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TambuLi thoughts

TambuLi is a side dish - unique to the cuisine of certain communities in Karnataka. It is very easy to prepare and is believed to be a digestive restorative. All tambuLis follow a similar recipe - grinding some part of a plant (main ingredient) with coconut. Adding salt & buttermilk completes the cooking. It is a bland dish and chilli/ pepper, if used, is more for the aroma than for the spiciness. Depending on the main ingredient, one either boils the tambuLi or serves it cold. Seasoning is optional.

When it comes to whipping a tambuLi out of any plant on earth, the prize must undoubtedly go to the women of the Havyaka community - I mean the women of a bygone generation, of course! The tambuLi range is so vast that the main ingredient could be anything from fresh ginger to dried amla to pickled lime, mango,... to tender leaves of the guava, pomegranate,... to mature leaves of herbs like Brahmi, Doddapatre,... to dried rinds of orange, pomegranate,....Phew!!

Take this flower for example.

This flower/ plant is called KuTaja (koDagasana in the Havyaka dialect). The tambuLi out of the dried flowers is supposed to be a very effective controller of the 'Delhi belly'.
Wow! Considering that this plant flowers for about 15-20 days, once a year during summer, who first thought of this tambuLi?

While I was checking out this plant bordering our hedge, a farm hand passed by. He went on to volunteer that the resulting liquid from chewing the bark (very bitter) could cure snake bites.. he'd tried it successfully on his snake-bitten cow!
Wow! Wow! Who had the presence of mind to come up with this one first?? When bitten by a snake, to actually tear out the bark of a nearby plant, chew it and spit it on the bite!

Another passerby, listening in, said that the water in which fresh flowers were soaked for some time was a good soothener for tired eyes!

Wow! 3 different 'medicines' from the same plant! For a fleeting moment, I wonder if I should be showing interest in other wild plants...free classes from passersby would equip me with enough information to be a 'home-remedy specialist'!!

And then, there was this Kannada thriller by Mr.K.N.Ganeshaiah that I had read last year. In it, an American pharmaceutical company assigns two separate, unconnected groups of Indian scientists to conduct research. Their job is to inject virus strains on monkeys and the Jarawa tribals of the Andaman islands respectively. The scientists then had to follow and record the reactions to the feverish symptoms - what leaves/plant parts were consumed for relief,.... and send the report to the pharma company. The ulterior motive - of course, to patent the cures... It was a book that had left me feeling quite uncomfortable.

But, could that be it?? Could it be that we first learnt self-medication from the monkeys??? If so, who taught the monkeys??? ..... a never ending series of questions!! :)

P.S. To make Kutaja TambuLi : Fry about 10-12 sun-dried flowers and 1 red chilli in ghee . Grind this with about 1 cup of coconut gratings and some water. Add about half a cup of buttermilk & salt to taste. Dilute to required consistency and boil thoroughly. Season with mustard seeds and curry leaves if you want to. Serve with rice.

Comments

  1. Interesting Soumya... Since I just came to know about your blogs, it will take me a while to read your other posts :-)

    Anyway, after reading this I was a little more intrigued by this Kannada "thriller" that you mention here. I thought there were no good watchable Kannada movies in the last decade or so. Maybe, save for a couple.... So, what is this movie you refer to?

    -Kishore

    ReplyDelete
  2. You haven't read that paragraph properly, Kishore!! I'm referring to a book...'Kapilipisaara' by Dr.Ganeshaiah. A professor in the Hebbal Ag. Univ., he also writes novels in Kannada. Quite racy and interesting books. If you are thinking of reading him, I would also recommend 'Karisiriyaana' & 'Kanaka Musuku'.
    Am the last person you should be asking about movies.... :)

    ReplyDelete

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