Growing Mint

Mint

I believe I first came in contact with mint on a trip to Hyderabad. In a traditional south Indian cooking, we never used mint. Mother used to purchase tender amla, new tamarind shoots, wood-apple, and vakkayalu (karaunda, Carissa carandas) at our door step. Once a week, I would lug a bag full of vegetables from local farmers market. But I strictly obeyed her instructions and preferences. Come to think of it, very rarely we used to buy separately either curry leaf or coriander in the village. Either we used to grow such herbs in our kitchen garden or we would get it free from a neighbor’s garden. In some places (Maharashtra or North India), coriander used to be thrown in as a freebie with vegetables. Where and when? The reader may ask. Not so, here in US– certainly neither coriander (cilantro) nor mint. Of course there are some freebies here also. When you go to strawberry or apple picking, you can eat as many fruits as you like on the farm. They are the best berries and apples, I have ever tasted. Very rarely big stores stock such fresh delicious (except apples in the fall) items. In supermarkets as well as farmers markets, I come across a peculiar problem with fresh herbs here: often all the herbs (coriander, mint, parsley, or rosemary) are packed in the same box or placed very close. This leads to mixing of all the flavors. Thus you end up with a coriander bunch smelling like some other herb (rosemary) – a sheer total waste. So, nothing like picking up fresh mint, coriander, or curry leaf from your own kitchen garden.

Mint is a nice addition to any kitchen garden. It brings lush green color and strong flavor to the patch. Through home gardening, children can learn and appreciate natural flavors from home gardens. Very easy to grow, anyone can do with a minimum effort. Normally, in most (I mean strict vegetarian) dishes, certain things are avoided: garlic, mint, and onion. In North India, I came across garlic, onion, and mint vegetarian dishes. In moderation, these three items are good for health. In fact, mint extract (pudina-ark) is sold over the counter as a remedy for stomach disorders. Of course, all these have strong flavors. Chewing a bit of cardamom or clove bud alleviates any lingering after effect.

Here, in northeast, mint grows in the wild. I do not know who planted this herb in the wild. I witnessed it growing vigorously in dry loose fertile soil on hilltops, near flowing streams, and in the shade (spear mint, its leaves are pointed). All green leafy vegetables share one common feature. Sunlight is essential and beneficial for plant growth. But, too much strong scorching sunlight makes certain (ex: lettuce, mint, coriander, fenugreek, and spinach etc.) leafy vegetables grow into skinny tall plants with hard fiber. Bright sunshine also promotes extensive flowering. Thus, mint grown in early summer, spring, and fall seasons is more bushy, with full of closely spaced leafy nodes. But late in the season (hot summers), you get a bit skinny mint with flowers. Some farmers use thin cloth (cheese cloth or plastic woven cloth) to provide light shade for leafy vegetables. We can also grow mint in a shady location next to a wall or under a large tree.

The wild varieties of mint are a bit too strong for Indian cooking. In a local store, I came across apple mint, candy mint, and other varieties. Such flavors are good for cough drops, candies, or other confectionary dishes. Recently, I brought a bunch of mint from an Indian grocery store. The leftover stalks are utilized for growing mint. We can grow it in a container or in the ground. I have not used any special soil for this plant. I just packed a few bark chips, pine needles at the bottom to block drainage holes. Then mixed a bit of ordinary top soil with peat moss.

Since I did not get time to plant the mint shoots immediately into soil, I left them in a bit of standing water (in a glass). Did not add any rooting compound. In a couple of days the shoots developed (white) roots (rooting is a bit easy in spring or fall here). I transferred the rooted stems into a 6 inch plastic pot. Probably I placed the pot in a cool shade for a week. Right now it sits on a sunny deck, gets about 5-6 hours of bright indirect sunlight. It is growing rapidly into a nice compact lush green mint. Whenever I look at it I am tempted to rub its leaves for that fresh mint aroma. But, my Cornell plant scientist once advised me not to pinch or rub leaves. It harms the plant and may make the plant susceptible to disease or pest. Many leaves contain essential (and protective) oils and compounds; they protect the plant from disease and pest. So, I leave the mint to grow till we decide to harvest. I do not know what I’ve fed this pot, but the large green mint leaves (photo) do indicate that the plant has got plenty of rich nitrogen. We can visually observe the leaves contain oily compounds; rain water drops just roll off from mint leaves. Of course, all leaves have this hydrophobic surface property (the best classic example, lotus leaf). But with some leaves this property is more pronounced – for example, rubber plant, mint, mango, etc.

