Culture, Cuisine, Coconut…the Indian way
In India, you break it when,
A new car is waiting at the doorsteps,
A new machinery is being started in a factory,
A shop is being inaugurated,
A foundation stone of a construction project is being laid,
At the muhurat (opening) shot of a film,
In a nutshell when an auspicious function is about to take place. In a nutshell it contains water. Coconut! Is an indeed tough, yet beloved nut to crack (break) in India. In many temples across India, coconuts are broken and offered to God on a daily basis.
Apparently coconut stands for man’s nature. The hard shell signifies the negative aspects like ego, anger that are attached to a human being, whereas its kernel symbolizes the inner, pure soul. While entering a temple, breaking free from the negative aspects to surrender to the almighty is what breaking of a coconut denotes. All the parts of a coconut; its husk, shell, water and flesh are utilized for various purposes. Hence it is called a complete fruit.
This is yet another reason why it is offered to God. Hence comes the term ´Shriphal´ (Shri means God and Phal means fruit), construing ‘God´s fruit’ in Maharashtra. Not only broken ones, but also whole coconuts have an honoured position across India. Be it being mounted on top of a ‘kalash’ (a holy pot generally made of copper or silver) placed in the prayer room at home, or being given to a person retiring from his or her job as a farewell token, or as a gift to a married lady when she visits someone for the first time post her wedding (in the Maharashtrian culture), or being offered to the fire in the Holi festival, coconut is a vital ingredient in the Indian culture.
How has the fruit travelled across India? States like Kerala, Tamilnadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal are the largest coconut producing states in India. Coconut seed is too large to be eaten by a bird or an animal. The dispersal of this seed is naturally by floating in water. That justifies the high coconut production in these states as they are all coastal regions.
When it comes to the kitchen, rather when coconut enters the kitchen, it rules numerous Indian cuisines. If Kerala is God’s own country, then coconut is ambrosia. In fact, the name of the state ‘Keralam’ is derived from Kera (Coconut in Malayalam language) and Alam (land in Malayalam langauge), meaning the land of coconuts. Coconut water, milk, oil, grated coconut, all forms of coconut take interesting forms in the local cuisines.
Coconut milk upgrades the taste of pal-appam (appam made with coconut milk), all kinds of stews and curries, whereas the grated form adorns idi-appam, aviyal, puttu, all types of thorans (cabbage, carrot, beans etc) etc.
Wet, grated coconut does a cameo on the top of dishes in Maharashtra, whereas the desiccated form (copra) plays a strong supporting character in the semi-dry chicken curry in Karnataka. Coconut is the base of variety of chutneys and is the soul of sol kadhi (kokum curry) served in Konkan belt of Western India.
If a fish curry made in coastal regions doesn’t contain coconut, it means that something is fishy. It goes very well with both veg and non-veg dishes as well as hot, spicy curries and deserts. Coconut milk makes the earthly ‘Payasam’ in Tamil Nadu heavenly; the grated form when mixed with jaggary fills Lord Ganesha´s favorite Modak and Diwali special Karanji or Kanole in Maharashtra. It makes the payasam rich and heavy, making a siesta mandatory after its consumption, whereas makes the sol-kadhi light which assists a heavy meal´s digestion. Coconut oil enhances cooking in the southern parts of India whereas enriches hair in many more parts of India.
Naral, Nariyal, Shriphal, Thengai, Kera, Coconut! One fruit, multi-fold uses. Grows naturally by the salty sea, yet gives sweet water that is a thirst quencher. No wonder such a fruit/nut bearing tree is called Kalpavriksha (A tree that fulfills wishes) in Hindu mythology.
Contributed by Tejal Raut — a fellow foodie, blogger and passionate writer. She writes under the name WitinWrit. You can check out her awesome work on her FB page.
