During Olden days women in their kitchen, had brass rice cooking vessels in all the sizes mentioned here. Depending on the number of people to be served, she would select a suitable rice cooking pot. She had an earthen stove and she used to cook with firewood flame. She used to apply a paste made out of ash and water to the bottom of the pot where normally the smoke from the firewood fire makes a black mark. This I understand serves two purposes. One, it provides uniform heat to the vessel and hence the rice is also cooked uniformly. Secondly, the smoke gets coated on the ash and not on the brass surface. Hence, cleaning becomes easy and the metal surface is saved from heavy scrubbing .This saves the life of the brass vessel.
The salient features of the antique brass(Kanchu) cooking pots:
– These cooking pots are thick all around so that the rice is not burnt and has uniform cooking.
– The shape of the pot is designed to reach the flame of the fire all around up to the middle part of the pot. This makes the cooking time less and provides heat all over the pot for uniform cooking.
– The rim of the pot is very wide .This enables the lid to sit squarely on the rim and seal the vapours inside securely. This wide rim also helps to drain the liquid starch from the boiled rice.
Draining the ganji from the pot
Drainage of the hot liquid starch (“Ganji” in Tulu/Telugu language) is done by placing a draining plate on the rim of the pot and tilting the pot lower and lower till the entire starch is drained. The draining plate is placed on the top side of the rim and held tight to the rim by pressing the plate against the rim by the thumb on one side and the other side of the rim by the combined strength of both pointing finger and the middle finger. Since the starch water is very hot, people use cloth In between the rim and the fingers as an insulator. In the orthodox tradition, Hindu communities, particularly Brahmin community of South India, cloth is not allowed to touch cooked food for “Untu” purpose. What is Untu is explained in the later part of this article. To counter Untu, my mother used to use “Chilla Penkulu” (pieces of clay roof tiles ) to hold the rim and the plate together. The clay tile pieces are bad conductors of heat and at the same time can be washed any number of times to dispel Untu.
Rice Avail in Olden days:
Brown Rice – Rice acquires its colour due to its level of milling. If the milling is done in such a way that its husk and bran are retained, it appears brown. If the milling is done deeply and the husk and the bran are removed completely then the colour of the rice will be white. The brown rice has more nutritional value but takes more time to cook.
Boiled Rice –The rice grain with the husk is boiled in water in large scale till the husk splits into two. Then the rice is dried by spreading the hot and wet grains on the open floor. Then the husk or skin is separated from the rice by processing through a machine. Then the rice is polished in a separate polishing machine. This is also called parboiled rice.
Flavoured Rice – There are certain varieties of rice that have unique flavour and texture. These are something special in rice varieties. Basmati and Jasmine rice fall under this category of something special. This rare and exotic rice are used for preparing rice preparations like Biryani and Pulao.
The salient features of the antique brass(Kanchu) cooking pots:
– These cooking pots are thick all around so that the rice is not burnt and has uniform cooking.
– The shape of the pot is designed to reach the flame of the fire all around up to the middle part of the pot. This makes the cooking time less and provides heat all over the pot for uniform cooking.
– The rim of the pot is very wide .This enables the lid to sit squarely on the rim and seal the vapours inside securely. This wide rim also helps to drain the liquid starch from the boiled rice.
Draining the ganji from the pot
Drainage of the hot liquid starch (“Ganji” in Tulu/Telugu language) is done by placing a draining plate on the rim of the pot and tilting the pot lower and lower till the entire starch is drained. The draining plate is placed on the top side of the rim and held tight to the rim by pressing the plate against the rim by the thumb on one side and the other side of the rim by the combined strength of both pointing finger and the middle finger. Since the starch water is very hot, people use cloth In between the rim and the fingers as an insulator. In the orthodox tradition, Hindu communities, particularly Brahmin community of South India, cloth is not allowed to touch cooked food for “Untu” purpose. What is Untu is explained in the later part of this article. To counter Untu, my mother used to use “Chilla Penkulu” (pieces of clay roof tiles ) to hold the rim and the plate together. The clay tile pieces are bad conductors of heat and at the same time can be washed any number of times to dispel Untu.
Rice Avail in Olden days:
Brown Rice – Rice acquires its colour due to its level of milling. If the milling is done in such a way that its husk and bran are retained, it appears brown. If the milling is done deeply and the husk and the bran are removed completely then the colour of the rice will be white. The brown rice has more nutritional value but takes more time to cook.
Boiled Rice –The rice grain with the husk is boiled in water in large scale till the husk splits into two. Then the rice is dried by spreading the hot and wet grains on the open floor. Then the husk or skin is separated from the rice by processing through a machine. Then the rice is polished in a separate polishing machine. This is also called parboiled rice.
Flavoured Rice – There are certain varieties of rice that have unique flavour and texture. These are something special in rice varieties. Basmati and Jasmine rice fall under this category of something special. This rare and exotic rice are used for preparing rice preparations like Biryani and Pulao.
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