Mint is one of those spreading plants. It can quickly run to the edges of your garden and cover entire field thick. Thus, it can be used as a spread under big trees. Often trees have circular barren patches around their trunks. Such spots can be filled with herbs like mint, coriander, sweet basil, ajwan/vamu, or methi. Periodic pruning and cutting back is the only solution to this wild uncontrolled growth. It can withstand prolonged periods of cold, frost, or drought. Even though the plant looks dead outside, its roots are always in good health underneath the soil.

Where do you get good soil or quality soil ingredients? Like all those skilled farmers in my village, I believe in efficient gardening. In India, I used to get help from local horticultural department or farmer friends. Here too, once I got valuable decomposed manure from a local farmer. Our local city has a compost facility, for a nominal fee one can get plenty of compost for house garden. Other materials like bone meal, perlite, fertilizer, etc., I buy them when they are on sale. Usually, garden supplies are cheaper at the end of growing season. Earlier days, gardening supplies used to be relatively inexpensive. Now, inflation everywhere – fresh vegetable prices are going through the roof. So are the prices of soil, fertilizer, seeds, and seedlings. In the farmers market, a shopper complained (it speaks volumes about prevalent times!) about the exorbitant cost of tomato seedlings. About tomatoes, later.

In the village, on couple of occasions my mother ran into difficulties with kitchen gardening. Once, she found the soil to be too alkaline. The soil looked a bit like wheat flour – loose flakes. Nothing would grow, neither beans nor spinach. She approached our farmer friend for a solution. He readily agreed to haul and unload two carts of rotten cow manure. That invigorated the entire garden; soon, it produced abundant crops of snake gourd, beans, bottle gourd, white pumpkin, and of course, plenty of marigolds, jasmines, and hibiscuses. Another time, she found our bananas growing a bit slow. She was worried whether they would ever produce a flower, forget about seeing hundred fifty ripe bananas in her backyard. Again, another farmer gifted her a few shovels of super phosphate fertilizer. Soon, our bananas produced the sweetest fruit. I have never tasted such delicious bananas anywhere else, not in India, not in US. I was lucky to taste a tree ripened banana twice – once in our own kitchen garden, and then later in Matla Palem on a summer vacation. Be it guava, custard apple, or banana, you got to taste it when it is ripe on the tree.

Pudina (mint) is used in pudina-pulav (పుదీనా పులావు), pudina chutney (పుదీనా పచ్చడి), pudina-pakodi (పుదీనా పకోడి). Copyright by the author 2010

Sankara, A Bee, and A Bird

Sankara, A Bee, and A Bird

Of the many stotras (hymns), Adi Sankara’s “kanakadhara” is unique in many respects. Detailed meaning and commentaries are given by many. [Traditionalists prefer Samkara (శంకర), tracing the word to its two components: Sam and kara (karOti)]. The reader can find help at Kamakoti or Sri Chaganti. There must be numerous other sources on Internet. Perhaps, very well written books in several Indian languages are available in India.

As the writer’s skills are very limited –I humbly refrain from commenting on this work. Here, I solely confine myself to expanding a little bit on one or two stanzas. My intention is only to provide additional material, to what has already been commented extensively (at best this is to just augment a bit, never to replace other commentaries).

In the second stanza, we are referred to imagine a special tree ‘tamalam’. Tamal is the name of a tree. Can we find this tree now, I mean in circa 2010 in India? Where? How does it look? How to grasp and understand the total significance of these four lines that begin with “angam”?

