“Food to be appealing to me has to be healthy more than being taste buds-appeasing,” says Manoj who has recently practiced abstaining from meat and is planning with full enthusiasm his vegetarian-style-Dashain. “Food, and meat in particular, is only one component of the festivity, and picking on vegetarian items in no way lessens the plethora of joys Dashain brings with it,” he adds.
Celebration of Dashain unleashes the pleasures of feast and the associated excitement of delightful cuisines. As family members meet, deciding on ‘today’s menu’ immediately becomes an engaging chat. In this context, Dashain, on one hand, is routinely – and not without reasons – associated exclusively with meat and non-vegetarian delicacies. But at the same time, there is also a parallel horde of people who prefer and have long been celebrating it the vegetarian way.
For Manoj, Dashain holds significance of a larger scope than eating non-vegetarian items. As a member of a large extended family, he looks forward to Dashain as a special time when all the members come together and celebrate the joys of the festival with dances, dohori, and abundant laughter. “Being a vegetarian impedes the least my pursuits of these delights that come from celebrating with one’s family,” Manoj emphasizes. When it comes to foods, fresh green vegetables, rice, especially topped with ghee, and freshly prepared pickles are his favorites.
Dashain is largely treated as a festival of animal sacrifice and feasting. However, abstaining from meat for various reasons – be it spiritual belief, religion, diet, or health concerns – is also a practice widespread and discernible. In this context, exploring the vegetarian modes of celebrating the festival is an undertaking as intriguing as it is off the beat.
Nabina Shahukala, a resident of Bouddha, has been observing meatless Dashain for many years. And she reports to have never faced any awkwardness during Dashain due to her eating habit. She rejoices in the vegetarian items she is served while paying visits to friends and families. “Meat is only one item in the menu and non-vegetarian items make up the larger portion of any meal,” she says, explaining that abstaining from meat does not keep one from enjoying a full and delicious meal.
Nabina, herself a very good cook, is quite excited about Dashain and the free time it brings, allowing one to engage in homely and pleasurable cooking. Paneer, soya, and mushroom prepared in innovative ways make up her list of delicacies in Dashain.
Nabina was not a born vegetarian, though; she had voluntarily turned into one after she saw, in her early childhood, a horrifying sight of animal massacre. “The consciousness that killing animals brutally is unfair has haunted me since then,” she recollects. She strongly opines that slaughtering animals for delicacies or in the name of rituals is unjust and simply beyond understanding.
The issue of animal rights is indeed a case in the rise. Animal rights activitists, both national and international, are marking their presence in the discussions surrounding the consumption pattern of animal meat. Yet the practice of animal sacrifice and the intake of meat during Dashain have different connotations in the Hindu scriptures and mythologies. It has its roots in rituals considered holy.
In such a scenario, condemning the practice straightaway would normally go against the grain. In this regard, Manoj Paudel opines, “Each person has his/her own set of beliefs that deserves respect and understanding from others. The decisions of both taking and abstaining from meat are matters of personal discretion.” Manoj abstains from meat out of his compassion for animals, and is happy about the fact that his friends and families accept his decision. Conversely, Manoj is also comfortable with the fact that others in his family do take meat.
A similar experience is shared by Sangita Rimal, who is a vegetarian and is married to a home where her in-laws, including her husband, do take meat. This should be putting Sangita in a strange situation, one might commonly assume. However, and on the contrary, Sangita happily shares her experience where she is never pushed into consuming or serving meat during festival gatherings. “My husband is very understanding and that makes me lucky,” she rejoices.
The lot that prefers vegetarian lifestyle is undoubtedly a large one. But during festivals like Dashain where meat forms an important component of the celebrations, this group apparently remains the one least catered to. However, the experiences and opinions of vegetarians like Manoj, Nabina, and Sangita suggest that the enthusiasm of Dashain in terms of all celebrations, feasts, foods, and cuisines is oblivious to what particular foods one might choose to eat. And especially at a time when consciousness of health hazards of meat consumption is accelerating, vegetarian-style Dashain presents itself as one possible healthy way, among many others, of celebrating Dashain.
Vegetarian’s specials
You can try preparing food items ingeniously out of milk products, fresh vegetables, mushroom, and beans and cereals this Dashain. Paneer and mushroom are naturally on high demand during Dashain as they make up a large chunk of vegetarian items. You can try something novel out of these ingredients. Start trying paneer pulao, paneer with black pepper, or paneer kabab with coriander. Spicy or roasted mushroom can also be alluring.
Lentil soup is another all-time favorite. You can also mix beans with vegetable curries, or you can bake and marinate them in lightly spiced tomato and lime juice. Similarly, coconut rice pudding with pomegranate seeds provides a unique flavor and a change of palate for everyone.
As milk is consumed less during Dashain, you can always use that extra milk in your fridge to prepare homemade sweets to serve guests coming for Tika.
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