Tag Archives: native rice varieties

Maappillai Samba Dosai/Pancakes – Dosai with Native/Traditional Varieties of Tamilnadu – 5

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maappillai samba arisi/rice

  

and ILAVATTAKKAL- the stone of the Youth

photo courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/village-life-for-real/article7521099.ece
  

Love and Valour have been the main sources of Life and Literature of the Tamils for more than 2000 years (Sangam Tamil Literature dates back to 3rd century BCE to 3rd century ACE).

‘Ilavattakkal’ -roughly translated as ‘the stone of the youngster’ – is an almost forgotten symbolic stone of the Bridegrooms among the Tamils Community. It is a huge stone which was used as a means to judge the physical and mental strength of the ‘Groom in Talk’ for their daughter. To lift the heavy, slippery, beautifully round stone needed great valour, fearlessness, manliness and tonnes of courage. This was an unambiguous assessment of the stamina of the Man, who was seeking the hands of their Daughter. The process was carried out in front of the village elders. The strong man gets the girl.

There are several stages in lifting the ‘Ilavattakkal’.

1. First, the man sits in squatting position

2. and tries to hug the (huge) stone closer to the chest

3. Slightly gets up and moves the stone down till his knees

4. Standing erect, lifts the stone slowly back to the chest

5. Then moves the stone gradually upward to shoulders

6. Holds the stone at shoulder position

7. Beyond holding the stone, taking a circumambulation of the temple or the village pond is another act to prove extra valour.

Translated from information provided from www.eegarai.net/t131596-topic
  

Generally, after lifting the stone on the shoulder, throwing it down behind makes the young man an eligible Groom.

View this video and know it yourself  –

Courtesy Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kog3LiZTp0
  

Now, what is the match between Ilavattakkal and Mappillai Samba Rice, the next native rice variety we are talking about?

The Tamils who have been cultivators of thousands of varieties of rice for the two or three millenia, the trail of mankind has been traced –  have classified different rice varieties for different purposes. A few are listed below.

Mappillai Samba Rice was supposed to be a strengthening rice for ‘Mappillai’ or the groom ready for marriage.

Kavuni Rice was a variety meant to be consumed after marriage.

Poonkar Rice was meant to be consumed by women during Pregnancy.

Paal kudavaarai was given to women after child birth, for sufficient milk production. (paal means milk in tamil).

Vaaran Samba was given to babies after sixth month.

Kaattuyaanam was given to cure Knee ailments

Translated from the information published in – www.dinakaran.com/News_Detail.asp?Nid=222139
  

Hence, the name ‘Mappillai Samba’ is derived from the person the rice is given to -The Groom to be – for strength and health . Maappillai or Mapillai means Bride-Groom in Tamil.

Additionally, this rice boosts immunity and helps tackling Diabetes, among several other health benefits.

Mappillai Samba Kanji or Porridge made from this rice is a sort after tasty simple dish. I tried making Dosai and here is how I made them.
  

Mappillai Samba Arisi Dosai/Pancakes

  


  

Ingredients (makes approximately 10-12 dosais)


  

• maappillai samba arisi/rice – 1 ½ cups
• karuppu ulundhu/black gram – ½ cup
• vendhayam/fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
• kal uppu/rock salt – ½ tsp
  

Method of Preparation
  

Making batter-


  

1. Wash well maappillai samba arisi and black gram.
2. Add fenugreek seeds and soak overnight or minimum 6 hours in water
3. Grind well in a grinder or any blender
4. Once ground into a fine batter add rock salt and mix well or grind the rock salt in the end.
5. Leave the batter overnight or until fermented well.
6. Dosai batter is ready for use.
  

Making Dosai-
  

1. Heat dosaikal or the pancake pan on stove
2. Pour a ladle of batter and spread into perfect round pancakes – preferably thin
3. Pour droplets of gingelly oil on the sides of the Dosai for easy lift of pancake.


  

4. Turn the Dosai to the other side and let it cook
5. Take out once done- remember it would take just about 30-50 seconds to cook one side of thin Dosai. If one keeps it longer, the texture of pancake would be lost.


  
6. Maappillai Arisi Dosai comes out real crispy.

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Moongil Arisi Payasam/ Bamboo Rice Payasam

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Moongil Arisi or Bamboo Rice, is a rare variety among native rice which is the gift of the bamboo flower, during the last stages of the plant. Almost similar to wheat in looks and nutty in taste, it is highly adaptable as payasam/sweet pudding, dosai/pancakes, uppuma, or a replacement to cooked rice with loads of nutritious value.

