உடல் நலம் தரும் கீரைகள் 101 (101 Varieties of Green to Keep you Healthy)

உடல் நலம் தரும் கீரைகள் 101 - A Book Review
Writing about this gives me immense pleasure as it is written by my very own paternal grandmother. My Dad and Uncles embarked on this journey to get the book published primarily to preserve the information that is bound to disappear if it is not recorded somewhere. The book was published, June 2000 when grandma was 72 years of age. I thank my dad who did most of the research and uncles for the effort and time they put into getting this book published.

About the Author
Grandma is always a great source of tips not only for cooking but also beauty. Even at this ripe age she has most of her teeth in good condition and a smooth flawless skin. Some of the beauty tips like these are natural, practical and wholesome.

1. Apply the Paal Aadai which forms on the surface of the milk when boiled to give a shiny look to the face.

2. Preserve the skin of Papaya and rub it on arms and legs before bath for a healthy and shiny skin.

Even today she always has a writing pad and pen to jot down cooking tips to pass it on to me and her anybody who would listen, to try it out. Some of the snacks and pickles she created are pretty hard to recreate exactly, like the Kaara Pori and the Lemon Pickle with Green Chilies and Green Pepper Corns. The addition of garlic to the Kaara Pori and Green Pepper Corns to the lemon pickle are her own special touch.

In her kitchen (in our ancestral home) grandma ruled over her kitchen and created mouth watering delicacies and I am pretty sure she always explained what went into the dish but none registered at that age. Greens of some kind or the other were always included in the meal and it usually came fresh from the garden. Like most homes in villages there was a huge backyard where a lot of greens, vegetables and fruits were grown. For the untrained eye the garden would look like a mass of overgrown plants but grandma knew the purpose each plant served and where exactly it was located. Besides the mandatory Curry Leaf Plant, Lemon Tree, Drumstick tree, Papaya Tree, Coconut tree there were numerous other beneficial greens whose names are probably known only to a few today.

About the Book
The book is written primarily for greens that are very common and some that are not so common. The theme centers around how adding a specific green helps prevent certain ailments and also the health benefits of the particular green and included for each green is a simple recipe. The botanical name provided serves a very useful purpose where the pictures do not. The black and white photographs do not easily convey the image of the green they represent. Collecting photographs for each of these greens might be a good exercise for me.

Sample Pages: Mustard Greens