Eeya Chombu Rasam Unique to TBs

[arunshanker]

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I am starting a thread on the practice of Eeya Chombu Rasam
which is a very unique practice in TB households
In my own personal experience I have seen a marked different taste of the Rasam made in Eeya Chombu
AS a part of my professional work I had done a considerable amount of research on the toxicology and mode of action of various heavy metals and Lead is one of them and have published a book chapter on that
(http://www.agriculture.frih.net/c21.pdf ) check page 22 for lead
I have found that lead indeed is a very toxic substance and my hypothesis is that there is a connection with the behavior of TBs and lead vessal rasam
Lead in very minute quantities like that which can be incorporated in our body by eating Eeya Chombu Rasam (in 10-20 PPZ) could actually be beneficial for the neurotransmitter activities of our brain
I would like to know the history of this method of Rasam preparation my TBs here and also any new info they can share

 

[kunjuppu]

great topic arun and a great topic starter in arun

i grew up with my grandma's eeyachombu. rasam was almost thrice a week phenomenon in my house.

much much later, we learned about the harmful effects of lead. my mother put away the eeyachombu and i suspect it now lies in a graveyard of eeyachombus.

my aunt too had a hand me down eeyachombu. one little characterestic of eeyam is that it has a low melting point. one day when she left the rasam to boil she was chatted by her neighbour.

sad to say, on her return, there was neither eeayam or chombu or rasam visible. all melted into the under the calgas stove. so my cousins grew up healthy as the new chombu replacement was made of stainless steel.

people still swear by the remembered taste of eeya chombu. myself i am not so sure, as i have forgotten the taste. one thing, was that if you added puLi to your rasam or even lemon, the eeyam got eaten up and black spots would soon appear.

don't know what poisons these created, but we pushed all these stuff with gusto in our stomachs. maybe this was one of the causes of the high gastro intestinal diseases of yesteryears?

all in all, to sum up for arun, eeya chombu, to the best of my knowledge is no longer made. like all discoveries, we probably have come a full circle re the role of eeya chombu in our cuisine.

maybe, it is time for it to stage a comeback? i don't know.

i make my rasams without puLi. my favourite is moongdhall which i pressure cook with finely chopped tomatos (handful of moondhall with two cricketball sized thakkaaLi). sometimes if i lazy, i used canned crushed tomatos instead.

into this cooked mixture, i add karuveppilai, rasam powder, pinch of turmeric, pinch perungayam and bring to boil. adding karuveppilai early in the game, i believe, transfers the trace minerals from the leaf in greater amounts, than when we just garnish them at the end. my delta act to make the most of the nutritions, i guess.

once done, add lemon juice to mild flavour, finely chopped coriander leaves and sauteed cracked mustard seeds.

a chutta pappadam (over the gas oven here) is a must. some people use micrwave to get nice evenly cooked dry pappadam. i have not tried that yet, as i like my pappadam along with the bits well done to the point of brownness.

thank you.

 

[arunshanker]

Kunju said
to sum up for arun, eeya chombu, to the best of my knowledge is no longer made
You are wrong Eeya Chombu is still there and in fact we at our home make rasam from Eeya Chombu daily and all of us in the family eat it
and there have been several occasions when the Eyam has melted over the gas burner and that does not make us desist we simpoly remake the chombu in Madras as it is not possible in HYD
The amount of lead taken in our body from the rasam thus made as I mentioend in only in parts per zillion
hence not toxic

 

[KRS]

Dear sri arunshanker Ji,

Can you explain to me this phenomenon of using this vessel for cooking rasam, while endangering one's health? Is there a reason? Is it taste?

Regards,
KRS

 

[sapr333]

When in childhood days, I always made my presence, when an 'Eeyam Coating' vendor sets his One-Day factory, in the public ground of the village.. Digs the ground,make a kiln out of mud,sets the wind pipe and bellows,put some charcoal, and gets on to the job of liguifying a metal,while scaring the whole street with an obnoxious smell..He always amazed me like a metallurigical engineer.I used test my mom's chemistry,by asking her to melt a metal at home.... silence prevailed..May be I was too young to grasp..