High protein, high in potassium and vitamin B, strengthens heart, reduces cholesterol, maintains sugar level as it is low in glycemic index…. so many details available.  No doubt, it is several times healthier than the polished, refined rice and other carbs that are available today.

I chose to make a payasam/sweet pudding to relish this exclusive gift from the Bamboo Flower to mankind.
  

Moongil Arisi Payasam/Bamboo Rice Sweet Pudding
  


  

Ingredients

  • moongil arisi/bamboo arisi – 1 cup
  • vellam/cane jaggery – 3/4 cup
  • thengai pal/coconut milk  – thick milk: 1/2 cup; diluted thin milk :1/2 cup
  • elakkai podi/cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
  • chukku podi/dry ginger powder – 1/2 tsp
  • nei/clarified butter – 2 tsp
  • mundhiri paruppu/cashewnut – 8 no.s broken into smaller pieces

  
Method of Preparation

1. Soak jaggery in 1/4 cup hot water and close lid. It would be mostly dissolved after 15 minutes. Crush the jaggery pieces if any and filter for impurities. Keep aside to use it later

2. Wash well and soak moongil arisi/bamboo rice for 4 hours.


  

3. Use the soaked water for cooking too. Take 4 times water to 1 times rice (I used 4 cups water for 1 cup bamboo rice)


  

4. In a pressure cooker, reduce the burner after the first whistle and cook for 20 more minutes

5. Open lid after pressure subsides completely


  

6. Pour the filtered jaggery water and cook till the mixture thickens


  

7. Add the diluted thin coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes. Like the paasi paruppu payasam, moongil arisi can be cooked in third coconut milk and then second and the first thick milk can be added to complete the process. But, moongil arisi is a hard nut to crack. I thought it might need more time to soften and hence used water to cook the rice well.

8. While using store-bought canned coconut milk – dilute 1/4 cup milk with 1/4 water and add at this stage, or if using home-made coconut milk from scratch, add the second milk (not so thin) after the rice is cooked with jaggery.


  

9. Heat clarified butter in a pan and fry cut cashew nuts and add to the boiling payasam. One can also use fried coconut slices or raisins to enhance flavor.


  

10. Check whether the rice is cooked well and absorbed the jaggery and coconut milk.

11. Now, add the thick milk and boil for just 2 minutes in simmered flame. The jaggery may curdle the coconut milk.


  

Nutritious Moongil Arisi Payasam is ready to be served.

Kullankar Arisi Dosai/Pancakes – Dosai with Native/Traditional Rice Varieties of Tamilnadu – 4

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Let’s make dosais/pancakes with Kullankar Arisi – another of the native/indigenous rice varieties of Tamilnadu.

A few health benefits of Kullankar Arisi-

  • High in antioxidants and hence boosts immunity
  • Aids in Insulin Secretion and hence tackles diabetes
  • Helps in weight reduction

Kullankar Arisi Dosai/Pancakes
  


  

Ingredients (makes approximately 12-15 dosais)

  

• Kullankar Arisi/rice – 1 ½ cups
• Karuppu ulundhu/black gram – ½ cup
• Vendhayam/fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
• Kal Uppu/rock salt – ½ tsp

  

Method of Preparation


  

Making batter-

1. Wash well Kullankar Arisi and black gram.
2. Add fenugreek seeds and soak overnight or minimum 6 hours in water
3. Grind well in a grinder or any blender
4. Once ground into a fine batter add rock salt and mix well or grind the rock salt in the end.
5. Leave the batter overnight or until fermented well.
6. Dosai batter is ready for use.

  
Making Dosai-

1. Heat dosaikal or the pancake pan on stove
2. Pour a ladle of batter and spread into perfect round pancakes – preferably thin
3. Pour droplets of gingelly oil on the sides of the Dosai for easy lift of pancake.


  

4. Turn the Dosai to the other side and let it cook
5. Take out once done- remember it would take just about 30-50 seconds to cook one side of thin Dosai. If one keeps it longer, the texture of pancake would be lost.


  

6. Make Kullankar Arisi Dosai crisp or soft as preferred.

Kudavaazhai Arisi Dosai/Pancakes – Dosai with Native/Traditional Rice Varieties of Tamilnadu – 2

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In the list of traditional or native rice varieties of Tamilnadu, my attempt in making dosais continues with Kudavaazhai/Kudavaalai Arisi.

