Quarantine day no.10 For a change I decided to get some fresh air in my balcony & have my Kaapi. Like in some other parts of India , evening tea & a snack is considered a mini breakfast/ nashta Induri Pitha aka Haldi Patra Poda with Curcuma Tea from @satria_agrowisata . Mom was about to make some cheelanthi appam which is native to a few families in Kanyakumari . It is essentially rice & blackgram lentils ( urad dal) steamed with grated coconut in cheelanthi ela ( Portia/ paras leaf). I had a sweet craving . So asked her to stuff it with jaggery & coconut & steam it in turmeric ( Curcuma longa) leaves which made it essentially in an Enduri Pitha. The turmeric leaves add so much flavor making it aromatic & a peppery sort of flavor even my parents loved it. Traditionally turmeric leaves are not used in Kerala unlike Mangalore or Goa to make Bellam Thatti Adya or Patoley respectively . The use of Banana leaves in making Elayappom is what makes it different from its other two cousins. Addition of urad dal gives this pitha , a particularly savory note to the dish. Till date I am unable to classify this dish as sweet or savory. More from Zingiberales order, there is the Saffron tea which supposedly has Balinese Saffron, Curcuma, lemon grass in it. It is a pretty delightful tisane with a tangy flavor & goes well with the pitha. Curcuma is Infact Painted Spiral Ginger which looks like a bird's beak & is from the Costaceae family . Singapore Botanical Gardens has a marvellous Halia ( Ginger) Garden & that is where I got to know that Zingiberales order is so huge with banana, ginger, turmeric, banana , arrowroot all belonging to it. Don't miss the stunning members of Costaceae family which I photographed there. A botanist's wet dream truly! #foodloose #enduripitha #patra #pitha #haldi #manjal #ginger #zingiberales #zingiberaceae #costaceae #curcuma #tisanes #balitrip #saffrontea #isolation #fuckcoronavirus🍻 #immunesupport #healthyeating #singapore🇸🇬 #botanicalgardens (at Trivandrum, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/B99OrRuF2BK/?igshid=eiyr2nskgfds