This eayam really amazed me, in terms of recycling & trading also.. It was the only last existing proof for our age old,already extinct 'Barter System'.. Old Eeyam-Chombu-Pitthalai (lead,copper&brass) exchanged for Dates(fruit)..Off late, MuKa won election by a popular election song sung by EM.Hanifa, "oota odaisal eeyamputhalaikku perichambalam, namma naatai aalum manthirihalukku thenda shambalam"..

Taste of eeyam in Rasam..Bit of science..The metal Lead has a higher electro-voltaic potential(forgotten the real physics term, Shri.KRS may be of helpful here).. So is copper and Tin..Thats why its used in batteries and voltaic cells.. When we drink with that metal,with the acidic medium food, it generates a 'electric voltage',which tickles our taste buds..Thats why 'Budweiser in tin-can tastes better than one in bottles'..Same is with Coke cans..

Arun>>Lead in very minute quantities like that which can be incorporated in our body by eating Eeya Chombu Rasam (in 10-20 PPZ) could actually be beneficial for the neurotransmitter activities of our brain>>

Parts Per Zillion :-

Dear Arun,In normal usage whole 20-30 gm of lead coat, in a chombu, gets eroded/dissipated in few months.. Thats why there exists a dedicated profession for re-coating this,who makes it a point to visit the village every 3 months...Even,20Gms lead/Chombu spread over even 1 year,type few buttons in calci, it says, 0.054/gms of lead dissipated every day,which is no way neared to PPZ, I believe!!!

 

[arunshanker]

Dear sri arunshanker Ji,

Can you explain to me this phenomenon of using this vessel for cooking rasam, while endangering one's health? Is there a reason? Is it taste?

Regards,
KRS

Toxicity when tested in time is the best example of reaction
In this case I guess lead vessel Rasam has been time tested my we TBs
and I an yet to see a report of grave lead toxicity in TBs
hence there is no harm in Eeya Chombu Rasam
Now what I am trying to say is there may actually be benefits in this
for example the memory power or something
research is lacking in this area
Beyond all it is the taste that is favoring the use of Eeya Chombu Rasam

 

[arunshanker]

Dear Arun,In normal usage whole 20-30 gm of lead coat, in a chombu, gets eroded/dissipated in few months.. Thats why there exists a dedicated profession for re-coating this,who makes it a point to visit the village every 3 months...Even,20Gms lead/Chombu spread over even 1 year,type few buttons in calci, it says, 0.054/gms of lead dissipated every day,which is no way neared to PPZ, I believe!!!

The taste part sound logical
I am yet to taste a Bud can lol!
but you say "In normal usage whole 20-30 gm of lead coat, in a chombu, gets eroded/dissipated in few months."
you got it wrong
the Eeya Chomu is not a coat rather it is wholly made of lead in other words the whole vessal is nothing but lead
We have been using the same Eeya Chomu for years at home without coat
only thing one has to take care that it is not put on the stove with less or no water in it then it would melt and I have to go to Madras to get a new made of the melted lead
About incorporation in body
I mean that rasam is boiling in it PPZ of lead gets released to the rasam ( hypothesis ) and that is ingested
that is what I mean

 

[sapr333]

the Eeya Chomu is not a coat rather it is wholly made of lead in other words the whole vessal is nothing but lead

I know it....

I took the eg, of Eeyam coated copper vessels and their coating frequency, just to quantitate ( in practical terms), the erosion/disspiation of lead..

