Bangalore to Ramanagaram on bike: Chapter 4: Janapada Loka: Part 5: Lokamatha Mandira: Vegetable cutter and coconut grater Karnataka AdmirableIndia.com

Bangalore to Ramanagaram on bike: Chapter 4: Janapada Loka: Part 5: Lokamatha Mandira: Vegetable cutter and coconut grater

20th June 2010, 09:56 am

Noodle press vermicelli board: This tool presses noodles or shyavige. The base, supported by legs, has a perforated cup in to which cooked rice, ragi or wheat dough is stuffed. When pressed with the peg, noodles come out. They are eaten fresh with the sweet coconut milk and spicy curries or dried, stored and later fried as crispy accompaniments to a meal. The plank is for making thin noodles for sweet puddings. A person sits on the plank and rolls dough in to the narrow, hollow lines carved at one end and vermicelli falls on either side. In Karnataka, rituals to the earth include offerings of shyavige. Shyavige is today eaten in numerous urban darshinis or fast food eateries.

Spice container: Salt and spices were stored in these handy tubes made of bamboo sections. The large one is used for storing important documents such as land papers, horoscopes, etc. Hung with twine from a roof support, the tube’s contents remains safe from insects and rodents. People also use them to store seeds for cultivation. Forest dwellers such as Halakki, Gauligas and Siddis once made such containers and sold them to earn income or traded them for other goods.

Vegetable cutter and coconut grater: Women sit and stabilize the base of this knife while slicing vegetables against the blade or grating coconut at the serrated tip. The tray catches the slices and the gratings.

Areca Nut Cutter: This knife is used for cutting areca nuts. Once they are harvested the nuts are peeled, cut, boiled and dried. Areca nut is the main ingredient in the betel leaf pan and is digestive and mouth freshener. They are offered during auspicious occasions along with the betel leaves as a sign of honoring the guest.