Saturday

Shani and sesame

Devotees of Shani often fast on Saturday, light a mustard oil lamp and offer black sesame, urad dal and mustard oil at a Shani temple, particularly on the Saturday evenings known as Shani trayodashi. Til (sesame) ladoo and khichdi are eaten. The offerings are dark, plain and cheap by choice, and the custom is associated with humility.

Besamim and Havdalah

At nightfall on Saturday, Jewish families mark the end of Shabbat with Havdalah: a cup of wine, a braided candle and the besamim, a small spice box containing cloves, cinnamon, bay or myrtle. The fragrance is smelled to soften the loss of the extra soul that tradition says visits on Shabbat. Cloves are especially common, and some families stud an orange or etrog with them to make the box.

Shabbat lunch

After the morning service, Ashkenazi families eat cholent, a slow-cooked stew of beans, barley and meat with paprika and pepper; Sephardi families eat hamin with cumin, turmeric and cinnamon, and Iraqi families tbit, a baked rice and chicken with cardamom and cinnamon. All were dishes that could be kept warm without cooking on the day of rest.

Saturday markets

In many places, Saturday is market day, and spice stalls in souks such as Marrakech, Istanbul and Kochi are busiest on the weekend. In Britain, the Saturday curry became a habit after the first Indian restaurants opened in the 19th century.

The spices

SesameThe black seed offered to Shani.CloveThe central spice of the Havdalah box.CinnamonSmelled during Havdalah.Mustard seedMustard oil in the Shani lamp.CuminIn Shabbat stews.