 

[kunjuppu]

arun,

thank you for your reply. it is interesting to note that eeyachombu never disappeared. though it appears to have from the kitchens of my relatives' in chennai.

i looked up in wikipedia about lead and i give the public, the benefit of the link here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead

if this artcle were to be believed, apparently, lead affects us badly. the article has summed it up like this 'There appears to be no detectable lower limit, below which lead has no effect on cognition'


i guess this can be said of anything in life, including alcohol. there is hazard in everything, and if we make choices based on hazard, we might end up only consuming vacuum (even air and water are toxic these days). so, re eeaychombu, to each his/her own.

i make our rasam in stainless steel chombu, for i guess, we have the sentimental feeling towards the shape of the vessel, even though, we cannot appear to adopt eeyam again in our lives.

amazing, how much eeyam our households used just about 40 years ago - not only in the chombu but also to line all the brass vessels.

nowadays, with the use of stainless steel (eversilver of those days ) and also with the advent of crockery in our households, i suspect, though i may be wrong here, that there are only the old faithfuls who stick to the age old tradition of eeyachombu, rather than new converts

enjoy.

 

[tbs]

The taste part sound logical
I am yet to taste a Bud can lol!
but you say "In normal usage whole 20-30 gm of lead coat, in a chombu, gets eroded/dissipated in few months."
you got it wrong
the Eeya Chomu is not a coat rather it is wholly made of lead in other words the whole vessal is nothing but lead
We have been using the same Eeya Chomu for years at home without coat
only thing one has to take care that it is not put on the stove with less or no water in it then it would melt and I have to go to Madras to get a new made of the melted lead
About incorporation in body
I mean that rasam is boiling in it PPZ of lead gets released to the rasam ( hypothesis ) and that is ingested
that is what I mean

hi arun
nice topic...we still use eya sombu rasam...kacchatty(Kal chatty)
sambar and kumutti aduppu in chennai...we like it...but here
LIFE IS PAPER PLATE/ PLASTIC IN USA...EVERY THING IS
DISPOSABLE..INCLUDING HUMAN BEINGS..lol...EAST OR WEST..
HOME IS BEST...

regards

 

[arunshanker]

arun,



i looked up in wikipedia about lead and i give the public, the benefit of the link here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead
enjoy.

Dont go by Wiki for everything
I guess you know it
in fact I gave you the link of the state of the art Toxicology I myself have written after meticulous research
and I still say that lead either never gets into the system if we use a whole lead vessel or if at all it gets into in very very minute quantities
and like I said this sort of Rasam has been time tested
My guess is that lead vessal rasam has been used for centuries
and if it had caused some drastic cognitive prob the TBs would have recog'ed and stopped it

 

[happyhindu]

maybe it made good business sense for manufacturers of stainless steel vessels to tell people that lead is toxic, aluminium damages liver, copper can cause metal poisioning, iron is heavy and diff to clean, non-stick teflon is cancerous, so everybody must buy and cook only in stainless steel vessels i mean this is what a salesperson in rangachari street told me when i wanted to buy some non-stick utensils...

 

[sapr333]

To shri.kunjuppu

Dont go by Wiki for everything
I guess you know it in fact I gave you the link of the state of the art Toxicology I myself have written after meticulous research
and I still say that lead either never gets into the system if we use a whole lead vessel or if at all it gets into in very very minute quantities
and like I said this sort of Rasam has been time tested

Dear Arun, if your statement is right,

Why lead coated/soldered water- pipes are banned? Why lead-paints are banned, after all, we are not even going to touch it(forget swallowing)? Hope they would not have enacted such laws, without doing any research, I believe!!

 

[arunshanker]

Good question Sap
actually pipes hold water for 24X7 and hence there is a much higher scope for release and incorporation than in Eeya Chobu which actually holds the rasam for less than say 20 mints and whats more is we dont store Rasam in the leas vessal
FDA bans lead when it feels that children may come in contact with it
If FDA knows about this Rasam thing I bet they will issue a ban soon enough!

 

[sapr333]

Good question Sap
actually pipes hold water for 24X7 and hence there is a much higher scope for release and incorporation than in Eeya Chobu which actually holds the rasam for less than say 20 mints and whats more is we dont store Rasam in the leas vessal
FDA bans lead when it feels that children may come in contact with it
If FDA knows about this Rasam thing I bet they will issue a ban soon enough!

