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This is an interesting traditional festival. It’s called Bhumi(Earth) Hunnime(full moon). It is mostly celebrated South India, that too in western ghat sections of Karnataka, in and around Sringeri. It’s something like the birthday of mother Earth. Mixed curry of 108 variety of herbs is the speciality of this day. Yes you heard it right, its 108 types of herbs at the minimum!

The previous day the mothers and children would hit to the nearby rainforest to collect those, many varieties of herb shoots. The experience would guide them to differentiate between the good one and the poisonous. In the next morning the mothers would get up early and prepare this one of a kind cuisine. Then they would take it to their farm, do a small puja to the farm then the man of the house would pack a small portion of the food along with this unique cuisine in a banana leaf and burries in the farm. Which the folks call as the food for the mother Earth. It may appear funny to many but there exists a deep relationship between the earth and the human. There exists respect.  By the way this unique cuisine is prepared only once in a year. This year it’s celebrated on 16^th October.
And yeah one more interesting thing on the following day people observe the day as ‘Bhumi bali’, where throughout the day nobody is supposed to harm the earth. That means no more tilling or digging, because the mother earth is taking rest after a nice meal.

Beautiful and meaningful traditions.

ಇದೊಂದು ಕುತೂಹಲಕಾರಿ ಆಚರಣೆ. ಭೂಮಿ ಹುಣ್ಣಿಮೆ ಅಂತ ಇದರ ಹೆಸರು. ಇದು ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಆಚರಿಸಲ್ಪಡುವುದು ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಭಾರತದ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಮಲೆನಾಡು ಅದ್ರಲ್ಲೂ ಶೃಂಗೇರಿ ಸುತ್ತ ಮುತ್ತ. ಒಂತರ ಇದು ಭೂಮಿಯ ಹುಟ್ಟು ಹಬ್ಬ. ಕುತೂಹಲಕಾರಿ ವಿಷಯ ಇರುವುದು ಈ ದಿನ ಮಾಡುವ ಬೆರೆಕೆ ಸೊಪ್ಪಿನ ಪಲ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ!. ಸಾಂಪ್ರದಾಯಿಕವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳೋದಾದ್ರೆ ಇದರ ತಯಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ೧೦೮ ಬಗೆಯ ಸೊಪ್ಪಿನ ಕುಡಿ ಅಥವಾ ಚಿಗುರನ್ನು ಬಳಸ್ತಾರೆ. ಇದನ್ನ ಮಾಡುವುದು ವರ್ಷದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದೇ ಬಾರಿ! 

ಈ ಪಲ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವ ೧೦೮ ಬಗೆಯ ಚಿಗುರನ್ನು ಆಯ್ದು ತರುವುದೇ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಕೆಲಸ. ಮಲ್ನಾಡಿನ ಮಳೆಕಾಡನ್ನು ಹಿಂದಿನ ದಿನ ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಅಲೆದು ಹುಡುಕಿ ತಂದಿಟ್ಟು ಮಾರನೆಯ ದಿನ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಎದ್ದು ಪಲ್ಯ ತಯಾರಿಸುವ ಸಂಭ್ರಮವೇ ಬೇರೆ! ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಈ ಚಿಗುರುಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ಚೊಗತೆ ಸೊಪ್ಪು ಎಂಬ ವಿಶೇಷ ಸೊಪ್ಪು ಬೇರೆ ಸೇರಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತೆ. ಇದು ಕೂಡ ಕೇವಲ ಭೂಮಿ ಹುಣ್ಣಿಮೆಯಂದು ಮಾತ್ರ ಅಡುಗೆ ಮನೆಯ ದರ್ಶನ ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತೆ!

ಹಾಂ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮಾರನೆಯ ದಿನ ಭೂಮಿ ಬಲಿ ಅಂತ ಆಚರಣೆ ಉಂಟು, ಅವತ್ತು ಯಾವುದೇ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೂ ಭೂಮಿಯನ್ನ ಗಾಯ ಗೊಳಿಸುವಂತಿಲ್ಲ!!

I picked up this stone from the Nandini River, 30 years ago! Yes you heard it right, it’s the same year when my son was born. Me and my mom were walking along the shore to get a ‘perfect’ stone to make ginger, garlic, chilli pastes. You know back then we didn’t have so many machines or packed ingredients. I’m using it since then and it is an integral part of my kitchen. May be the emotional attachment or it is natural, food tastes better when I use it. One more thing it wasn’t in this shape back then! Today my children generation may not like this but I’ll definitely pass this precious stone to them. I forgot to mention, I used the same stone to crush pepper when my children were having cold, when my husband wanted a hot pepper soup in winters. I never keep it on the ground It is very precious to me.

-Uma, homemaker, Sringeri (India)

#ChewDaChronicles #ChewDa #StoryOfFood #FoodCulture #food #tradition #interesting #stories #stone #memories #neverheardbefore

This is one of those so many interesting stories we come across households in India. This particular story is from a traditional Malnad home in Sringeri, Karnataka. You can find similar stones in many kitchens there may be not seen in the newer homes but previous generation definitely knows. In the coming days we would bring you many such unheard stories. Its India here everything has a story and we like to discuss them. So if you have something to share, please write to us!

You may be relieved to learn that everything is not, in fact, pancake. But pancakes are one of mankind’s oldest prepared foods, which is why you’ll find some iteration of them in virtually every cuisine around the world. The very concept of the pancake is millenia old, a legacy of our earliest forays into grain-milling. Indeed, it’s likely that the earliest pancakes were indistinguishable from flatbreads—I’m talking wild grains, pulverized between a couple of stones, mixed into a paste with water, and cooked on greased rocks heated over an open fire. That’s right: pancakes? Totally Paleolithic fast food.

And that’s where a clearer understanding of the pancake starts to emerge: Both pancakes and flatbreads embody the idea that the most common and basic ingredients can combine into a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. They’re quick-cooking staples that don’t require anything more than a pan (or a rock) and a heat source, but they’re also the basis for more involved cooking methods, canvases for countless ingredient combinations. They’re staple foods to be peppered with seafood, poultry, aromatics or fruit; topped with whipped cream or cheeses, syrups, caviar, chutneys, or jam; used as a wrap for hearty stewed meats and vegetables. Tortillas become tacos; injera an entire Ethiopian feast; arepas a hearty, satisfying Venezuelan sandwich.

Read more here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/pancakes-around-the-world.html

It was considered an illegal act to take out green coffee seed out of Arabia. As number seven is a sacrosanct number in Islamic religion, the saint’s act of carrying seven coffee beans was considered a religious act.This was the beginning of coffee industry in India, and in particular, in the then state of Mysore, now part of the Karnataka State. This was an achievement of considerable bravery of Baba Budan considering the fact that Arabs had exercised strict control over its export to other countries by not permitting coffee beans to be exported in any form other than as in a roasted or boiled form to prevent germination.

Mustard is an integral part of Indian kitchen. It’s kind of a suicide bomber, it explodes in hot oil just to make food taste heavenly, almost every day!
There is an interesting story in Indian folklore for mustard. It’s about how Buddha used the reference of mustard to bring enlightenment to a woman in sorrow.
After losing her only child, Kisa Gotami became desperate and asked if anyone can help her. Her sorrow was so great that many thought she had already lost her mind. An old man told her to meet Buddha. Buddha told her that before he could bring the child back to life, she should find white mustard seeds from a family where no one had died. She desperately went from house to house, but to her disappointment, she could not find a house that had not suffered the death of a family member. Finally the realization struck her that there is no house free from mortality. She returned to the Buddha, who comforted her and preached to her the truth. She was awakened and entered the first stage of arhatship