Author: bhavya c

The Nairs of Old Kerala

“You take on your house name?! Whoa, that’s totally cool.” I get that from many people all the time when they ask me about my funny sounding surname. It is bound to sound funny because it is not just a simple name of a person but the name of the hereditary house (tharavadu) of that specific individual. In other words, every person will have a house name and all the people belonging to that particular house/family will take on the same name. This practice is followed by the Nairs mainly along with some of the other non-brahmin castes. Now you must be wondering who Nairs are.

They are the ones who come second in the caste hierarchy of Kerala after the Namboothiris. The Namboothiris are the Brahmins and they comprise the whole section of priests. They are the most respected in the society and the Nairs follow them in the status list. While the Namboothiris are the priests, the Nairs comprises of the ministers of the state, the state cavalry, the state administration and such. They are just below the royal family in ranking; they were the Kshatriyas.

A Namboothiri, notice the sacred thread and the tuft of hair to the front

The Nairs have always followed the matrilineal system as I mentioned earlier. Unlike the Northern parts of India, patriarchy was never followed. The decision making power fell on the female head of the tharavadu along with the senior most male head called the Karnavar. It should be noted that the powers of the female head was mainly in the inner domains of the house. Even though the power is enjoyed jointly by the female and male head, their seniority decides who has the final say in the matter.

A typical tharavadu

Also, the property and the name is passed on to the daughter and not the son. The new born takes on the family name of its mother. As a result of that, daughters are more vied in this society! This system is known as ‘marumakkathayam’. It was practiced widely in the olden days while many of the Nair families of today have turned to the patriarchal system where the surname is that of the child’s father.

The most interesting fact that we can find about this community’s culture is that of marriage. The present society which tries to hush up everything related to sex and sexual morality should learn a thing or two from them. For example, divorce still carries with itself a stigma whether we accept it or not. But things were not so bad years before. As we technologically advance, we grow more and more narrow minded, going backwards in terms of rationality. Back in those days, the Nair community did not follow the typical form of marriage of the present day.

The women especially had the luxury of having multiple partners and it was considered normal if not preferred while something like that is practically impossible in the so-called modern time! They availed themselves of sexual freedom with no attachment of stigma as opposed to us. Imagine the irony of it.

At an extremely young age, the girls are married to a Brahmin man but they don’t live together and it is called ‘kettu kalyanam’ (mock marriage) which lasts for 4 days. The girl will have nothing to do with the man unless and until he dies, upon which she observes two weeks of mourning. And once they reach puberty, it is celebrated in an extensive manner with a grand function arranged where the girl is rubbed with oil, decked in gold etc. And finally comes the real marriage where the man and woman in the relationship consummate their marriage and this was called ‘samhandham’. The woman was free to have how many ever sambandhams as she pleases! It is officially carried out with a Namboothiri. He would visit her house at night and take leave in the morning after a bath so as to purify himself (though that doesn’t stop him from having intercourse with her).

The twist to the thing is that the children born out of this relationship will have no connection of any sort with his or her father (Namboothiri) . This was a devious way to ensure that that the property never left their hands. Anyway, this kind of relationship can also be viewed as the policing of open sexual morality. It worked on a totally different level. The Nair woman was free to consent or terminate the relationship at any time just like the man and thus it speaks of mainly one thing – equality in sexual matters.

However, the Namboothiri women were not so lucky. Referred to as ‘Antharjanams’, they mostly died unmarried or widowed. Only the oldest Namboothiri son is allowed to marry a Namboothiri girl while all his younger brothers are supposed to have sambandhams. The Namboothiri girls were usually married off to old, wealthy Nambhooothiris who already might be having other wives. So, once their husbands die (when she is around 18/19), they remain widowed throughout their lives since they are not allowed to remarry unlike the Nair women. If they did commit infedility or even fantasized mentally, they were put to trial and finally excommunicated. The only famous Antharjanam to have broken this rule and to have slept with more than 65 men is the beautiful Kuriyedathu Thathri. Boy that was one beautiful, brave lady.

The ongoing trial of Thathri

Apart from her, the other chickens in the coop never saw er, sexual daylight. So,even if the Namboodhiris were above the Nairs in the cast hierarchy, the Nair women sure were better off than their Namboothiri counterparts!

