One of my enduring childhood memories is making pooris (a filled pastry of sorts) with a rolling pin alongside my siblings and mother late into the night, often singing various traditional songs. Even today, this is an annual undertaking in my home (and my sister’s) for one of the most charming culinary and spiritual traditions of the subcontinent–the Koondon ki niaz or Koondas–an annual feast of kheer (rice pudding) and pooris made and served with great respect and sanctity, the fare often prepared overnight by the family organising the meal.

The kheer and pooris are traditionally served in earthenware placed on a red tablecloth. The pooris are of two types: the pooran ki poori which is filled with halva made of ground chickpeas, cardamom, and saffron, or, the maghizath ki poori which is a filling made of diced coconut, almonds, pistachios, and sugar. The latter is my preferred calorie intake. This Niaz (or spiritual offering) is to commemorate Imam Jaffer Al Sadik, the 6th imam of Islam and paternal great-grandson of Imam Hussain and Abu Bakar Siddiq (the 2nd Caliph) on the maternal side. It is held on the 22nd day of the lunar month of Rajab, the 7th month of the Islamic calendar.

Legend has it that once a woman, the wife of a lakarhara (woodcutter) was sitting outside her house forlorn and worried that her husband had not returned from the forest where he had gone to collect wood. The Imam happen to walk past and asked her what was wrong. She relayed her story and he told her that her husband would come back very soon and that her life would change when he did. He asked that when he came back, she should make a small meal of kheer and pooris–like the ones she had made as a tiffin for her husband–and serve it to everyone in the village. Sure enough, her husband returned with a great treasure he had found in the woods. She then celebrated his return with the Imam’s instruction and did so each year thereafter.

So Even today when this Niaz is being performed, a special line is repeated from this story during the offering prayer: “Also bless us O Imam Jaffer Al Sadik as you had blessed the woodcutter and help relieve us of our trials and tribulations”