After combing through a number of sources, I come to the view that Xanthochymus pictorius (Roxb) is the tree quoted here. Its features are described as follows: Bark, a bit dark (blackish, dark grey) and the leaves are elongated. White fragrant flowers. The fruit has three (1-4) seeds, tastes a bit sour and ripened ones look a bit yellow. Like a fake mango. Apparently this tree is available in other Asian countries too. But the Garcinia genus is large, accommodating almost fifty species. The flowers (of this tree) attract butterflies (and bees too?).

Here in northeast, over the years, I have watched several flowering trees: cherry, crabapple, magnolia, and rhododendron. Both magnolia and rhododendron exhibit interesting features in early spring. On every tip, on every shoot (little branch) we can see a latent flower bed. Most of the time, each bud will gradually, delicately open into a colorful (and fragrant) blossom. A few buds fail to open – this could be due to frost bite or some pest. Thus, in early April, we suddenly witness the tree (shrub) full of flowers. Though the magnolia flowers are endowed with delicate sweet fragrance, they do not normally attract bees. Why, I am not sure. But the tree does invite little birds, chickadees. These little birds, a bit tinier than sparrows, have a very endearing musical song. With the rhododendrons, the story is different. In winter, its leaves (it does not drop leaves in the fall, as most trees do here) turn a bit tan brown, and are often found curled up when the temperatures are below freezing point (32 degrees F). Come spring, it gets truly excited; every leathery leaf is fully open, with lustrous green color. And on every tip (terminal node) a latent flower bud anxiously waits for warm weather. Suddenly, on one single warm spring day, the buds burst open, and lo, the whole shrub is draped with purple flowers. This is perhaps a grand gesture by the plant. Now it seems the whole plant (tree) got an exciting jolt of electricity (excitement). Is this the real meaning of ‘pulaka-bhushana(పులక భూషణ)’? Here, in northeast, I get that feeling whenever I see apple or cherry trees in full blossoming. Of course, there are a number of tropical trees that go into similar frenzy of inflorescence. I watched in India too such floral festivities – gardenia, jasmine, Rangoon creeper, bougainvillea, gulmohar, and countless other trees.

But tamalam, must be unique too. I can only imagine its magnetism. The dark bark covered with green leaves and flowers. The Telugu name, “chikatimranu (చీకటి మ్రాను)” – is very apt; it conveys the full meaning of original Sanskrit word (tamalam).

Bringa in Sanskrit refers to bee, beetle, wasp. The order for bee is Hymenoptera. Butterflies belong to Lepidoptera. There are similarities and differences among these interesting insects. Most children are familiar with bees, bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies. Innocently as a child, I once inserted my pointing finger into a bumblebee nest (bamboo pole). Of course, I received a just, prompt painful punishment. Here, I watch these little insects in close proximity during spring, summer, and fall. Normally, they never bother nosy humans. They mind their business with utmost devotion, yielding benefit to flowers, farmers, and plants.

I want to share, if I may, two beautiful scenes involving these vivacious insects: In early spring, rhododendron flowers are visited by couple of bumblebees. The yellow jacketed bumblebee will go to each flower and pick up a tiny drop of nectar (and pollen). There are other flowers in the garden – daffodils, tulips, holly. The bee likes purple colored rhododendrons. The other scene involves Monarch butterfly. They visit us during the warm weather. But they spend winters in Mexico in huge colonies on trees. That sight, of hundreds of butterflies, lightly resting on tree leaves in Mexico is truly marvelous! I have seen only photos of this unique phenomenon. Here too I have witnessed such butterfly groups, but they do not visit us in huge colonies.

