October 21, 2011
Any combination of ripe banana and batter hitting hot oil creates an aroma that has the unique capacity of not only expanding the nostrils but also the stomach.
Appi-amma, Rema aunty's occasional, as in during special occasions, chef was in our kitchen making delectable Unniyappams this afternoon.
I had a book open next to my open laptop but all such attempted worldly distractions were utterly futile before otherwordly lingering fragrance of the little brown balls of sweetness being tossed into the colander for draining in the kitchen.
The scent of unniyappam summarily dismissed Nitrogen and inert gases from the atmosphere.
I realize that 60% of my body is composed of water. Half of it shows up in my mouth.
Desire becomes me.
Buddha is forgotten.
On the way back from the hospital yesterday, Achan had stopped at the Pettah market to buy 'Palayamkodan' variety bananas specifically for this purpose. Clearly our love for bananas goes back to the simian days. In Unniyappam, this ancient affection meets the modern Malayalee passion for coconut oil. The result is ADD and restlessness until more than a few have been consumed piping hot.
If you doubt that among the five senses, the maximum number of genes are dedicated to the olefactory function, transport yourself to an arena of Unniyappam or Pazhampori preparation and witness your own helpless transformation.
Another lentil based sweet called Munthirikothu had already been prepared. It is a Kanyakumari district specialty and so Appi-amma is in her home turf with that one. She is no less a magician with unniyappams. The Unniyappam frying dish, similar to paniyaram/pancake puffs dish, was too small for Rema aunty's gas stove, so the ambrosial lab shifted to our place.
All these wonderful delicacies and other curry powders, pickles etc will be on their way to Bangalore with Amma tomorrow. I am not sure if there is any tradition involved and I am too busy to care.
My undivided attention has been given over to misshaped or twisted Unniyappams that fail to pass the chef's strict quality control and become Bangalore-export rejects.
They belong to me.
They are addictive.
The coating appears rough and hard...even a tad obdurate and callous.
But it is a facade.
Once the crunching of the coat is relished, the squishy cooked batter from the inside treats the tongue.
Like a Kollywood villain who repents after the intermission, the unniyappam melts into a hot softie.
The flavors of banana, jaggery, sesame and ghee circulate in the mouth.
If Gaddafi had grown up eating unniyappams, he would have been a better man!
Achan had bought S. Rameshan Nair's translation of the Tamil sacred work, Thirukurral, while he was in Chennai. I have read this ancient masterpiece only in very small bits and pieces online. Since my Tamil reading skills are practically non-existent, I never attempted to read the beautiful cadjan leaf type copy that Chalam has at his home in College Station. I learnt to read Tamil in my four years of hostel life during undergrad. But piecing together the letters in the song titles displayed in the lower half of the television screen during all night song shows in Sun Music channel can only get one so far.
S. Rameshan Nair spent a decade preparing the Malayalam translation. The back-flap of the book says Thirukurral is the second most translated work in the world next only to the Bible. I had thought that the second place belonged to the Communist Manifesto.
I read the first three chapters while walking this morning and was utterly fascinated by this verse
Thupparku Thuppaya Thuppaki Thupparku
Thuppaya Thoovum Mazhai
The second chapter that contains this verse is titled Vaanchirappu or in Praise of Rain. It is quite interesting that Thiruvalluvar considers it appropriate to praise the rain right after the first chapter praising God and before the chapter praising ascetic life.
This verse in direct sense praises rain for not only being the cause of excellent food (farmed) for the people but also becoming a food itself. Outstanding lyrical quality of the lines. When recited quickly, it sounds like rain itself and almost attains the meaning "look, look, look at the rain" (ithu paar, ithu paar, paar ithu thoovum mazhai). Deeper, there is the spiritual sense of raining on the soul and the Ultimate Cause.
Most of the day passed in revising flight mechanics and aerodynamics concepts that have been long forgotten. Thirukurral and the BBC Radio 4 thankfully form excellent interludes in the aerospatial academic pursuit. Radio 4 has a 3 part series on the much neglected and ignored history of Germany before the 20th century. The first part, now online, discusses the Prague defenestration (I had encountered that word earlier only in Calvin & Hobbes) leading to the 30 year war and the fascinating diary of the soldier named Peter Hagendorf.
Amma will fly to Bangalore in the morning and Achan will leave for Kochi in the afternoon to attend a wedding on Sunday. My astrologer uncle said that he would drop by for some discussions. Achan dug up his old diary from 2000 to discover that he too had his surgery on November 11th in the same hospital. This coincidence should keep uncle occupied.
Unniyappam recipe: http://www.reciperoll.com/2011/04/kerala-unniyappam-neyyappam-vishu.html
Lal enjoys unniyappam 0:26 into this scene from the biggest hit of the year, Salt n Pepper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTHkJrXY3RU
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