International trade is much more fragile than it looks. Strait of Hormuz is only a singular bottleneck. There are many many more levers for collapse. As the world goes to war over crude oil, please remember that agriculture using local resources is possible. Crude oil is the source for not just LPG, petrol, and diesel….
Category: Natural Farming
Vaanavil Diaries : February 2026
Happenings and thoughts from Vaanavil Farm & Food Forest, Vikramasingapuram, Tirunelveli District I will let the photos do rest of the talking for our February story. Regards Sudhakar
The Hidden Costs of Cheap Food in India
For years, I believed that the “cheapness” of food in India came from external forces — multinationals lowering prices, governments pouring subsidies, aggressive market capture strategies. But that was an illusion. After 7 years of farming and 4 years of running an organic shop, I’ve had to accept a harder truth:Food in India is not…
Vaanavil Farm Stay and the Thought Behind Its Rooms!
We are not a resort! We are a farm foremost and the farm stay is our endeavour to share our way of life with you. The only other tag that I would attach is home stay. The room is only one of many aspects of the stay, but it is an important one. While we…
Slow Living isn’t an Escape — It’s a Responsibility
The purpose of money is to remain in constant circulation, not to be instrument for hoarding wealth and power. But unfortunately the modern socio economic system has evolved to incentivize saving at an individual level while collectively destroying ecosystems that guarantee a healthy future for our children. By choosing the lowest priced industrially produced produce…
Karuppu Kavuni Aapam
By now most of us know the history of Karuppu Kavuni – the fragrant black rice that was brought from Burma to Tamil Nadu by the Chettiar community. The first time I learnt about Karuppu Kavuni was a few months after we moved to Tirunelveli in 2018. It looked so exotic and I decided to…
Karuppu Kavuni Sakkarai Pongal Recipe
Deepa Reddy of Paticheri fame, a few years back, featured in and shared with us the beautiful short film Thirunel by Bigshortfilms. From that documentary, I gathered that the word Kavuni is adopted from the Burmese word Kao Hynin, which means Sticky Rice. Karuppu, in Tamil, means black. I love how the language of our food…
Karunkuruvai Idiyappam Recipe
In Tirunelveli, we share more than just a border with Kerala — we share a love for breakfast dishes like idiyappam, appam, and puttu. Most restaurants here in Southern Tamil Nadu serve Idiyappam for Dinner only. At Vaanavil Farm Stay, Noushadya has been offering it for both breakfast as well as dinner to our guests….
A Bowl of Comfort: Navara Rice Kanji
On days when we want a light meal, we make rice kanji. We had this delicious light Unpolished Navara rice Kanji for lunch few days ago. Paired with Sundakkai (Turkey Berry) kootu and Kollu (Horsegram) thogayal. Here’s how to make Navara Kanji: Navara or Njavara is a variety from Kerala. It has been cultivated in…
Local, Organic, Pure : Our commitment to you
We have long wondered what our brand philosophy should be. Local, Organic, Pure is what we have stood for since the launch of the store in November 2021. We have only now starting saying it out Loud & Clear. You have seen it in our cartons and labels that we ship to you in the…
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