Now, coming back to the second stanza, starting with ‘angam Hare’. What is the original picture? A tree full of black bees? A tree full of butterflies? Bees on flowers? That, one has to investigate oneself. I cannot immediately go and find that tree in India. Is it in Kerala? Is it prevalent on the eastern ghats in Andhra? Which part of India? When do we find such trees decorated with bees? What season? Things are getting difficult now. I may never see that “black tamalam tree”. Though, I may succeed in imagining (visualizing) now. At least I have seen a bee on flower, a Monarch butterfly, a rhododendron shrub in full bloom, and a magnolia tree with scented flowers on every dancing node. Rest I have to arduously trek the path with sensitive imagination.

In the most pivotal stanza, the line, ‘..vihanga sisau vishaNNe’ catches everyone’s attention. Commentators usually cite, a bird ‘cataka’ for explaining this line. Here, sitting thousands of miles away, across at least seven seas from Indian subcontinent, I want to imagine this bird. Only the most immediate moment (rather instant) and the most proximate God (Deva) are of value to the earnest devotee. Everything else is secondary. One needs salvation (i.e., the solution) now, here – not somewhere on Kailas mountain, not in distant future. So, I want to understand this ‘bird’ now, here. Luckily that is possible. All we have to do is to look at a pair of morning (they are named erroneously as ‘mourning doves’. I’ve never noticed any sadness in their soft cooing) doves. How lovely are they? Have you looked at them when they gracefully strut, with their soft coo-cooing? It is the most peaceful pleasant sight. Here, I get to see them. In the driveway, on evergreen trees, on overhead electric wires, or on rooftop. Only once did I get a chance to see them make a nest. They are so shy, yet so sweet to watch. I never knew that rearing their young involves so much trouble. How could I peer into their nest? It was perched in the thick evergreen needles, up somewhere in the dense branches. The parent dove feeds the very young helpless chick (squab) with crop milk for a week or two. That is the only way the squab can gain growth and energy – it is totally dependent on the mother (or father). We cannot feed directly any solid food to the young bird. With extreme care, humans can feed young dove chicks liquid food. But, such human intervention, even if it occurs in some zoos or ornithology labs, it must be extremely rare.

So, is this the picture, Adi Sankara wanted to convey? We will know only through sincere exploration and meditation. (Two stories, of Raghavendra and a Nayanar briefly show up on mental screen.)Thus, the being (as all sentient entities are) is utterly dependent on the Mother for sustenance and progress. There is no other avenue left for the individual; one can, in ignorance, foolishly seek help from other agents – when in utter distress. But it is doubtful, whether such desperate attempts (like entreating rich landlords, ministers, officers, bosses, etc.) yield any fruitful results. The Mother will never deny help. In the mundane cruel world, things are different, are always harsh. I believe once I watched a rare tragic circumstance in nature. It was a chilly damp spring day near a pond. There was a bunch of tiny chicks following a Mallard duck. Perhaps there were six or seven newly hatched ducklings walking behind the hen. But one duckling was very weak and it could not maneuver the rocky uneven road near the pond’s edge. It slipped into a crevice between the boulders and its life was very precarious.

Life too is precarious, full of pitfalls at times. Only Mother’s grace, Her affectionate glance can help. Only She, and She alone can effortlessly remove that prickly karma. I may not know what is a cataka bird. But I get a little (a microscopic) glimpse at the whole distressing situation of a ‘lost, forlorn hungry little bird’. Now, all the life seems to be in that ‘little bird’, struggling to survive. Only She can intervene. No one, no human being can help to ease the situation. I remember now, how helpless I was near the struggling duckling.

Certainly one needs many skills to comprehend this stotra. Mere erudition, even a total mastery of Sanskrit is not enough. After all, words or speech can only guide us so far. Beyond that point, all intellect ceases to work. I bow to Sankara, Govindapada, and many preceptors in gratitude.

The writer’s intent is not to change, distort, or misinterpret the original Sanskrit hymn. Never. It is hoped the foregoing elaboration may help some, may motivate a few to further contemplate on this exquisite devotional poem. It may aid in further explorations – into meditation. Whether it is art, poetry, religion, or science – the individual has to make the effort and (s)he has to undertake the journey – for a true discovery. Every sincere student learns one important fact: Only that knowledge, which is totally assimilated, comprehended, and internalized – only that morsel of wisdom is useful in the end. We can strenuously listen to others, read books – but we must discover many things in life first hand. Unfortunately, there is no other way. Except, there is one great exception to this rule, i.e., Mother’s grace.

