User:SaravananNatarajan

IT’S ALL ABOUT SOUTH INDIAN TRADITIONAL WAY OF EATING FOOD AND CULTURE/SCIENTIFIC REASONS BEHIND IT:

The traditional way of eating a meal involves being seated on the floor. We need to wash our legs and hands before we sit down with folded legs, washing legs with cold water enables quick flow of blood upward in our body and sitting with folded legs stops blood flowing downward below stomach. So the extra blood gathers in the intestine area. That’s mean the blood that has to react the feet moves to the stomach. Since more blood is supplied to the stomach food is digested easily and quickly. There is yet another benefit. When you eat food sitting on the floor you are forced to bend forward. In this process a part of the stomach gets closed so when you finish eating and get up one third of the stomach is still empty. It’s always good to eat two third of the stomach is always good for health.

The dishes are served in Banana leaf because it is believed that the hot rice/food will release the coating on the banana leaf, which aids in digestion. Food will be tastier along with the coating flavor of banana leaf and it’s healthier.

It’s natural to drink more water when we eat salted/spicy food. That’s also one main reason for having spicy food in our side. The water along with the food dilutes the acid in the stomach. With water, food is soaked and digested and then it will be easier for the digestive juice to join water and travel into the blood. In our tradition, after eating food we need to get up immediately and wash our hand that’s because it enables food to move easily into the lower part of the stomach and intestine. In turn improves digestion process.

Before food is served, water is sprinkled over the banana leaf to clean it. Water will be sprinkled around the banana leaf in a circular form and some food will be kept outside the circle that is because... {There are some religious reasons but here I am talking only about scientific reasons which are common to everyone :-)} In olden days, when we sit down and eat, there was every chance of the insects crawling over to the banana leaf. Because of the sprinkled water in circle around the leaf, the insects could not come into the plate. While moving around the circle of the sprinkled water, they could find the food-grains kept outside the water circle and they remained engaged there. One could have one's meal, in peace without worrying about any infection.

The dishes are served in a particular sequence, and each dish is placed on a particular spot on the banana leaf. The scientific reasoning for eating traditional food is carbohydrates (rice), protein (Dal), iron rich (vegetables) and fat (curd) and hence the sequence to strict observance when serving traditional food. The top half of the banana leaf is reserved for accessories, the lower half for the rice. The lower right portion of the leaf may have a scoop of warm sweet milky rice Payasam, Kesari, Sweet Pongal or any Dessert items. While the top left includes a pinch of salt, a dash of pickle and a thimbleful of salad, or a smidgen of chutney. In the middle of the leaf there may be an odd number of fried items like small circles of chips either banana, yam or potato, thin crisp papads or frilly wafers Appalams and vadai.

Rice and legumes play an important role in Tamil cuisine. Lentils are also consumed extensively, either accompanying rice preparations, or in the form of independent dishes. Vegetables and dairy products are essential accompaniments. The top right hand corner is reserved for spicy foods including, Curry, hot, sweet, or sour and the dry items.But again, the variations are presented carefully on the leaf, one dry one next to a gravied one.

The one more addition reason below which I found out from a person in India is :-) The reason for having spots in the banana leaf is because... Things we need to eat more should be placed on the most reachable place in the leaf i.e. right hand side and things we need to eat less should be placed on the left most corner. That’s why we have salt and pickle on the left most corner and rice and curry on the right side. Traditionally, sweets are eaten first. Sambar is added to rice and eaten with maybe a sprinkling of ghee. This is followed by rice with Kuzhambu and rice with Rasam. A final round of rice with curd or buttermilk signals the end of meals.

After having food we can also give feedback on the food which was served or the feedback about the event in which food is served but in a very nice and polite way. If we fold the banana leaf upward then we are happy about the food/event. If we fold downward then we are not happy. :-) The food will be served hot and its taste great with the banana leaf coating flavor. Especially Payasam :-) A banana may be served last. The betel leaf chewing is a traditional habit and was a preserve of the older folks. The betel leaf is packed into a little 'package' with edible calcium paste layered on top and a pinch of coarsely powdered betel nuts. This improves digestion for old people.

Finally, leftover food along with banana leaf becomes as a food for crow and cows. This was a very environment friendly way of disposing wastage. What we call now a days as "GO GREEN"!! :-) Food is generally classified into six tastes - sweet, sour, salt, bitter, pungent and astringent and traditional Tamil cuisine recommends that you include all of these six tastes in each main meal you eat. Each taste has a balancing ability and including some of each provides complete nutrition, minimizes cravings and balances the appetite and digestion.   * Sweet (Milk, butter, sweet cream, wheat, ghee (clarified butter), rice, honey)    * Sour (Limes and lemons, citrus fruits, yogurt, mango, tamarind)    * Salty (Salt or pickles)    * Bitter (Bitter gourd, greens of many kinds, turmeric, fenugreek)    * Pungent (Chili peppers, ginger, black pepper, clove, mustard)    * Astringent (Beans, lentils, turmeric, vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage, cilantro)

Hope you liked this article. Thanks for reading this article.

Saravanan Natarajan email2sara@gmail.com