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…
Category: Vivasayee’s Cookbook
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…
Iluppai Poo Samba : An aromatic rice variety of Tamil Nadu
When i was working with ITC, I faced a couple of instances of kidney stones. The painful experience in the hospital got me thinking about dietary choices. It was one of the many triggers for moving to a physically active farm life. Transitioning to Brown rice was one of the most popular choices that the…
Moringa Paruppu Podi: Quick Meal Solution
@noushadya‘s trick up her sleeve for lazy days when we do not feel like cooking are Paruppu Podis for a quick meal. A serving of rice, a dollop of ghee and a tablespoon of Moringa Paruppu Podi – a simple vegetable stir fry or a salad added to this plate makes the meal complete and…
Tangy & Spicy Tamarind Rice, புளி சாதம் Recipe
We have two mature Tamarind Trees in our farm. But, only one of them fruits well. It more than suffices for our personal consumption. We have been selling this super sour Tamarind to our friends, family and via our online store. The processing of the tamarind to deseed is not similar to the flattened ones…
Palmyra Sprouts Flour : A rare and unique Karpagatharu offering
Palmyra Sprouts Flour / பனங்கிழங்கு மாவு / ஒடியல் மாவு is a forgotten produce native to Tamil Nadu. It is grown from the seeds of the fruits of the magnificent Palmyra trees / பனை மரம். Palmyra trees are referred to as Karpagatharu (கற்பகதரு) in Sangam literature for the tremendous number of useful products the tree has…
Cold pressed oils : Fad or here-to-stay ?
Oils labelled as cold pressed oils have started appearing in supermarkets, kirana stores, exclusive oil shops all around us. They are being sold in both packaged and loose forms. In Tamil, it is called Sekku Ennai; or pronounced as Chekku Ennai by people of southern Tamil Nadu. The manufacturers are both domestic as well as…
Is Organic produce truly tastier? And our papaya story so far…
It has finally started raining Papayas at the farm after a long mouth watering wait. The feature image photo is the 2nd papaya we harvested from the farm. We couldn’t wait to start eating the first papaya last week and hence the lack of social media excitement. 😉 While the saplings were given free of…
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