Holy Cow - her precious leftovers, sacred ash and keerai masial.

Cows were part of our growing up in the village.  Each one had a name and they responded when called.  They would go grazing during the day and be back home at the end of the day.  We loved playing with the young calves.  They were mischievous and inquisitive and would follow us around and race with us.  The very young ones would stay with us in the house for fear of being attacked by stray dogs or fox.  In the absence of their mother to feed them during the day, we would force feed them Kora Kanji (millet gruel) using a gokarna (a large brass spoon with a long snout).  Interestingly, the "gokarna" -translates to "cow's ear" - was predominantly used for feeding infants across the sub-continent and was known as "Bondla", "Paladai" or "Jhinook".  The "gokarna" was also used to force medicines down little children's throat when they fell sick.

Gokarnam

The thozhuthu (cow-shed or goshala) was just adjacent to our house to the east side.  The cows fed on straw, facing the house. 

The floor was laid with large stones making cleaning easy.  The floor slanted slightly such that dung and urine could be directed towards a large hole in the back wall, leading to a large pit (chanaka kundu or kuzhi).   When the pit got full, we would sell the dung for use as organic fertilizer. 

Coconut Broom

Chinnammu (our household help) would come at the crack of the dawn and the first thing that she would do was sweep the front of the house and around using a home-made "patta choolu" (broom made of long spines from the coconut leaves).  Once that was done, she would sprinkle water mixed with cow-dung on the front of the house to keep the dust down.   (If Chinnammu did not turn up, mother would do it.  If mother could not do it, one of us children would do it. ) By the time she was done with washing the vessels and sweeping and mopping the house, the cows would have left for grazing.  She would sweep and clean the cow-shed before she left for the day.  And once a week, she would make "Varalis" (pan-cakes with a hole in the center, used as firewood substitutes) with the cow-dung and a liberal dusting of "Umi" (paddy husk or chaff ).  These will be spread on the low roof of the house for drying and when dried they would be stacked and hung with a rope running through the hole in the middle.  

Cattle dung pancakes

The cow-dung was also used as a nutrient for the various trees and plants around the house (coconut, plantains/banana, etc.).   Also, we used to use a bit of dung to wipe the place we used for eating our meals.  The rag that was used to wipe off was even called "Chanaka Churna"  (dung rag).  In addition, whenever there were important festivities, the mud ground was given a coat of cow dung mixed in water.  This would eventually dry off and give a clean water-color like look and feel to the ground.   As if these were not enough of use for the excreta of a gentle animal, the dung was shaped into small balls and dried.  These balls were burnt over slow fire to get the softest, cleanest and most sacred ash which we call Vibhoothi or Bhasma.  Vibhoothi has a great religious significance for the hindus and is smeared on the forehead and other parts of the body before prayers.

Gomoothram (cow urine) was also collected in a bucket and used, among other things, as a very potent fertilizer and insecticide.  The cow pee was precious and when the animal lifted its tail, we would know what it was going to do and we will run to fetch the pee bucket and hold it behind the cow and collect the liquid gold.  But we were not around every time the critter chose to relieve itself.  Hence, we made the cow pee by rubbing its behind (you can find the details and videos of this art if you do an appropriate Google search) and collected the pee. 

Amaranth seeds

Mother was the one who actively sought after "Go-moothram", and with good reasons too.  She was the one who managed our miniscule kitchen garden round the year planting various vegetables appropriate to the season.  And when it was springtime, mother would make a few raised beds in the dirt just across the kitchen door and prepare it for growing "Ara Keerai" (a small variety of amaranth that can be snipped over and over many times).  She would sow the heirloom seeds from last year and sprinkle a bit of water and cover the beds with dry coconut leaf fronts.  The  seeds would sprout and she would continue sprinkling water on them till the plants have a few  mature leaves.  Thereafter, she would sprinkle water mixed with a quarter portion of "Go-moothram" every third day .  On other days, it will be just plain water.  When the plants are tall enough, she will use an "Arival" (sickle) to cut them.  A bed of Ara Keerai could be cut every week for over almost four months.  The bed gets a sprinkle of the pee mix whenever the leaves are cut.  It was a pleasant sight to see the thriving healthy green plants with healthy green leaves in their small raised beds.

 

Amaranth greens in raised beds

She made different dishes with the cut Keerai, like Keera Molagootal (a reference to this had been made in one of my earlier posts), Keera Sambar, Keerai Poriyal and Keera Masial.  Keera Masial was a side dish that mostly accompanied Moru Kootan  (Yoghurt dish) or Manga Kootan (Mango and Yoghurt dish). 

The masial may look a bit unappetizing to the un-initiated.  And mother used to tell a story titled "Chevattu Keerai" (Keerai on the wall).  It was about a rude young boy coming home very hungry and sitting for his meal.  His mother serves him rice, a gravy dish and some keerai masial on his plate.  The boy had never seen keerai masial and did not like the feel nor the look of the dish.  He gets angry and picks up the plate with the food and throws it against the wall.  The poor mother gets upset and walks away after cleaning the splatter of food from all over the kitchen.  However, a bit of the keerai was stuck on the wall and the kid, still very hungry, will remove it and lick it and finds that it was indeed very tasty.  He calls his mother and apologizes for his outburst and asks her to serve him food, sheepishly asking for Keerai Masial from the wall.  This story was more to drive home the point that one should not form an opinion about any food or dish just by its looks.  Taste it first....

Keerai Masial :

1.  Wash the spinach/amaranth leaves well, multiple times and shake off the water and cut them up a bit if you want.

2.  Steam or blanch the leaves and blend to a smooth paste in a blender.

3.  Transfer to a pan, add salt and cook till most of the moisture evaporates.  The smoothly ground paste bubbling can make a mess around the kitchen and your dress.  So, keep the flame low and cover with a lid, leaving enough space for the steam to escape.

4.  Turn off the flame and temper with coconut oil, mustard seeds, a few fenugreek seeds and one red chilli broken into two.  Once the mustard starts cracking, add half a spoon of  raw white rice grains.  The rice will fry and puff fast and before it starts burning, pour the tempering over on the cooked spinach paste.  (The rice should be crunchy and not hard or burnt.  If you are not sure, skip the rice.)

Serve keerai masial with Moru Kootan, Manga Kootan or Mampazha Pulissery.  It is both tasty and healthy, full of nutrients and minerals and iron. 

(Pictures from internet.)