Binge Away on Diwali— There’s a Delicious Fix
The spicy sweetness of legiyam will cure your digestive woes
By Arthi Subramaniam
There’s a medicine that brings relief to the deep-fried food bingeing on Diwali day, and it’s delicious.
It looks ominous and smells spicy in a mystic way, but legiyam (pronounced lay-ghee-yum) is the best homemade cure for the nonstop noshing on salty deep-fried snacks and ghee-laden sweets and gluttony that is inescapable during the festival of lights.
By cleansing the digestive system, legiyam, in an edible way, keeps with the Diwali belief (spelled Deepavali in the south where legiyam is consumed) that good prevails over evil. And its benefits go beyond food. Since the holiday festivities start as early as 4 a.m., when the air is chilly and filled with smoke from the bursting of firecrackers, legiyam helps to strengthen the body and ward off colds and coughs, too.
Legiyam, aka Diwali marundhu, translates to medicine in Tamil. That’s because it’s made with ingredients that have medicinal properties. There are several variations to the recipe, but the basic ingredients are coriander, carom (ajwain) and cumin seeds, black peppercorns, fresh and ground ginger, honey, jaggery, and ghee.
By cleansing the digestive system, legiyam, in an edible way, keeps with the Diwali belief that good prevails over evil.
I follow my mother’s recipe, which was created by my great-great-grandmother — or at least that’s what we think. The recipe’s origins remain unclear because no one in my family ever wrote it down; it was always through word of mouth. That explains why two legiyam recipes are never the same.
My paternal grand-aunt incorporates ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in her legiyam for fragrance and to make it a more potent digestive. An aunt in India goes with a laborious version that calls turmeric root, thipili (long pepper), and kandathippili (long pepper root). Then there are legiyams with poppy seeds and ones made with sesame oil instead of ghee.
But whatever the combination, the kitchen becomes an apothecary when the dry ingredients are ground into a powder and cooked in a wok along with jaggery and ghee until a thick consistency is formed. Some cook it down to the point where the legiyam can be rolled into a ball, but I prefer a consistency that can be scooped with a spoon.
The seeds are all known to help with indigestion and abdominal discomfort. Additionally, coriander is high in vitamin C, and carom, which is pungent in flavor like oregano, provides instant relief for acidity.
The heat in the legiyam comes from the double dose of ginger, which helps to relieve any stomach pain that might come from overeating the jaangiris, gulab jamuns, and murukkus. The black peppercorns, too, give it wonderful brazen kick in addition to helping out with any sort of sluggish digestion.
The health benefits of honey come into play by helping to soothe coughs and sore throats and healing digestive disorders. Jaggery, the other sweetener, not only balances out the spicy flavors but it, too, helps with the digestion process.
While ghee is high in saturated fat, it is believed to help in the absorption of some healthy vitamins and minerals and is used as a vehicle to enhance digestion and bolster the immune system.
Legiyam is most effective on an empty stomach, and so it is the first thing consumed on Diwali morning after an oil bath.
Pure bliss happens the moment you lick a spoonful of it. The sweetness from the honey and jaggery hits the palate first, but before you can process it, a fiery kick from the ginger and peppercorns follows, leaving you speechless or gasping for air. In the next nanosecond, as it goes down the throat, there’s a rush of warmth that is burning and pleasing at the same time. And then, instantly, your palate is clear, your throat feels great, and you crave the next spoonful of delicious legiyam.
While it is the best cure when bingeing on rich foods, there is really no remedy for overindulging on legiyam.
So don’t overdo it. Legiyam is a medicine, after all.
Legiyam
Serves 8
Ingredients
5 teaspoons carom (ajwain) seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
6 teaspoons coriander seeds
3 teaspoons black pepper
2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1¼ cups jaggery, crumbled
1 teaspoon ginger powder
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons ghee
Instructions
Dry roast carom seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and black pepper for about 1 to 2 minutes over medium-low heat. Once they are slightly cool, grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.
Transfer powder to a blender. Add grated ginger and just enough water and blend to make a smooth paste.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt jaggery with about ½ cup of water. Let it boil and thicken slightly, stirring so does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Then add ginger paste and ginger powder, stirring constantly.
When it thickens some more, add honey and ghee and reduce heat to low, and stir. Add more ghee if it sticks to the pan, and keep stirring until all the ingredients come together.
Turn off heat. As it cools it will thicken more. It can be refrigerated for a month.
Arthi Subramaniam is the food editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