Dear Arun

Equally,we are talking about a rasam, getting cooked on boiling points(be it 20 mins but at 100 Deg C)..If we could recollect our +2 subject, the reaction accelerates very much, in high temperature, and lead re-acts very much in acidic medium... And, most of the incrediants in rasam are highly acidic... Tarmarind/Lime/Tomato used in rasam is highly acidic..They react,dissolves, and enter our body..

Thats why i cited you an eg earlier, just to show you how fast the lead dissipated in house hold the copper utensils (20gms lead/3 months)

Btw,FDA ban is not alone concerned with children,but also for adults..

 

[arunshanker]

1. Eeya Chombu in my experience does not loose its lead
I request other members here to please let me know if they lost lead from their Eeya Chombu over years. This I say because I have been using the same Chobu for the past three years and and there is nothing amiss
The responce will help my research
2. Toxic reaction is tested over time and Eeya Chombu rasam has been tested over generations and like I said if there were probs it wud have been reconzed
I again requesst members here whose families and friends have been usuing Eeya Chombu for generations to please tell if they have heard of any toxic responce
3. The mention of Children was becuase lead is more toxic to the developing brain ( Lead is a poisonous metal that can damage nervous connections (especially in young children)
4. Lead is low in ractivity and solubility as a stand alone metal
but there is a degree of solubility in lead compunds
hence we see here that lead is a stand alone in Eeya Chombu as against paints and pipes
5. the prob here is that lead metal oxidizes more easily in the citrate medium than in normal water and hence there has to be at least PPZ of lead in Rasam
I shall analyse and see in my lab (only that my boss wud not approve!)
I have not seen nor has it been seen in TB families congnititve down scale where they use this Rasam
in fact on the contrary I find children are faster learners
hence my hypothesis is that lead may actually have other effects hitherto unknown which has to be found and which is very concentration dependant.

There is one thing I request other forum members here
is that to come out with the history of usage of this kind of rasam in thier household with the following particulrs
1. Has it been used for more than 100 years
2. Is Eeya Chombu rasam made every day
3. Is it stored in the same vessel or transfered
please do help me out here

 

[tbs]

1. Eeya Chombu in my experience does not loose its lead
I request other members here to please let me know if they lost lead from their Eeya Chombu over years. This I say because I have been using the same Chobu for the past three years and and there is nothing amiss
The responce will help my research
2. Toxic reaction is tested over time and Eeya Chombu rasam has been tested over generations and like I said if there were probs it wud have been reconzed
I again requesst members here whose families and friends have been usuing Eeya Chombu for generations to please tell if they have heard of any toxic responce
3. The mention of Children was becuase lead is more toxic to the developing brain ( Lead is a poisonous metal that can damage nervous connections (especially in young children)
4. Lead is low in ractivity and solubility as a stand alone metal
but there is a degree of solubility in lead compunds
hence we see here that lead is a stand alone in Eeya Chombu as against paints and pipes
5. the prob here is that lead metal oxidizes more easily in the citrate medium than in normal water and hence there has to be at least PPZ of lead in Rasam
I shall analyse and see in my lab (only that my boss wud not approve!)
I have not seen nor has it been seen in TB families congnititve down scale where they use this Rasam
in fact on the contrary I find children are faster learners
hence my hypothesis is that lead may actually have other effects hitherto unknown which has to be found and which is very concentration dependant.

There is one thing I request other forum members here
is that to come out with the history of usage of this kind of rasam in thier household with the following particulrs
1. Has it been used for more than 100 years
2. Is Eeya Chombu rasam made every day
3. Is it stored in the same vessel or transfered
please do help me out here

hi arun
may be more than 100 yrs and time tested ...may be beause of
tamarind and other citric/acidic reactions...it may be safe...
generations tested....may be kumutti aduppu/slow cooking..
its good taste/for healthy....now a days due to gas stove..
may be easily melting/other reactions..in some homes more than 3 generations passed..
in some cases ...eya sombu is part of seer varisai in marriages....

regards

 

[sapr333]

Dear Arun,

Romans had the habit of drinking wine from lead vessels.. There were good articles attributing the fall of rome to metal 'Lead'.. here is a clip from articles, drinking wine out of Lead wine jars.

