Sikh Traditions

This is my ethnic background.

Sikh

Meet my family.

Besides my parents, siblings, husband, children and grandchildren, my family has a spiritual component which includes each Sikh, all of humanity and everyone of Earth's creatures.

What's on the table?

While our children were growing up, on holidays we often went to a camp or kirtan program which is always accompanied by langar, a vegetarian meal prepared and served with prayer and meditation. A traditional meal usually consists of sabji, or a curried vegetable dish, dhal, some kind of spicy beans or legumes, roti, a kind of Indian flatbread, rice either plain or spiced, yogurt plain or spiced with green chilis, cumin and cucumber, and salad for starters. When at home for holiday get-togethers we would often have chole, a kind of spicy chickpea curry, which is a family favorite.

Lessons Learned

With our children grown and married, and now that we have grandchildren, life is somewhat unpredictable and what we do changes every year. Our focus is more on togetherness than gift giving on a particular day of the year. Chole with deep-fried flatbread is still a family favorite when we get together.

Barbara Rolek, Eastern European Food Guide, says:

I think you will enjoy many of the recipes on this contributor's website. Here is how to make chole and wonderful cookies similar to Russian tea cakes known as naam ladoo.