QUEEN OF THE HANUKKAH DOSAS

Hanukkah can be celebrated in many different and delicious ways.

As Hanukkah approaches, a young boy is reluctant to let his little sister, who loves to climb, help make dosas, a fried Indian delicacy. The boy attends Hebrew school—his father is Jewish—and shops for Indian food with his Indian mother and grandmother. The only way to get his little sister, Sadie, down from chairs at home and stacks of canned food in the market is to sing a variation of the dreidel song: “I had a little dosa; I made it out of dal.” He is happy in his blended family, happy to help with the food preparations, and happy to keep singing the song to Sadie. A warm-spirited double-page spread of the family unfolds with the many pots and pans needed to fry the dosas sitting on the stove and little Sadie wearing her dreidel costume. When the family goes outside to greet guests, the door locks behind them, and only one small girl can get inside to open the door. The illustrations are bright and cheerful with endpapers that are a mouthwatering display of ingredients for Indian food.

A delightful culinary adventure celebrates traditional Indian food as part of a Jewish holiday.