Eating in Plantain leaves with hands- Kerala Style

The traditional feasts in Kerala are being served in Banana leaves.Generally everyone taking part in Kerala style Feasts including visiting foreigners enjoy their food in Banana leaves & they too consume food with the help of hands instead of Spoons , forks & knives.Generally people from Abroad believe that taking food with Spoons & fork is more hygienic than by Bare hands.But the Indian traditional Vedic culture insist on taking food. With hands with the reasonable logic that by eating with hands one is not merely eating with bodyBut with mind& soulas well.This ,however,does not appear to have been established correct scientifically but the theory of the Hindu Culture seems to be interesting to know& worth trying. According to the Vedic knowledge,our hands& feet consist of Five elements space,air,fire,water& earth. Practice of eating with hands is also mentioned in Ayurveda.As per Ayurvedic texts,Each finger is the extension of one of the five elements.They are asunder: 1)Thumb represents Fire 2)index Finger. Air 3)Middle Finger :heaven/ Ethe 4)Ring Finger: Earth 5)Little Finger: Water. Each finger is supposed to transform Food in digestive form before it passes to human digestion system. Improved Digestion enhances the pleasure of eating as taste,texture& smellare felt better when food is taken with hands. The skin sends the senses to the brain the temperature,texture of the food & this acts like a catalyst in the form of generating the necessary salivary juices. Eating with hands one can measure the temperature of the food with the palm of hands & this can avoid any burning to the mouth while eating. A pattern is generally found while the Indians from abroad after a long time stay there return to India, they feel suffocation& negative feeling while using Spoon& fork for eating.On the other hand,When they eat with hand they get heavenly feeling & Devine experiences. The medical sciences & scientific views confirm that we have some Bacteria known as Normal Flora found on our Skin.These bacteria are not harmful to human but instead they protect us from outside environment. The normal flora in mouth,throat,intestine& gut is required for the betterment of our health. Eating with Spoon& fork for long interval can change the arrangement of Normal Flora.With this the pattern Of Normal Flora can be changed in the gut.It results in reduced Synchronous Immunity to environmental bactereal germs. So the general way of enjoying food& Feast in Kerala in the Traditional style by Hands seemsvto be adviceable as compared to the mechanical way of using Spoons,Forks

& Knives Let us now have a look at the traditional feast dishes in Kerala (THRISSUR STYLE). The following are the more important & popular dishes prepared for Kerala feasts which are being served in Hygienic plantain leaves. The following are the main& popular Dishes being served in a feast of vegetarian origin in Kerala(THRISSUR STYLE). Kalan,OLAN,ERISSERI of different types,Sambar,RASAM,Pineapple PACHADI,kootukari,Poriyal of various kinds,Pickles made of Mango,Cherunaranga,Vaduka puli& Inchithairu,Chips made of Banana,sweet banana chips,Chena(Yam) Finally the most celebratedvdishes of Desserts likePALADA PRADHAMAN,PAZHAPRADHAMAN,PARIPPU PAYASAM & so on. The pictures of some of the above Dishes are depicted below for ready reference. The ingredients required to make the Dishes& the process of making them are described elaborately in the Recipes available in Plenty on the Internet.