Delicious Indian Lunch
at the 2021 Bangkok Great Indian Diwali Festival
This past week was Diwali, the Festival of Lights! I had heard that a huge Indian food market and cultural festival was being set up at the giant luxury shopping mall ICONSiam on the riverside, and knew I wanted to check it out. As soon as I entered the exhibition hall, I was greeted with the incredible smells of Indian spices.
Of course, I was instantly hungry, so I wandered through the market area, picking up a few different dishes to try for my lunch. Then, I found a free table, and sat down to eat. I'm a big believer in the idea that the best way to celebrate any holiday or festival is through food! My main course was a savory and heavily spiced prawn biryani, a rice dish cooked with all sorts of comforting Indian spices and served with a generous portion of delicious Thai prawns (120 THB). The biryani came from a stall run by Homemade Kitchen and Café.
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| prawn biryani |
I also ordered a vegetable samosa (25 THB) which came fresh right out of the fryer, and two pieces of gulab jamun (20 THB / pc), a traditional Indian sweet made from khoya (milk-solids) soaked in a sweet sugar syrup.
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| gulab jamun and vegetable samosa |
And finally, the lunch wouldn't be complete without a cup of strong sweet masala chai (black tea boiled with spices) (30 THB).
These dishes all came from a stall run by Indian Host Restaurant.
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| a cup of hot masala tea |
But what is Diwali, exactly?
Diwali is sometimes likened to Christmas, as it is a time of gift giving (and, from what I understand, something of a commercialized holiday in modern times). It is the Festival of Lights, a holiday which symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.
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| food stalls at the 2021 Great Indian Diwali Festival in Bangkok, Thailand |
During Diwali, Indian families will clean their homes, decorate houses and shops with flowers and lanterns, pray at the temple, light fireworks, and feast. It seems like quite a fun time!
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| Happy Diwali 2021! |
The Restaurants
Homemade Kitchen & Café
I visited their restaurant recently and had a delicious mutton roghan ghost and butter naan: Mutton Roghan Ghosht with Butter Naan in Bangkok, Thailand (Homemade Kitchen & Cafe) (theworldofstreetfood.com)
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