AdmirableIndia.com

• Food preparation and storage:

Top Shelf: Right to left

Steamer: Tyananduru, Shimoga district, terracotta.
Stackable pots: Kuruburahalli, Ramanagara district, terracotta.
Stone pot: Sagara, Shimoga district, soap stone.

Steamer and stackable pots: Noodles and dumplings were cooked on banana leaves or straw laid on the top perforated half of the steamers while water boiled at the bottom. Steam food is common to the cool, hilly areas of Karnataka where rice is cultivated and there is plenty of kindling. The long process did the double task of cooking and heating. Stacks of terracotta sat on the hay or clay rings and held snacks and other dry foods. Once each pot was covered with cloth and stacked, rats and insects could not attack the food.

Bottom Shelf: Left to right

Oil pot with iron spoon: Kadaba, Tumkur district, terracotta.
Paddu pan: Doddaballapura, Bengaluru district, Soapstone.
Starch bowl: Kanagalghatta, Shimoga district, wood.

Edible oils were kept in pots and covered with wooden lids or cloth. Big pots were for storage and smaller ones are for pouring. Fermented rice flour batter mixed with chopped onions and chilies (paddu) was poured into the stone pan’s cups, roasted and eaten with chutney. The bowl was for excess rice starch and sat next to the stove so the cook could tilt and drain it without lifting the heated pot, later it was strained and reused in broths and curries or fed to cattle.



• Stoves:



• Agriculture and animal husbandry: Farming involves animal husbandry, cultivation and food production. Crops in Karnataka include paddy, red millet or ragi, maize, pulses, spices, vegetables, flowers, fruits, oil seeds, coffee, cotton and tobacco. Each region has a cropping pattern depending on the soil, climate, availability of labor and technology. For example, paddy is grown where water is plentiful whereas other cereals and grains are gown in drier areas.Major agricultural activities begin with the first rains in the month of May and end only by winter. Other activities are scheduled around this cycle. All fairs and festivals take place at the end of the harvest, before the onset of the monsoon. When there are sufficient grains in store and funds are in hand, farmers are able to spend on events with major feasting and celebration.Animal husbandry includes breeding, domesticating and training livestock. Most households have cows and buffaloes for milk and until recently their dried dung fuelled fires and fertilized fields. Bulls and oxen performed laborious tasks such as ploughing, pulling carts, lifting water, and turning oil mills. Because they provide food and water and are associated with various divinities cows and bulls are worshipped as well. Cow dung and urine are considered specially purifying and are used to make Ayurvedic medicines and natural pigments.Even today, different communities specialize in the care and handling of animals. The farmer’s household takes care of the cattle, including milking, bathing, breeding and feeding. Village cow-herds have the task of grazing cattle in nearby forests and meadows and are paid in grain or cash. Pastoral communities such as the Kurubas manage herds of sheep, goats and pigs, which provide meat and leather. They also shear wool and weave blankets. Madigas are a community involved in leather work; they collect carcasses from farmers, skin and cure the hides, and turn them into leather goods. Farmers tool hook, lentil seeder, lentil seeding wheel, winnows, hay picker, and jaggery stirrer:





• Garden waste net: This net was used for collecting and transporting garden waste to a dung filled compost heap.



 Email This Post       Print This Post

No related posts.