  


  

In search of health benefits of this rice, I could find the following websites with some information,
  

a. Health benefits of traditional rice varieties in valaitamil.com

http://player.mashpedia.com/player.php?q=DGIPfbtyLhg

b. Parampariya nel vagaigalin maruthuva gunangal (medicinal properties of traditional rice varieties) by Prof. M. Menaka

http://player.mashpedia.com/player.php?ref=mashplayer&q=cdmfZC0nu-4

c. Parampariya nel vagaigal – enathu payanam 2015 (traditional grain varieties – my travel 2015)

http://player.mashpedia.com/player.php?q=zq-Tfr1aeqU

Another research file on native rice varieties shows that –

  

  • In terms of the Glycemic Index (GI) it is seen that all indigenous varieties have a GI that lower than the modern variety.
  • When the GI of the indigenous variety is compared to the modern variety White Ponni, on a scale when the GI of White Ponni is 100, it was found that the GI of Kullakar, Kovuni, Karungkuruvai and Kalanamak are in the range 50-55 while Mapillai Samba and Kudaivazhai are in the range of 66 – 70.

Click to access ciks_progress_report_kp_with_annexes.pdf

  

These websites provide insights regarding native rice, along with those activists who have been greatly encouraging the spread of such native rice varieties among common people. These enthusiasts have been influential in introducing the grains to farmers, which has been gaining support and confidence among various groups to give a new boom to indigenous rice varieties.

What we need to know about these native rice varieties is that, these are all unprocessed brown, red or black rice. When we say ‘unprocessed’, it suggests that the nutrient value of the rice is intact and not polished away with the polishing of rice. When the western world subscribes to a particular health ideology – the learned community of the various developing countries give respect to those ideas, not knowing their native food habits have referred to the same, several centuries earlier. If we were smart enough to withstand the introduction of refined ready-made foods like pizza, pasta, burgers, noodles, parathas or the South Indian parottas- which are all made with refined flour – either from restaurants or made at home– we would have been a healthier society with less degenerative and life style related diseases.

The above mentioned fact would easily translate as being stuck to native and traditional food practices, an easy way to healthy life and healthier generations.

The indigenous wheat flour was replaced with white flour – refined flour (maida)
Cane, Palm and Date Jaggery – the unrefined sugars were replaced with processed white sugar
The unpolished black, red and brown rice varieties were replaced with polished white rice – devoid of many essential nutrients.

The list would go on and on … White might be synonymous to flawless cleanliness – but certainly not for healthy living and healthy off springs to extend stronger branches to consecutive generations. This level of survival of our society is due to the strong roots provided by our ancestors. But, healthy survival of our off springs lies in the changes we would adopt towards fighting obesity and junk food habits. We haven’t yet realized that junk is filled in our kitchen cabinets in its purest form – WHITE.

Let’s move on in our journey of healthy native rice based pancakes/dosais – this time – Kudavazhai Arisi Dosai.

  


  

The health benefits of this rice being, as per published articles –

  1. Rich in Anti-oxidants
  2. Fights diabetes
  3. Rich in fibre
  4. Fights intestine related ailments
  5. Aids in tackling constipation

  

Kudavazhai is considered to have been derived from two Tamil words –
Kudal – Intestine and Vazha – revival or to make live
In other words, the rice variety which aids in well-being of intestines and protects against related ailments was named Kudavazhai or Kudavaalai.
  

Dosais with Traditional/Native rice varieties

Kudavazhai Arisi Dosai/ Pancakes with Kudavazhai Arisi
  


  

Ingredients (makes approximately 15 dosais)

  


  

• Kudavazhai Arisi/rice – 1 ½ cups
• Karuppu ulundhu/black gram – ½ cup
• Vendhayam/fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
• Kal Uppu/rock salt – ½ tsp
  

Method of Preparation


  

Making the batter-


  

1. Wash well Kudavazhai Arisi and black gram.
2. Add fenugreek seeds and soak overnight or minimum 6 hours in water
3. Grind well in a grinder or any blender
4. Once ground into a fine batter add rock salt and mix well or grind the rock salt in the end.
5. Leave the batter overnight or until fermented well.
6. Dosai batter is ready for use.
  

Making Dosai-

  

1.Heat dosaikal or the pancake pan on stove

2. Pour a ladle of batter and spread into perfect round pancakes – preferably thin

3. Pour droplets of gingelly oil on the sides of the Dosai for easy lift of pancake


  

4. Turn the Dosai to the other side and let it cook
5. Take out once done- remember it would take just about 30-50 seconds to cook a side of thin Dosai. If one keeps it longer, the texture of pancake would be lost.


  

6. Make Kudavazhai Arisi Dosai crisp or soft and enjoy with any Thuvayal/chutney. The Dosai comes out beautifully crisp that you can shape it yourself.