I have decided to make food Rangoli today!
Everyone can make Rangoli such this, because all the ingredients can be purchased in the European shops (as I am in Russia, standard Indian ingredients are burdensome to obtain).
Before I have started the creation of the Rangoli, I have decided, that it would be in:
1. Noble brown-white-yellow palette
2. Based on dried fruits
3. And turned into classic pudding after Diwali!
As you see everything is very practical!
Ingredients:
1. Raisins (don't forget to wash)
2. Date-palm dried fruits (necessary to wash also and, as a Gopi to Gopi I will tell: they are NOT the fruits from the palm under which you are dating and kissing with Krishna, HAHAHAHAHAHA!)
3. Coffee grinder (for grinding rice and brown sugar)
4. For white base 01 - Rice grinded in the coffee grinder (or you can just buy rice powder, but rice powder is a rarity in Russian supermarkets).
5. For white base 02 - Brown sugar grinded in the coffee grinder (when you grind the brown sugar, it will turn into white sugar powder)
6. Raw rice (yellow-coloured with turmeric)
7. Turmeric (for making raw rice yellow-coloured). The yellow rice is very easy to get: you just need to add some water to cellophane package and add some turmeric mixed with raw rice to the water.
Leave the package for a night and by the morning you will have yellow-coloured rice. Then it is better either to dry it up in the wind or just fry in the pancake.
8. Tangerine
9. Cinnamon (for making sandy "puddles")
10. Tea candles
11. Almonds (raw originally, but I have washed them and fried, because I don't trust the commercially fried nuts, as I don't know on which butter - animal or not - and in which conditions they are being fried).
By the way, Mark Almond is very popular in Russia (that's why "In October 2009, Almond released his second album of Russian Romances and Gypsy songs"...), especially, among the elite (and the reason why is the riddle!).
12. Wooden tray. Simple, square one (don't get obsessed with complicated forms, because we need it only as a base for Shree Lakshmi Rangoli creation). The size should be big too, otherwise, it will be difficult to fit the Rangoli composition, that is if the tray is small, you will be able to draw only one microscopic swastika with lonely tangerine.
The ever-existing rule for Rangoli is simple: more space you use, more decent Rangoli will be drawn!
As you see on the Image, the Rangoli consists of:
1. Lotus Feet of Shreemati Lakshmi Devi (made of almond and raisins).
2. Swastika (made of yellow rice).
3. Margins (made of raisins and date-palm dried fruits).
4. Brown "muddles" from cinnamon.
5. Base made from grinded rice and grinded brown sugar.
Practically everyone can create his / her own design, be creative!
Now the Photo Gallery, which also can be found on minus, dropbox, box, ge.tt, cubby, skydrive and my flickr.
