A Spoonful of Good Health
An age-old remedy that has been followed as part of the Diwali tradition.
Its Diwali season, and no celebration is complete without gorging on sweets. But one may tend to get carried away and overeat during this time, and then complain of bloating and stomach ache.
An age-old remedy that has been followed as part of the Deepavali tradition is the preparation of Deepavali legiyam or Deepavali marundhu which is said to aid digestion after indulging in rich sweets and delicacies.
The tradition of legiyam goes back to a few centuries, to the court of the last Nayak king in Thanjavur. The story goes that the queen went down with severe stomach ache after eating the delectable sweets made for the festival by the palace’s cook.
The king, who could not stand his queen in pain, announced a bag of gold to whoever could bring instant relief to the queen. A clever priest called Lakshminarayan came from nowhere and made the queen eat the legiyam or jeerana (digestive halwa), which it was called. The moment the queen ate it, her pain disappeared and there was great joy. It was said that the divine Vishnu himself came down and gave this relief giving legiyam.
The recipe was also acquired and after that a decree was passed that everyone must eat this legiyam on an empty stomach on the festive occasion.
Here is the recipe of the Deepavali legiyam which is very healthy. Just have a spoonful before indulging in your festival treats.
This legiyam can be stored for one year in the fridge and consumed at any time. Starting your day with one teaspoon of this marundhu can help you stay healthy. Avoid excess consumption. Anything more than two spoons a day is not advisable.