Ah, all this is just for two lines of devotional poem. What a delight to meditate on these Sanskrit lines!

(Posted earlier at Sulekha. Copyright 2010 by the author)

A Classic Telugu Song "nidurapo"

నిదురపో..నిదురపో..నిద్దురపో.. 2

నిద్దురపోరా తమ్ముడా, నిద్దురపోరా తమ్ముడా

నిదురలోన గతమునంతా నిమిషమైనా మరచిపోరా 2

కరుణలేని ఈజగాన కలతనిదురే మేలురా ||నిదుర||

ఆ... ఆ... ఆ...

కలలు పండే కాలమంతా కనులముందే కదలిపోయె 2

లేత మనసు చిగురుటాశ పూతలోనే రాలిపోయె ||నిదుర||

ఆ... ఆ... ఆ...

జాలితలిచి కన్నీరు తుడిచే దాతలే కనరారే

చితికిపోయిన జీవితమంతా ఇంతలో చితి ఆయే

నీడజూపి(జూపె) నిలవు మనకు నిదురయేరా తమ్ముడా ||నిదుర||

nidurapO..nidurapO..niddurapO.. 2

niddurapOraa tammuDaa, niddurapOraa tammuDaa

niduralOna gatamunantaa nimishamainaa maracipOraa 2

karuNalEni iijagaana kalatanidurE mEluraa ||nidura||

aa... aa... aa...

kalalu panDE kaalamantaa kanulamundE kadalipOye 2

lEta manasu ciguruTaaSa puutalOnE raalipOye ||nidura||

aa... aa... aa...

jaalitalici kanniiru tuDicE daatalE kanaraarE

citikipOyina jiivitamantaa intalO citi aayE

niiDajuupi(juupe) nilavu manaku nidurayEraa tammuDaa ||nidura||

Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Movie: Santhanam

Music: S. Dakshinamurthy Lyrics: Anisetty Pinisetty

When grandmothers say "music can melt even stones" - it is no exaggeration. One has to listen to a song like this. This was recorded in 1955. Who can deny the song's purity and grace? I envy the poet(s). One song, just one song like this is enough to leave a footprint on the sands of time. A good song, a great song is like pure good luck - it just happens, and in its current it uplifts everyone: the original creator, singer, actor, music composer, and listener. It offers happiness to everyone without partiality. I doubt how many of the current generation Telugu songs will last fifty years. The impartial judge, time will tell.

Once Vishnu was in deep meditation. Was He in the form of Dattatreya or Narayana? Many angels (apsaras) came down to earth to disturb His meditation. It was then He created Uravasi. Upon seeing the extraordinary divine beauty of Urvasi, all other women simply lowered their heads in shame. Similarly, this exquisite song 'nidurapo' puts all mediocre songs (poems) to utter shame. After listening to this song, one intuitively knows what is true art.

Homemade Yogurt

Homemade Yogurt

Making yogurt should not be that difficult in these modern days. A little patience and basic understanding of the process – that is all one needs. For a fraction of the price at supermarket, anyone can make tasty curds at home. Most of the commercial varieties of yogurt include additives: Pectin, gum (I wish they just use plant based gum Arabic, derived from acacia trees), non-fat milk solids, vanilla, peach, etc. All unnecessary junk. Good high quality yogurt has it own delicious taste, it needs no augmentation from other flavors or additives.

In my village, we used to buy freshly made yogurt from a mason’s family. The lady would bring out solid yogurt in an aluminum container with a delicate flavor. She used a big rice or paddy barrel as a storage place, a nice stable location for forming curd. I have always enjoyed delicious curds in my sister’s house.

