India

Please respond with your name,date, and source of your information. ( Family members may be used as long as their relationship to you is noted- ex: grandmother )
I was born in March 1985 in Mumbai, India. (Mamta) **How does your heritage affect the food that you consume in your home?**
 * What is the name of your home town? **

When I was born, my parents encouraged a vegetarian style. As I grew up, I continued this lifestyle by choice, solely because it had become habit. I am a Lacto vegetarian, and while I eat the animal product cheese, I still maintain my status as a vegetarian, and do not consume any other animal products. My family practices Jainism. We are not very strict on religion in our household, but we follow some traditions. One example of these traditions is Paryushan. For one week in august, our religion attempts to remove our sins by abstaining from anything grown from the ground for a week, like potatoes, or anything fresh. Since vegetarians essentially get all of their food from the ground, this week is a fasting week. Our family doesn’t follow this path too faithfully, but some people abstain from food for a whole month, consuming only bottled water. In order to get our food, we go to many stores. If I had to pick a consistency, I would say that we go to mainly Indian stores, as well as Southasian and Sri Lanka ones. We do this because their cuisine is essentially similar to ours. We get most of our spices from the India market. These spices, though, are not of the greatest quality. To obtain the better spices, I ask my mother for them, and I have enjoyed many great meals as a result of them. In my experience practicing Jainism, I have been exposed to many traditional holidays. Many, though, are actually from other religions, and I discovered them thanks to Mumbai being a very cosmopolitan town. Thanks to my setting, I have learned about a scrumptious dish called Puranpoli. Puranpoli is sweet bread made from jaggery, wheat and gram flour. Puran is an Indian word which means stuffing, and Poli is a word from another language which means bread. As a child, I lived in Maharashtra, and we maharashtrians speak marathi. Oh, yeah. Puranpoli is made on the day of Gudi Padwa, which is marathi new year. Even though it is a Hindu holiday, we celebrate it anyway. one recipe example: Lahore, Punjab (Samriddhi Sharma 16 Mar 09, MOM)
 * What marketing practices does your family use in order to obtain the supplies needed to prepare food from your native country ? **
 * Give an example of a holiday tradition in your home that incorporates food into the celebration. **
 * What is the name of your home town?**

Hyderabad (Jacob Van Houten, 3/27/11, Vanaja - Parent's coworker)

Sameena Mughal is from Jalinder, India. (Abbey Bryman 2011 LMSH teacher)

At home, almost everyday, I eat Indian food. So, being Indian definitely affects the food I consume in my home. (Samriddhi Sharma 16 Mar 09, MOM)
 * How does your heritage affect the food that you consume in your home?**

Being from south India, we eat rice and hot food.(it is much more spicier than north indian food) (Jacob Van Houten, 3/27/11, Vanaja - Parent's coworker)

Sameena Mughal can’t eat anything bland, it has to have lots of flavor. She prefers spicy and salty food. (Abbey Bryman 2011 LMSH teacher)

There are many Indian markets that we use to buy special foods and spices. (Samriddhi Sharma 16 Mar 09, MOM) Where? write address and name
 * What marketing practices does your family use in order to obtain the supplies needed to prepare food from your native country?**

There are a lot of Indian grocery stores in the u.s. All the Indian spices are very easily available. (Jacob Van Houten, 3/27/11, Vanaja - Parent's coworker)

Sameena Mughal goes to Indian grocery stores.There are many in the U.s that are more custon to the Indian foods and spices. She really enjoys Usha’s, an Indian market in Malvern. (Abbey Bryman 2011 LMSH teacher)

We celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. In Diwali, you eat special sweets and a large feast to commemorate the festival. (Samriddhi Sharma 16 Mar 09, MOM) When??
 * Give an example of a holiday tradition in your home that incorporates food into the celebration?**

Every Indian festival is celebrated with sweets. They are made with milk,sugar,chick pea flour and variety of nuts. (Jacob Van Houten, 3/27/11, Vanaja - Parent's coworker)

Sameena Mughal celebrates Eid with porridge made with semolina noodles. The porridge is common on this holiday but not otherwise so Sameena looks forward to it every year. Also when someone gets married in her family they celebrate with a special meal and dinner. The dinner takes about 4 hours to make and varies. (Abbey Bryman 2011 LMSH teacher)

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 * Provide a family India recipe related to your culture. Type the recipe or include a link to your recipe.**
 * Podcast - 2009**