1) Should take a residue-metal test over Rasam in chombu.. I think u need a mass spectrometer

2)Or explore if any good lead-absorbing/subliming properties are their in the ingrediant;s/spices of rasam..




Nriagu assumes the aristocracy of Rome to have consumed two liters of such wine a day (almost three bottles, which would seem to make alcoholism more suspect than lead poisoning) but estimates the lead intake from this amount to be much less, an average of 180 micrograms (µg) daily. Although the relationship between ingested lead and blood lead levels varies, he further estimates the total amount of lead absorbed in the blood from all sources to be 50 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). If correct, such a level would have significant physiological consequences, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There is brain and kidney damage in adults with blood lead levels of 100 µg/dL; gastrointestinal symptoms such as colic, with levels of approximately 60 µg/dL; anemia with levels of 50 to 80 µg/dL; neurological symptoms with levels of 40 to 60 µg/dL; depressed sperm count with levels of 40 to 50 µg/dL; and increased risk of preterm delivery, low birthweight, and impaired mental development with maternal blood lead levels of 10 to 15 µg/dL.

 

[kunjuppu]

i think ultimately, vaitheeswaran wins over buddhimaan.

even though we know many food are harmful we partake of them to fulfil the wishes of our taste buds. this goes for eeya chombu rasam, as well as alcohol, red meat or tobacco.

the average american has 5 lbs of decayed red meat in his colon. knowing this, why would he continue to gorge such poison in such huge amounts, had it not been for the overwhelming dominance of gluttony in our psyche?

however, i could not but help one thoda train of thought which passed through my mind in a flash, on seeing arun's statement, that eeyam has been timetested by our ancestors, and had there been any negative effects, they would have ceased using it.

todate, arun has noted, that there has been no noticeable drop in the intellect of the tamil brahmins.

i could not but ponder, if we had lost some opportunities due to lead infiltration into our bodies. maybe we would have produced our own galileos, newtons and einsteins, had it not been for the presence of lead, however minute it may have been?

did it dull our curiosity? or curiosity has never been our forte? does adherence to rituals and mastery of scriptures results in failure to pursue logic and reasoning? i don't know.


thank you.

 

[anandb]

Dear Arunshanker

1. Eeya Chombu in my experience does not loose its lead
I request other members here to please let me know if they lost lead from their Eeya Chombu over years. This I say because I have been using the same Chobu for the past three years and and there is nothing amiss
The responce will help my research
2. Toxic reaction is tested over time and Eeya Chombu rasam has been tested over generations and like I said if there were probs it wud have been reconzed
I again requesst members here whose families and friends have been usuing Eeya Chombu for generations to please tell if they have heard of any toxic responce
3. The mention of Children was becuase lead is more toxic to the developing brain ( Lead is a poisonous metal that can damage nervous connections (especially in young children)
4. Lead is low in ractivity and solubility as a stand alone metal
but there is a degree of solubility in lead compunds
hence we see here that lead is a stand alone in Eeya Chombu as against paints and pipes
5. the prob here is that lead metal oxidizes more easily in the citrate medium than in normal water and hence there has to be at least PPZ of lead in Rasam
I shall analyse and see in my lab (only that my boss wud not approve!)
I have not seen nor has it been seen in TB families congnititve down scale where they use this Rasam
in fact on the contrary I find children are faster learners
hence my hypothesis is that lead may actually have other effects hitherto unknown which has to be found and which is very concentration dependant.

There is one thing I request other forum members here
is that to come out with the history of usage of this kind of rasam in thier household with the following particulrs
1. Has it been used for more than 100 years
2. Is Eeya Chombu rasam made every day
3. Is it stored in the same vessel or transfered
please do help me out here

I know for a fact that my co-brother's family has had eeya chombu rasam for more than 3 generations. They were agriculturists and had custom built eeyam vessels (not the little chombu we find now) which was huge and supposed to make rasam for more than 10 people. Rasam was made every single day and consumed hot and not kept in fridge like these days. Even my father's generation, food was consumed immediately after it was prepared so no question of storing or transferring into another vessel. Going back to my co-brother's family almost everyone lasted into their 80s and died of old age. Of course being agriculturists their physical labor was more than the city bred counterpart so one can argue even lead might not have affected them. And definitely they were not eating out at all or enjoying pizzas or ice cream so a generally healthy lifestyle may have allowed liberties like eeya chombu rasam.