Due to the word’s etymology (yogurt), one may assume that this milk based dish came from Turkey. But the Hindi word ‘dahi’ – derived from Sanskrit ‘dadhi’ implies perhaps even thousand(s) of years back, there was curd in the Indian subcontinent. In Telugu, we say ‘perugu’(పెరుగు); it has the same connotation as ‘curd’.

The main ingredients for making good curd are: Fresh milk, starter (in Telugu ‘todu’తోడు), and proper temperature. Yogurt preparation just requires a little care, a bit of cleanliness, and some patience. I use stainless spoon for mixing. Never touched the milk with bare finger - for mixing with starter.

We can use all types of vessels (pots) for preparing curd. But all pots should be absolutely clean – otherwise slight lingering smell (some may tolerate it) will remain with the finished curd. Children may not like smelling yogurt or too much sour tasting curd. Sour curd is not bad; it can be used for other dishes like menti majjiga (మెంతిమజ్జిగ) , majjiga pulusu (మజ్జిగ పులుసు), dhokla, pan cakes, kadhi, and rayita. Slightly soured curd is ok with rice, it gives a delicious taste with steamed rice and mango pickle. It all depends on peoples’ tastes. I have made yogurt in stainless steel pots, Pyrex glass bowls, stoneware, porcelain, and of course clay (terracotta) pots. The most important thing to remember is to pick a clean pot. Ceramic and clay pots tend to retain smell of the previous dish (food). But if they are thoroughly cleaned and dried fully– then the same pot can be used repeatedly. If needed, the pot can be left in sun light for drying. This helps to get rid of any residual disagreeable smell. Or, one can change the pot frequently to get over this problem of residual smell. Sri Chaganti once made an interesting observation: All the milkmaids (gollabhamalu) were extremely clean, well dressed, and fastidious while churning butter. They knew in their hearts that all the yummy curds and butter were meant for little Krishna. Perhaps, there is some truth to that. I mean, one has to observe proper care while preparing milk and dairy products. In deed, the earlier generations were steeped in absolute cleanliness (madi) during cooking.

I prefer boiling milk on stove for making curd. Some use microwave oven for warming the milk. For some reason, I find warming milk on stove imparts better taste. To digress a bit here – I recall a childhood event. Our neighbor had a herd of cows. Whenever I went to their house, they used to give me a glass of warm milk. I never got such a tasty milk anywhere else, either in India or US. Now, I know the real secret to that taste. No wonder, little Krishna went after milk, butter and milkmaids. My friend’s mother would heat milk in a clay pot gently over cow dung cakes – very slowly. That slow heating in a clay pot induced excellent taste. If today’s kids dislike milk (say milk from super market, grocery store, dairy farm, or Mother Dairy), it is not their fault. Mostly this is due to poor quality or careless processing. Some taste is also lost in pasteurization (or homogenization).

After a bit of bubbling, I remove the milk from stove top and let it cool. Usually we see a thin layer of cream on the top. Let the milk cool down to room temperature. Or we can use slightly lukewarm milk. Particularly in cold winters it is preferable to use lukewarm milk. Normally I transfer the warm milk to a different pot for making curd. It is not needed, one can use the same pot for making yogurt. Milk has its own character; most of the time while boiling, milk tends to overflow and spoil stove top. (Being a colloid, milk always tends to bubble up on the hot stove.) Then, the usual chore of cleaning; everything is messy with good tasty cooking! One learns these minor irritations slowly. A glass pot watcher, a large clean ladle, or a watchful eye on the burning stove will do the trick. Sprinkling cold water will soothe boiling milk quickly. Or you can turn the stove knob to low. There were times when I forgot the milk totally on the stove – it led to thick creamy brownish milk. Such accidents happen to all and anyone.

