sourness of mango, the spiciness of chillis and the bitterness of neem flowers in it, a reminder that life is composed of many elements, and that we must accept all of them to be a more complete person.
Now, for the recipe itself:
Take about 200 gms of crushed jaggery ( gud) in a heavy – bottomed vessel, cover with water and bring to a boil so that it dissolves. Strain and boil again till thick and keep aside. In another pan, take two teaspoons of gingelly oil, heat and season with quarter tsp mustard seeds, curry leaves and four dry red chillies. Grate some mango with the skin (preferred variety is the Bangalora or kilimooku) and add it to the oil in the pan, stirring in salt and a pinch turmeric powder. Add the jaggery mixture and let it cook. It need not become soft. In fact, it’s better if the mango pieces are still crunchy. When it thickens, add some neem flowers to it and remove. You should remove the stalks and use only the flower-heads. As a final touch, dry roast some fenugreek (methi) seeds and some cumin seeds ( jeera) in oil and powder the two together and add to the pachadi. Garnish with fresh curry leaves.
Happy Tamil New Year!