March 29, 2011

Implements of yore

The era of microwave ovens and induction stoves has eased the act of cooking, but some of us who have experienced food cooked using strenuous instruments in the distant past cannot forget the lingering taste that is tinged with nostalgic memories of grandmother's nine yards and agraharathu thinnai. Most of these cooking aids/instruments have disappeared from service, having been replaced by mixers, grinders and whatnots; some of them continue to live in the few old-fashioned houses that have barely managed to survive in the era of vertical growth, unused, nevertheless, existing as an heirloom given to the nonagenarian surviving grandmother as a dowri when she was nine. Places like Dakshinchitra exhibit these implements, more to preserve the history than educating the youth, who would much rather watch Aish dancing in Machu Pichu, but then, that would be digression.



Some equipment that are still being used, even if rarely, include:


The venkala panai - bronze pot: This is especially used to cook rice. Since the supernatant water that holds all the excess starch of the rice is drained out, the cooked rice is less sticky and less calorific than pressure cooked rice. When cleaned with tamarind and water, this vessel glitters like gold.


ArivaaLmaNai: This is the traditional cutting equipment ala knife. Many people (including the more competent cook of this blog) continue to use the ArivaaLmaNai to chop vegetables etc. If you notice, the head of the blade is a serrated flat part, that is usually used by the other not-so-competent cook of this blog to grate coconut.

Iluppa Karandi: This is a cast iron ladle used to do the seasoning routine - frying mustard for various dishes etc.



The ammi-kuzavi couple (Image source: ta.wikipedia.org) is what used to be used to grind stuff into paste before the mixer era. Some families still have them, but I am not sure if they use them anymore - the mixie is a lot more convenient. That said, the taste of thogayal (paste) made in an ammi cannot be compared to that made in a modern gadget. Incidentally there is one place where the ammi is still used - in TamBram weddings. The groom places the bride's feet on the ammi and slips the toe ring into her second toe.


Kallural: Used to make batter. Idlys have never been as soft since the Kallural got replaced by the ugly Grinder.
Image Source

The Yanthiram was used to remove husk from rice and lentils and powder dry items.

Image Source

The Ural and ulakkai couple was used to make larger quantities of powder




A more recent equipment that uses electricity to powder large quantites of spices is, what is innovatively called, hold your breath, the "machine". The "machine" of course is not found in homes, but in special shops, also informatively called the "machine shop". You take your kilogram quantities of spice there and through a multi million decibel process, the machine, after quaking enough to offset the Richter scale, produces coloured powder that are used in various traditional South Indian recipes.



Then there is muram used to separate chaff from grains



Image source: ta.wikipedia.org

The mathu to make buttermilk from yogurt




Image adapted from here.

I am sure the above covers the bare minimum of equipment used in the Indian kitchen. As and when we remember more, we'll put them on. We still have to talk about eeya chombu, marakkaal, aazaakku, padi, maakal kachatti and related stuff.

Stay tuned.

9 comments:

  1. I loved this totally Implements of yore...its become rare to see much written about it and more rare to see it. great going... I love this and you guys have a follower already.-Vidya

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  2. Very nice - although I have no idea what they are!

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  3. My immediate elder brother and I used to grind idly in the aatukal every Sunday during school time when we were in Thanjavur (25 years back). I cannot complain about the wet grinder now, we make similar soft idlys at home. If Gayathri is not volunteering, I can write something about how to use the wet grinder!!!

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  4. Gayathri, Vidhya, கவிதாயினி, Thanks for reading.
    Margy, some of us have no idea ourselves.
    Murali, guest posts are more than welcome. Especially Thanjavur samayal.

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  5. Lakshmi, we used to have a roundish stone (probably picked up from the farm) to grind elakkai (cardamom) etc. This was separate from the ammi-kuzhavi combo. It was also called as kuzhavikkal. I still have one with me (it is cylindrical though). btw, what does kuzhavi mean?

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  6. Deeptha,
    I know what கிழவி is ! Something I am soon becoming !
    I think குழவி in செந்தமிழ் means young lass....
    Not sure how a young lass came to be used in grinding items. There must be a good reason.
    I know that stone. With years of using it to powder elakkai, it would become smooth to hold. My grandmom would just call it நசுக்கற கல். So much for profundity.

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