Auckland Malaysian-Indian chef Joel Singam has created a Deepavali festive meal pack complete with banana leaves to help families celebrate in lockdown. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland Malaysian-Indian chef Joel Singam has created a Deepavali festive meal pack complete with banana leaves to help families celebrate in lockdown. Photo / Michael Craig
It's Diwali this Thursday November 4, but for Auckland's Indian communities it is not going to be quite the same this year.
Due to current Covid-19 restrictions, the city's annual Diwali Festival was cancelled and the extended alert level 3 lockdown means celebrations will be restricted to homes and picnics,and kept mainly to family bubbles.
It has been tough for many migrant families too, for many this will be the second year running that they will be kept away and unable to celebrate the Festival of Lights with their families overseas.
Top chef Sid Sahrawat, who owns Cassia, has created a Diwali feast box. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said Diwali was an important celebration for Auckland's Indian communities and the public festival was one of Auckland's largest and most popular cultural events.
Joel Singam, an Indian chef originally from Malaysia, said Diwali - or Deepavali as it is known to him - "feels really strange" this year.
Diwali a Hindu festival commemorating Lord Rama and his wife Sita's return to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile, signifying triumph of good over evil. It is a Hindu festival but is also celebrated by Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.
Local Indian community leader Jeet Suchdev shops for Mithai or Indian sweets for Diwali at Novelty Sweets in Flat Bush. Photo / Dean Purcell
Singam is Christian but says the festival cuts across Indians of all religions in Malaysian communities and normally there will be get togethers, open houses and feasting of a wide range of Indian delicacies.
"Not having these at Diwali feels really strange to be honest," he said.
So the chef has created a Deepavali takeaway meal sets - complete with banana leaves to put the food on - aimed to help people relieve some of their Diwali cravings from home.
Local Indian dance group Urban Desi was to perform at the Auckland Diwali Festival, but will now be celebrating in their own bubbles in lockdown. Photo / Brett Phibbs
"For South Indians, eating on banana leaves is considered auspicious so I feel that this is essential to help them get an authentic feel of a Deepavali get-together," Singam said.
"My wife Alexandra Kumaran and I are quite social people, so we can understand how badly the lockdown isolation can affect some during Diwali and we hope our food can be a nice distraction for them."
Singam he wants to make it "affordable for everyone" and is pricing the festive meal sets from just $50 for the vegetarian option.
Chef Joel Singam says it is auspicious to be served South Indian Diwali food on banana leaves. Photo / Michael Craig
Likewise, one of the city's top chefs Sid Sahrawat, owner of Cassia, has created a Diwali feast box.
"We decided to create a Diwali Feast box because the community is missing out on its usual Diwali celebrations in Aotea square," Sahrawat said.
"This year celebrations will be limited due to Covid restrictions, so we thought the Diwali feast box would be a great way to offer an insight into the culture and food of Diwali."
Sid Sahrawat's Diwali feast box comprise favourites from Cassia as well as new dishes specially for Diwali. Photo / Michael Craig
Included in the $150 box are some of Cassia's signature dishes eggplant chaat, roasted cauliflower with almond korma curry and a special dessert inspired by the Indian sweet "Ghewar".
"Diwali is called the festival of lights as it celebrates the victory of light over dark, good over evil, we really hope that this year Diwali brings lightness, cheer and hope during these hard times caused by the pandemic," Sahrawat said.
"Personally we will keep our celebration small with a family dinner and a little celebration with our team at work."
Auckland's Diwali Festival has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo / File
Sahrawat said normally at Diwali, he and his wife Chand together with their children Zoya and Roan would dress in traditional Indian clothes and visit the grandparents in the evenings to pray to the Hindu Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi.
"The kids wash coins with milk, honey, and water. The family enjoys kheer, an Indian rice pudding and other vegetarian Indian food during the festival."
Krish Naidu, president of the Fiji Girmit Foundation of NZ said this year's Diwali in lockdown will be really tough for many in his community as it will be two years in a row they can't unite with close families back home.
Mayor Phil Goff says Diwali is an important festival for Auckland's Indian communities. Photo / Greg Bowker
Naidu said the festival was huge for the Fijian Indian community.
Jeet Suchdev, who heads the Bhartiya Samaj Trust it was heartbreaking for the community that the physical festival had to be called off for the second year in a row due to Covid-19.
Goff said: "While we were disappointed to have to again cancel Diwali Festival this year...an online programme by Auckland Unlimited enabled people to celebrate at home and learn more about Indian culture."
More than 20,000 people had visited the website to download Indian recipes and craft guides, view performances and music, and participate in online dance lessons.
"I look forward to the Auckland Diwali Festival returning in its traditional form next year as our increasingly highly vaccinated population allows us to return to life with fewer restrictions," Goff added.
While it is 20 years since the first Auckland Diwali Festival, the celebration of that much-anticipated milestone will be saved for the next in-person festival.
Public landmarks will continue to be lit up in bright fuchsia and yellow for the Festival of Lights and Auckland Unlimited will be providing Diwali content online at aucklandnz.com/Diwali.
