The wedding was in the middle of summer. After a sumptuous sadhya (feast) on a banana leaf, Sumit Ray reached gratefully for a steel tumbler filled with water and gulped it down. The next minute he jumped up, gesticulating wildly... The hot water nearly scalded his throat! His friends rushed helter-skelter to get him some cold water. Finally, someone had to go to a shop outside the venue to get him a soft drink. Ray has never forgotten the incident. Now, whenever he visits Kerala, he ensures he sips first to test if it is at room temperature, if not chilled. But then, he wonders why many Malayalis enjoy drinking warm water even in the height of summer.
“Ayurveda practitioners go by the dictum that ‘like cures like’ (ushnam ushneenu shanthi). Since Kerala enjoys a warm tropical climate, the belief is that the heat in the body can be reduced by drinking warm water,” says S Satish Kumar, an Ayurveda doctor. That was when one realised the different kinds of vellam (water) a Malayali consumes. (Disclaimer: ahem, by the way, we are not talking of a certain kind of vellam that is guaranteed to keep you in high spirits). Malayalis even refer to water that has not been boiled with herbs, spices et al... as pacha vellam, as in raw. Now, I wonder how many in India have kacha water and ‘cooked’ water!
When it begins to rain or the temperature dips a little, mothers and grandmothers in most households would turn to jeera vellam or jeerakka vellam to combat the ‘cold climate’. Now, jeera vellam is simple enough. It is a heaped spoonful of jeera boiled in water till the water acquires a golden glow and the faint flavour of the jeera. The lukewarm jeera vellam, or piping hot, as you like it, is a one-gulp remedy if you have a fever, or a sore throat or a sniffle. My grandmother would keep it in a steel jug and keep drinking it through the day and she claimed that it cured all her throat problems.
Now, that was not the only vellam that one found in homes. In many homes, there was, and still is, that dependable earthen kooja with ice-cold water that had the flavour of the red earth. As summer reached a sweltering peak, many homemakers would put in a clump of dried roots into the kooja. Called ramacham (Vettiver) in Malayalam, this herb has the wondrous property of making the water cooler still, and infusing it with a delicious, earthy flavour. Ayurveda practitioners say it has the property of a thirst buster as well.
Then there is that warm/hot water served for sadhyas. Usually, it is chukku vellam or karingali vellam. Chukku, which is nothing but dried ginger, gives the water a lovely amber hue, and as you sip it, you can feel the subtle taste of ginger playing hide-and-seek on your tastebuds.
Most traditional cooks insist on chukku vellam or karingali vellam to go with a sadhya, because it is said to have digestive properties and ensures that the gourmet’s stomach does not feel bloated. Karingali is the bark of a tree that is dried and stored. A little bit is put in the water and boiled to give you karingali vellam.
Now, if you are really fastidious about colours, how about a pink-coloured water, warm of course, the taste of which evokes the fragrance and images of trees and forests. For that, one needs padimukham, the bark of yet another tree, which is dried and powdered. A pinch added to the water gives it a beautiful warm pink colour. Dr Kumar insists that these herbs will also help to keep you in the pink of health. “Chukku, which is essentially dry ginger, helps prevent indigestion and that is why chukku vellam is served for sadhyas. Karingali and Padimukham are also considered to be diuretics that help cleanse the body,” he explains.
Most of these barks and powders are available in shops selling Ayurveda medicines, or in stores that sell herbs and other ingredients for Ayurveda medicines, such as arishtam, lehyam, powders and so on. One popular concoction of dried powders called daha shamani (literally thirst quencher) contains the powders of six or seven such plant derivatives.
And a little research revealed that there are again many more interesting ways to add flavour to raw water. Coriander seeds and pods of cardamom are also used to make kacha vellam pucca.
Take your pick!