I think it is all to do about the lifestyle we have now that even a little bit can possibly turn to poison.

 

[pannvalan]

Very interesting topic, indeed.

I too have often wondered the peculiar but admirable taste of rasam prepared in 'eeya chombu'.

Similarly, the taste of the preparations made out with the help of the following make me look back with nostalgia and a sigh.

1. 'Kumutti' Aduppu.
2. Idly/Dosa batter ground manually with 'aattukkal'.
3. Thengai (coconut) chutni ground on 'ammi'.
4. Filter Coffee, decoction for which was prepared in brass filter.
5. Cold water served in copper tumblers/cups.
6. Dishes added with pepper, instead of chilly powder/paste.
7. Some sweets made of jaggery, rather than sugar.

Have these become things of the past, simply because people today don't have enough time at their disposal and also because they hate to be called 'pazhaya panchangam' or 'patham pasali' by their counterparts/contemporaries?

 

[kunjuppu]

Very interesting topic, indeed.

I too have often wondered the peculiar but admirable taste of rasam prepared in 'eeya chombu'.

Similarly, the taste of the preparations made out with the help of the following make me look back with nostalgia and a sigh.

1. 'Kumutti' Aduppu.
2. Idly/Dosa batter ground manually with 'aattukkal'.
3. Thengai (coconut) chutni ground on 'ammi'.
4. Filter Coffee, decoction for which was prepared in brass filter.
5. Cold water served in copper tumblers/cups.
6. Dishes added with pepper, instead of chilly powder/paste.
7. Some sweets made of jaggery, rather than sugar.

Have these become things of the past, simply because people today don't have enough time at their disposal and also because they hate to be called 'pazhaya panchangam' or 'patham pasali' by their counterparts/contemporaries?

pann,

i am not so sure that it is 'patham pasali'. perhaps, it is due to the evolution tastes? and also convenience thrown in. between taste and convenience, i think taste will win.

kummutti aduppu takes a while to lit up and generate the heat. why would one spend time, when with the flick of the wrist, we can have the same heat, in a non smoky environment, with gas?

imagine all the effort to grind maavs in ammis and aattukkals? i, for one, would never be having my dosais and adais, had it not been for the ever handy ultra.

also, i think, people are more open to different foods. i am told that in the north, idli/vadai has become a favourite staple snack. in england it is the chicken tikka.

here in canada, in the urban areas, of late, thai food is the craze. italian pizza and chinese foods, have replaced long ago, that old anglo saxon staple ie fish & chips.

i think we also get bored eating the same type of food. nowadays, i think poori/chapatthi is almost considered as south indian food, because we have tamilized it. i only know this, because the same poori/chappathi tastes different in my north indian friends' houses. also, the northies, do not have the same yummy masala that we make and which is as good for dosais as for pooris.

so, we take the original, and modify it to taste. here in toronto we have curry pizzas. i have not tasted it, but i can imagine, the tomato sauce based fortified by garam masala, and with vendakkai and kathrikkai as toppings

not my cup of tea, but i think there are enough number of desis here who would hoop to the bangra, chug a beer and gorge a slice of authentic desi style pizza with panneer

i think also the obsoletion of pithaLai is one of status. ever silver is definitely a step up in social ladder. pithaLai implies, i think, poverty. unless ofcourse, it comes polished and shining from the ultra rich household. the averge pithaLai pathram looks faded, jaded, tired and knocked about to wobblyness.. i think i will pass it.

but not for ever silver. maybe for bone china.

thank you.

 

[sapr333]

There is definitely a taste difference which relies on the cooking process ie,temperature/temperature dissipation/Smoke flavour. Hence, adjusting the flame temp may not lead to the authentic taste..

