Saawan
Why we eat Ghevar and Firni on Teej?
It’s been centuries since our grandmothers and their grandmothers have been telling us a famous proverb “Aayi Teej, Bakher Gayi Beej”, which translates to “The festival of Teej sows the seeds of wheat as well as the festivals.”
Hariyali Teej or Teej is a famous festival in the North India especially for the Haryana and Punjab which are considered as the wheat basket of India. There, the farmers work very hard and then get the result of their blood and sweat when they see the pearls of the grain in the field.
The festival of Teej comes in the monsoon season, in the month of July-August when the sky is overcast with clouds and there is torrents of rains. It falls on the third day of bright fortnight of the month of Shravan i.e. Advancing Monsoon.
The people exchange the highly sweet dishes made of flour like Ghevar and Faini (Firni) as gifts and eat them a lot in the season. This sharing is considered to be auspicious and blesses the family with the blessings of health and happiness.
Scientific Paradigm
As per ayurveda, the months of Shravan and Bhadrapada i.e. July-August-September are predominated with Vata and Pitta respectively. This causes dryness and acidity in the whole body, resulting in restlessness and mood swings.
The highly sweet and ghee laden Ghevar and Firni provide relief from the acidic and moist environment. They have Vata and Pitta calming properties due to ghee and sweet juice. Thus, they have a calming effect on mind as well as the body..
Why not eat Kadhi in Saawan?
Kadhi or curry is one of the most popular savoury preparations of North Indian Cuisine whereby people enjoy it a lot. Pouring dollops of Kadhi over hot streaming rice and enjoying the same again and again till the belly is full is worth remembering.
Kadhi is a preparation in which sour buttermilk is boiled with sifted gram flour (Besan) and some spices like methidana, zeera, dhania, turmeric, salt and pepper. After that, as per individuals’ choice and flavour, some pakodas or boondi are added to the same and then, tempering is done using ghee and red chilly.
Kadhi-Chawal is an all time favourite preparation for the North Indians and there are many versions of Kadhi available in various cuisines of India, but we are forbidden to enjoy this delicacy in the month of Saawan or Shravan (July-August)
Scientific Paradigm
In the month of Saawan, the sky is overcasted with clouds and there is lot of rain. This makes the atmosphere sluggish and hampers our digestion. The quality of drinking water degrades down and further slows down digestion. In the same line, lack of immunity becomes prominent due to the same water problem.
Kadhi, despite being delicious, is cool in nature and hence, hard to digest as it contains Besan. And the buttermilk is coming from the milk which is given by cows which are grazing on fresh new grasses of the rainy season which are already contaminated and are forbidden for humans to eat. In the month of Shravan, humans are not supposed to eat green leafy vegetables.
Hence, our grandparents forbid us to eat kadhi, just for our own benefit of health. Poor digestive system cannot digest kadhi and hence, they forbade us.
Shubhpuja.com 