So, now we have either room temperature or lukewarm milk in a clean pot. After mixing with a tablespoonful of starter, we have to leave the milk in a warm (just a little safe stable location) place for about 6-8 hours. How much starter? It depends on the quantity of milk. Roughly it is like this – for a liter of milk, at the most one and half tablespoon of starter. Or at most two tablespoons of starter. But the proportion stays same. That means, if you want to make a gallon (roughly 4 liters) of yogurt, then you need considerable amount of starter. After mixing the starter (about three swirls of spoon in the pot), (a hilarious scene from Bright Star comes to mind) I place the pot in the oven. I leave the pilot lamp (40 Watts lamp, I suppose) on. After six or eight hours, I gently remove the lid and take a peep. If the curd is set, often there will be a layer of pale white (colorless) liquid on top (sort of whey). We can also gently tilt the pot to see if it is set. But do not shake or disturb the curd while it is forming. If it is fully formed, then it is ready for eating. Of course, such a freshly made yogurt will be a bit warm. Or if you prefer you can remove the pot from oven and let it cool naturally. After an hour or so, I transfer the curd to refrigerator. Putting it in fridge will give the curd good solid texture. A good home made yogurt will have: Thin supernatant liquid layer. Tastes good without any sourness. We should be able to cut crisply with a spoon. There should not be any sticky thread hanging while lifting a piece with spoon. Good consistency from top to bottom.

Basically there are three or four parameters in this process. 1. Quality of starter. 2. Amount of starter. 3. Temperature. 4. Duration. One can vary the parameters to get either a soft mild tasting curd or a bit sour tasting one. I never used any thermometer for checking temperature. Somewhere, it is said the ideal temperature for yogurt making is: 30° – 37° centigrade (86° - 98.6° F ). On a hot Indian summer day, one has to take care to keep the (starter added) milk cool. Simple tricks are: Wrap a wet cloth around the pot (steel vessel), prepare curd in a clay pot, or make yogurt during nights. That even in hot Rajasthan one can find delicious curd during simmering summers – is a testament to the great culinary skills of local people.

Buttermilk (in Telugu challa) is another simple dish. It really refreshes and gives energy during hot summers. Its flavors also differ in India. In south India, we have the simple salty version – some times with the extra flavor of either curry leaf or citron (dabbakayi). In the north, the sweetened version (lassi) is preferred by some. Good curd is the main ingredient for making lassi or buttermilk. A slight detour here – in high school our Telugu teacher narrated an interesting anecdote. In his final Telugu examination, he was asked to explain the origin of the word “majjiga” – its roots and explanation. I think that single word ‘majjiga’ can flunk any Telugu scholar easily even today. Strange is life, this writer came to appreciate the origin and real meaning behind this word ‘majjiga’ only very recently – after a lapse of decades! Probably I could have learnt its etymology sooner had I consulted a good multilingual pundit (ubhaya bhasha pravina) way back then. For buttermilk, you have to just churn yogurt (with a bit of water). Depending on your preference, you can add a pinch of salt, lime juice, curry leaves, sugar, etc. In villages, during hot summer days generous philanthropists used to, perhaps they still do in some places, serve buttermilk to people. Unlike sweetened juices (or coke), raw salted buttermilk has very few calories. Yet it is a good hydrating drink for hot summers.

Curd is very helpful in maintaining good digestion and excellent health. Without yogurt, pickles and spices can easily upset the delicate balance of digestion. Yogurt is also used to treat certain types of hepatitis and stomach disorders; it is a part of traditional (Ayurveda) healing methods. This simple dish can work wonders and relieve the imbalances in body brought by heavy doses of antibiotics and other prescription drugs.

Lastly, the most important item – starter (culture). Where do you get it? Once I overheard somewhere, that the early Indian immigrants brought starter from their families in India. I cannot blame them! One gets attached to certain tastes. In most supermarkets, you can find plain yogurt. It is better to choose a variety that has as few additives as possible. Or, you can ask your friend for a spoonful of starter. Some use red pepper for making yogurt. I’ve never tried red pepper. There may be few more tricks – they are the privileged information of expert cooks. But anyone can learn such things with time, with practice. Or from a doting mother-in-law.

(Dedicated to the memory of S.N., who made exceptional original dishes)

Copyright 2010