Faral Gossips!

Faral are the special delicacies that are prepared during the Diwali festival. It becomes the staple morning breakfast and also serves as an evening snack, and is also served to guests and shared with them during the festival. Now, a plate of faral is prepared to be shared with the neighbours, and the various delicacies have a personality of their own. Here is a sneak peek into the ‘Faral Gossip’ before it is passed on!

Shankarpale: (looking at all the other delicacies) Hello, everyone. How are you all? Being back on the thaali feels like our annual get-together.

Chakali: I am fine, dear! This year I was made with a lot of perfection, and so I am proudly being served more than you guys! What happened to your figure, Besan Ladu? You seem to have put on a lot of weight that you can’t handle, and so you are getting stuck to the thaali.

Besan Ladu: Oh yes, this year they added more ghee while making me than is required, and that resulted in me being stuck to the surface of the container, and this thaali too! And Chakali, you should not body shame me for my figure, I am purposely made big, so that I would be finished quickly by distributing 2 in every plate.

Chiwda: You are made in small quantities; I am the one who is made in bulk!

Karanji: Yes, that is to fill the space left in the Thaali after we ‘the special items’ are kept in it.

Chiwda: Ohh, please, I am not just a filler, for your kind information, I am like a family member who stays around the year, and helps the family members pass their time in the afternoons and evenings! Also I get to travel more houses than you do!

Karanji: Okay, fine, but I am like the relative that everyone really looks up to. I do not visit often, I am for momentous events! And not everyone can crack my recipe, I mean, the layering, the crisp outside, and that sweet on the inside, I am just the diva of faral!

Anarse: I partly agree with Karanji, but I am the most important one, that is what I believe.

Shankarpale: But why do you believe so?

Anarse: Because I am explicit, you all can mostly be made in a day or so, but I require planning and a couple of days to be made. Also, I am like the son-in-law of the family, if I am there in the thaali, people brag about me! 

Chakali: I think we are more important; as if we are not there, it feels incomplete, but you not being there does not make much difference, also most of the thaalis don’t even have you!

Anarse: That is exactly what I meant when I said I am explicit, just like a son-in-law who does not show up much, but when he is consistently insisted on showing up, and a lot of preparation is done before his arrival, then he shows up just like me!

Chakali: Okay, let us just move on with our talks, before we are passed on to the neighbours. Bhakarwadi, tell us about yourself.

Bhakarwadi: Hi guys, I don’t make it to all your annual get-togethers, but my first copies do. So here I am, the original Bhakarwadi, made with coconut and coriander, crisp on the outside and filled with bhakar on the inside.

Karanji: But just like Chiwda, people have you around the year.

Bhakarwadi: Well, that is my first copy, not the original me. But I am happy there are still people who make my original version. I fear one day people will start believing my first copy as the original one.

Shankarpale: Don’t worry, Bhakarwadi, we are all now made around the year, and those are all first copies of our originals, but there are still households that make us following the traditional recipes. Earlier, everyone made everything at home; now most people buy us from different people. We are not just home-made delicacies; we are businesses now.

Chakali: And I am sure there will come a day when people will start missing our homemade versions, and will probably go back to making us all at home. The quantity might be less, but the love for traditional recipes will be a lot more, and that love is here to stay! 

Karanji: Absolutely! I think now only the Motichoor Laddu is left. Why aren’t you talking?

Motichoor Laddu: Sorry, but you all are homemade, but I was tried making at home after referring to the viral recipe going around on the internet, but that did not work out, so I was ordered from outside.

Besan Ladu: That is why you seem to be so much in shape and perfectly round! But why are you in guilt?Motichoor Laddu: Because they are passing me around with you all, saying I was also made at home!

(Everyone laughs out loud)

Thaali: Oh, common guys, are you all done with all the judgments? You all will still be consumed and judged, but I will have to wait till they fill me up with their faral and return, or else if they forget me, I will have to extend my stay till they make something sweet or savoury worth sharing! And worst case, I will have to stay till next Diwali!

P.S.:  Let me know what your Farali Gossips are?

Happy Diwali,

Happy Reading,

-सिddhi Bhosale.

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