When KFC masala was tested under 'Mass Spectrometer', it only showed that the secret ingrediants were those of normal spices, used in the average american households. When they further, spied on KFC, the found that,the taste was due to 'Quick-Short Time-High Temp ovens' (not the masala) specially designed years ago by Colonel. Also,Smoke in Kummutti aduppu really plays a role.. Arent we paying extra premium for a 'smoked cheese'!!!

Thenkai Chutney ground on Ammi.. Food processors make it more fine ground and even sized, where as, the ammi made one ,tastes 'cruchy',esp, when the bigger grains,breaks in teeth and releases small inject of 'sweet milk' ticking only a few gifted taste buds of the toungue,esp those closer to the teeth. No wonder 'Crunchy pea nut butter' has become a recent hit in India.

I dont think so any one views the traditional preperation of foods as 'Pattham Pasalai'.. Its that we dont get it.. Copper vessels are found only in expensive hotels. Ammi Chatni, is still available in country side petti-kadai type hotels. In premium star hotels, you can still make a special request the chef, to make an ammi-chutney, and they do keep a bowl kind of ammi.. But then, one need to pay through the nose!

 

[kunjuppu]

sapr,

i agree that the charcoal and varagu smokes give flavour. this has often been discounted.

hence the move to gas has been seamless and quick to be adopted.

also, any food used with granite aattkkals or ammis, do have the minute micro shavings of the stones. which probably have some taste.

hence the popular appeal of ultra grinders and such like. my wife swears by that the maav ground with ultra, tastes superior to that ground with our braun grinder.

apparently, according to her, the maav gets heated up, due to heat transmitted from the grinder motor. no such contamination occurs when using the ultra.

you touched another topic dear to my heart. flash heating.

i am a great fan of chinese stir fry cooking. they use the flash method, ie super heat the oil, add the ingredients and the sauces, all together for a brief stir and instant fry.

thus the outer surface is cooked and seals the inner juice and nutrients. a stir fried vegetable, while on the surface, has the flavour of the sauces, retains the crunchiness inherent in the vegetable and also the raw juices.

i think, all of indian cooking, kills the vegetables to death and more death. till all of them lose their individual flavour, and ultimately capitulate to the overwhelming pungency of garam masala, asafeotida or vendhiyam.

also, i find, that it is very expensive to get stoves, that generate the super heat, used by chinese restaurants. so, while i can flash fry for small quantities, cooking for larger numbers through stir fry, though can capture the taste, i find, cannot capture the essence or philosophy of the stir fry concept.

 

[sapr333]

We do have a problem with newer tastes/cuisines, cos we always tend to bench mark them with 'Mama's food', an ideal Idli/Vada/Dosa/Appam. This issue is specifically applicable to grown up men, cos we were always (seen as) 'Mama's boys'.

I always used to wonder, why in school days, we couldnt appreciate the beauty of 'Hollywood stars'...And what in me changed in 10yrs to paste 'Steffi Graff, Demi More' posters in hostel rooms.

Amul cheese tasted better in school, but now the same tongue craves for "smoked switzerland smoked cheeze or Happy Cow..Once I used to shed tears at dining table, when mom prepared bread toast for break fast, but now, I hop around McDonalds...I was wondering how this change has happened in me..

A friend of mine told me, 'The only fight he often had with his wife was,about her cooking taste.. That could be the reason, why my mom asked my sister to take 2 month leave from work before marriage, to teach her the cooking lessons.

Many a marriages broke on this single subject 'wife dont know,how to cook!!'..Im sure she knows how to switch on the oven and boil water.. For sure the learned wife knows how to distinguish between coconut oil and gingely oil, if not by specifc gravity..... but atleast by her snake kind nostrils with jacobs organ(which can sense the hubby's ciggy smell,miles away)..Then,whats so great about taste and cooking, except for adding few ingrediants as said in the recipe.One dont need any rocket science to make an Idli. So,why all the fuss, men are making about taste..


Hmm!! The definintion of 'Taste' yields to another corollary,ie 'Cultivate The Taste'..