Khao pun, 'lucky' laab and vadai served to ring in Lao and Tamil new year: Jasmine Mangalaseril

From mid-March until the end of April, hundreds of millions of people living in parts of India to Southeast Asia and China are welcoming the New Year.

It's a time of renewal and new beginnings, reuniting with friends and family. Food plays a role, of course, as both a meal or a way to welcome good luck.

Here in Waterloo region, many people continue those celebrations from home, including members of the Tamil and Lao communities.

Pi Mai in Laos is a three-to-four-day celebration. Venerable Utha Champoo of Cambridge's Lao Dhammaram Buddhist Temple, says the new year is about seeking forgiveness, and doing better.

"We think about the good thing that is coming. The important thing is you have to look back [and ask yourself] what mistakes did you do? On the new year you have to move forward," he said.

Linda Vongkhamchanh owns Waterloo's Champa Kitchen and says families will eat any dish they wish, but khao pun (noodle soup) is a popular choice in Laos.

"Because it's really, really hot this time of year, they will have khao pun. They will have the basket of noodles, a giant pot of soup and then salad on the side. It's easy to have when the guests arrive," she said.

She also says many will have "lucky" laab (chopped meat salad) with sticky rice and papaya salad. Since meat is a luxury, it's seen as being auspicious.

Puthandu in Tamil Nadu

Tamils around the world celebrate Puthandu on April 14, with each community having its own traditions.

Dennis Loyola of the Tamil Cultural Association of Waterloo Region says the traditions are "where your culture and tradition were linguistic-based, not religion-based."

Traditionally, people had a vegetarian meal, but today non-vegetarian dishes are sometimes served. As rice is a staple, it can appear in different ways: appam (fermented rice flour pancakes), pulao (rice and vegetables), or payasam (a sweet, milky rice dessert). You'll also often find fried foods on the table.

"That's when they'll make vadai (savoury fritters) because it's something that takes time and it has to be deep fried. Oil was not in abundance at that time. So, anything deep fried is on auspicious days," says Loyola.

For Rajesh Shivaji, owner of Kitchener's Shiva's Dosas, Puthandu is a chance to re-imagine popular foods in traditional ways like pongal, a porridge-like dish.

"When we make pongal, we would be using a regular traditional rice right now. But if we were to make it on Puthandu, we would try to make it with a millet, or we would try to make it in a different grain," Shivaji said. "In that case, we could say that how Pongal was made 700, 800 years back or 1,000, 2,000 years back."