First meal of the year

My mother who is away right now insisted that I to go to the temple first thing in the morning today as its my Hindu birthday according to the Hindu calendar. Getting out of bed with a slight hangover, I showered then took a cab down to the Kaliamman temple in Serangoon Road. I was hoping to finish praying as soon as I could so that I could have breakfast at Komala Vilas, but to my horror saw the temple packed with fellow worshippers. Perhaps I wasn't the only birthday boy.


After almost an hour in the crowded temple I head towards the side where temple volunteers were serving lemon rice and spiced buttermilk.

I was hoping to have brunch at nearby Komala Vilas for a greasy masala thosai but this was a healthier and immediate alternative. And since it was from the temple I guess it was good to have a "holy" meal first thing in the year. I was really hungry and the carbs were just what I needed for my hangover. It was perfect-nicely spiced, not too oily or tart and loaded with crunchy nuts and dhal.


My belly was satisfied, but not my greed...left the temple and walked down to Komala Vilas and ordered a masala thoasai to go...then I saw the stack of Indian sweets at the counter. I remember being in India on New Year's day years back when I walked into an Indian candy shop to buy a little gift box back to Singapore. The locals were buying everything by the kilogram... it was scary to think how they were going to ingest all that sugar. I don't usually buy sweetmeats but since its New Year's day I thought I might as well get a ball of ladoo and a few slices of barfi for the fun of it.