chillEbI or cilEbi
PALANA (nparinand@cas.org)
Tue, 3 Jun 1997 14:53:26 -0400
Whoever came with this new dish, chillEbI/cilEbI, is a great "Thinker".
Actually the "jilEbi" is not a Telugu pimDivaMTakam. In addition to that,
chillies are added. Wonderful.
According to George Watt (1894), a leading Economic Botanist, India had
borrowed more economic (cultivated plants) than India had given to other lands.
Upon introduction of these foreign cultivated (economic) plants, the eating
habits/culture of Indians had changed dramatically.
1) Wheat and Barley were introduced into India from Western Asia.
(The traces of these cereals are found in the Mahenjo-Daro/Harappa
ruins). These cereals were supposedly introduced by the early settlers.
2) Indian Sugarcane was described in the Atharvana Veda.
Sugarcane is considered native to India.
3) Rice had been introduced into India from the Far East around 7th Century BC.
Therefore rice is not considered native to India.
To support this, Rice is not one of those Navadhanyalu:
"gOduma, yavalu, pesalu, senagalu, kaMdulu, bobbaralu, nuvvulu, minumulu,
ulavalu.
4) Orange is native to China.
In the "Charaka Samhita", orange was first time mentioned (in Indian
literature).
5) Pulla Narimja (Citrus aurantiifolia) is a native citrus of India.
6) Chinta Pamdu (Tamarind; Tamarindus indica) was thought to be introduced by
the Arabs.
The Portuguese Empire had brought several New World Crops (American) and
introduced them into India.
7) Jidipappu (jIDi mAmiDi)- Cashew - Anacardium occidentale (a Mango family
member) was an introduction by the Portuguese.
8) Cassava was also introduced by the Portuguese.
9) Pineapple, which became very popular during the Mughal rule, was introduced
by the Portuguese.
10) tiyya kaMdamUlam - Ipomoea batatas is a native crop of the Central America
and was introduced by the Portuguese.
11) The ornamental plant, Agave americana, was also introduced by the
portuguese.
12) mirapakAya - the paccimirapa - the chillies were introduced by the
Portuguese. The name "chillies" indicates that the plant has gotten its name
from the country "Chile". It is the red-hot pepper of Chile, Capsicum
frutescens (belonging to the potato family, Solanaceae).
All that Avakaya of Andhra, blended with Red Hot Chillies of Guntur is a
modified Andhra Pickle. The word "mirapakAya" for this red hot chillies came
from the black pepper, "miriyamu" as : miriyapu + kaaya = miriyapukaaya =
mirapakaaya as it replaced miriyamu for hotness. Until the 17th century,
whatever Avakaya was made in Andhra was without mirapakaaya (the chillies).
The word "aavakaaya" tells us that the pungent nature of Avakaaya is from
the mustard (aavaalu) and probably "miriyaalu" were added for hotness. The
history of Andhra Avakaya is another topic of debate and doesn't satisfy the
rules of this platform. There are several communities in India (especially
north), who exclusively use black pepper as a hot ingredient as opposed to
mirapakaaya. After 2.5 centuries, mirapakaaya, the red-hot chillies have
become an entirely Andhra Fruit of Pride and Prestige.
The Black Pepper, a native plant of India, is the Piper nigrum which is a
kin member of tamalapaaku.
Colonial Introduction of New World Plants and Andhra have very close
relationships. It was Roxburgh (in 1781), at Samalkot (Northern Circars) who
popularized the cultivation of Pepper there based on climate and soil.
13) Coming to the potato family plants - tobacco, potato, tomato, egg plant
(vankaaya), bangalOre vankaaya etc. were all introduced plants.
Note: ekkaDainaa baava kaani vaMga tOTa kaaDa baava kaadu - things like that
have become routine in our day to day conversations.
My great grandfather resisted to drink coffee as it was a non-native crop.
But he used to inhale 200 grams of home-made Tobacco snuff. He didn't
realize/know/ignorant the fact that Tobacco is also a non-native crop. He
had his own equipment to make snuff at home. A separate story on this how
our old poets used to make their own Tobacco snuff. Thanks to my great
grandpa and his dad for passing on the Tobacco receptor genes to me.
Sometimes, my father used to wonder how and where did I get the habit of
smoking - nicotinephilic.
14) The sItaPalam (Anona squamosa) is not native to India.
Introduced by the Portuguese.
Note: The Ramaphalamu is native to India and found its Portuguese spouse.
15) boppana kaaya - boppaasi kaaya - papaya (Carica papaya) came to India
from the Spanish Indies.
16) mokka jonna tOTalO musirina cIkaTlalO
A famous Andhra Folk song has its roots from the Mexican Native plant, the
Corn (Zea mays). It seems that India is the largest producer of maize.
17) Without coffee there is no Andhra Marriage backhome.
Right after Sri Venkateswara suprabhatam, I drink a gallon of coffee.
That coffee came from Arabia (Coffia arabica).
18) brhmacemuDu - we also see this plant in our prabandhas.
This is the Opuntia which came from South America to India.
This plant is now planted as a boundary hedge in our Andhra paddy fields.
19) ganjAyi - that changed the culture of the mankind - a native plant of India.
This is called Cannabis sativa - grown for its narcotic and fibre source.
20) gOmgUra - the Jute - Hibiscus spp.
Gomgura does not look like a native plant either. Roxburgh was the one who
looked into growing different varieties of fiber yielding crops other than
the ganjAyi. Therefore, he tried Agave americana and Hibiscus (gOmgUra) for
fiber.
Now gOmgUra paccaDi is our favorite dish.
21) Cotton (Gossypium) is a native of India.
22) mamdAra makaraMda............Potana's famous/popular poem
This Hibiscus chinarosensis is a native of China.
Potana's Mamdaara is different - that is jillEDu (milkweed).
The list can go on and on. Before my policemen kill me for posting this
non-Telusa stuff on Telusa, I would like to stop this here.
Regards
pAlana
PS: A friend of mine used to say "The person who came up with the preparation
of Avakaya deserves a NOBEL PRIZE." This chillEbI/chilEbi also looks like a
candidate for further testing, development, and popularization. ooo! ahhaa!
yO! That is really something! I cann't wait to taste it.