Naturally In Tune with Nature..
One of the first things that amazed me in my mother in laws home was the firewood stove that was used mostly to cook the rice prasad for the daily Shiva puja. Having been brought up in a city, I hadn't seen such a system which is an integral part of every kitchen in Kerala. The fuel used was available in every home itself in the form of the multiple coconut tree sheddings. I still love the smoky taste and smell in the water and other things cooked on the same.. The ash that remained wasn't discarded either.. It was used to clean the puja utensils for which coconut fibre served as the scrubber.
The other natural things that a typical keralite used in his day to day life never ceased to thrill and amaze me. In the small wayside eateries, it was common to see the ubiquitous Kerala breakfast - Rice Puttu being steamed in bamboo hollows. The flavor of this natural mode of steam cooking was unique in itself.. We also saw sweet rice dumplings steamed in bay leaves or spice leaves neatly rolled and tacked with pieces of sticks(also from coconut leaves) to hold it in place.
The banana leaves were used as umbrellas for a sudden downpour which isn't rare in Kerala. The common keralite never used a lunch box to office or school..it still is mostly always a banana leaf wrapped lunch, which held in the flavor as well as served as a eco sustainable disposal..In olden times, hand fans and umbrellas were themselves made from palm and coconut leaves.
Even today, temple prasad is always offered in tiny bits of banana leaves and flower offerings for God are loosely wrapped in lotus leaves.
A child with a cough is always given a decoction of a common strong smelling leaf called 'pani koorka'.., never a cough syrup. Hot boiled water is used for drinking irrespective of whether one had an Aquaguard or kent filter at home. To flavor it, a daily variety was available in the form of few tulsi leaves, guava leaves, coriander seeds, a piece of ginger, few jeera seeds or the more aromatic vettiver(a kind of root) or thirst quencher potion called dhaagasamani..Salt water gargles are still prescribed by dentists for tooth problems apart from general doctors for sore throat issues. A fever is always prescribed a watery rice gruel. I had never heard of such prescriptions from where I came.
Ayurveda - the system of medicine with origins in Kerala uses natural ingredients from one's own kitchen or garden to treat almost every kind of disorder.
Kerala is amazingly blessed with beautiful natural surroundings in the form of its water bodies and all round greenery, and the people live so much attuned to and amidst nature, which for an outsider is always a fascinating and refreshing discovery.
One of the first things that amazed me in my mother in laws home was the firewood stove that was used mostly to cook the rice prasad for the daily Shiva puja. Having been brought up in a city, I hadn't seen such a system which is an integral part of every kitchen in Kerala. The fuel used was available in every home itself in the form of the multiple coconut tree sheddings. I still love the smoky taste and smell in the water and other things cooked on the same.. The ash that remained wasn't discarded either.. It was used to clean the puja utensils for which coconut fibre served as the scrubber.
The other natural things that a typical keralite used in his day to day life never ceased to thrill and amaze me. In the small wayside eateries, it was common to see the ubiquitous Kerala breakfast - Rice Puttu being steamed in bamboo hollows. The flavor of this natural mode of steam cooking was unique in itself.. We also saw sweet rice dumplings steamed in bay leaves or spice leaves neatly rolled and tacked with pieces of sticks(also from coconut leaves) to hold it in place.
The banana leaves were used as umbrellas for a sudden downpour which isn't rare in Kerala. The common keralite never used a lunch box to office or school..it still is mostly always a banana leaf wrapped lunch, which held in the flavor as well as served as a eco sustainable disposal..In olden times, hand fans and umbrellas were themselves made from palm and coconut leaves.
Even today, temple prasad is always offered in tiny bits of banana leaves and flower offerings for God are loosely wrapped in lotus leaves.
A child with a cough is always given a decoction of a common strong smelling leaf called 'pani koorka'.., never a cough syrup. Hot boiled water is used for drinking irrespective of whether one had an Aquaguard or kent filter at home. To flavor it, a daily variety was available in the form of few tulsi leaves, guava leaves, coriander seeds, a piece of ginger, few jeera seeds or the more aromatic vettiver(a kind of root) or thirst quencher potion called dhaagasamani..Salt water gargles are still prescribed by dentists for tooth problems apart from general doctors for sore throat issues. A fever is always prescribed a watery rice gruel. I had never heard of such prescriptions from where I came.
Ayurveda - the system of medicine with origins in Kerala uses natural ingredients from one's own kitchen or garden to treat almost every kind of disorder.
Kerala is amazingly blessed with beautiful natural surroundings in the form of its water bodies and all round greenery, and the people live so much attuned to and amidst nature, which for an outsider is always a fascinating and refreshing discovery.