What about their dress?

I am sure most of you have come across plenty of Raja Ravi Verma’s famous oil paintings of saree-clad women in elegant postures. The attire is not exactly draped like a saree but is worn in a specific manner with the hair tied tightly in a bun to the front-side of the head. This style of dressing was mainly observed in the princely state of Travancore. This potrayal of the dressing style is justified by the fact that Ravi Verma was from the same region. In the other areas of Kerala, the saree is draped in another fashion.

The Travancore style of draping

Originally the men and women wore only a loin cloth around their waists (worn by Thiyyas). There was no thoughts of nudity or shame related to it since the weather of Kerala allowed dressing only in minimal. The top body was covered with only necklaces and other ornaments. Later, it evolved into the waist cloth along with a piece of cloth worn across the bosom loosely. Then again, this was allowed only for the Nair and Namboothiri women (though sometimes the Nair women stayed topless inside their houses). The lower caste women were expected to expose their breasts as a sign of their low status. Finally, this turned into a full fledged revolt and the women of lower castes obtained the rights to cover their top body.

A Nair girl decked in jewellery (Malabar style)

Speaking of food, we should be thanking our mothers to be tolerant enough to put up with our daily fussing over delicious dishes everyday. That was not the case years back! Mind it, no pizzas or shawarmas. The Nairs ate rice gruel all three times of the day. The richer families had tasty items accompanying it though I am sure that those wouldn’t beat our junk.

Last but not the least is the set of superstitious beliefs. Hailing from a Nair family myself, it’s a common thing for me to ask my friends (just for the heck of it) if they have a ‘kari naaku’ which means a tongue with brown spotting since it is believed that the things uttered by those who possess a kari naaku come true! They also have the notion of evil eye which means that if you praise someone too much for whatever quality, they attract the evil eye and the victim will lose that quality eventually.

Of course we can never cover the entire culture and practices of this community in just one article, but I have tried my best to put in the most interesting parts of it!

February 6, 2015
10 Pointers to keep in Mind for a First Date

We were all born into the Pop culture and we love it, don’t we? By definition, it means all the ideas, images and attitudes that were considered mainstream in the culture of the 20th and the early 21st century! ‘Pop’ actually is an abbreviated form of the word ‘popular’ and it was mainly used to refer to the genre of music called pop music from the late nineteen fifties. Well, it modernized the whole world, sweeping and dusting all the old traditions giving it a new, sparkling sheen.

Remember the pretty ladies in the beautiful gowns and men in high breeches waltzing their way into daylight in the movie Pride and Prejudice? Even better is drool-worthy Mr. Darcy with his alluring aristocratic courtship rituals. He is every girl’s dream guy – decent, gentlemanly, polished, respectful and what not! Times have changed and guys like that are, well, not so common to find nowadays. But hey, dating has never been more transparent and courtship is quite a different play now. The new pop culture has changed all the rules of the dating game which makes it very difficult for either of the sex to have a clear shot.

So, let’s look at some of the basic rules to have a decent, fun and impressive first date.

1. Pick up – It is important that you pick up your date and no, it doesn’t matter if you own a car or not. Picking her up on a bicycle would be more romantic even though some of the females may not feels so. The point is you need to show that you bothered to pick her up and even more important is that you be punctual.

Knocking at her door with an apology for being late on the very first date doesn’t paint a very good picture.

2. Clothing – First impressions are the best impressions. Clothes are what make a man, and a women too. Dressing speaks volumes about who you are. Apart from indicating your personality, it also shows that you cared enough to dress well for the date and that’s pretty good. Imagine someone who doesn’t bother to even dress well on the first date. Meh.

3. Language – A person’s class and standards are reflected in the kind of language he uses. We use the formal language with no traces of emotions for office use and in other formal occasions. Similarly, we need to use the right language on a date. You don’t want to sound all ‘hello madam, how do you do?’, do you?

Your language should be classy but not too formal and absolutely no swearing. Even if the date is OK with swearing, it is not much appreciated right on the first date.

4. Attitude – No matter how much a girl rants about feminism or male chauvinism, she will definitely not take offense if you pull out the chair for her or open the car door for her. It just shows that you are a gentleman. But don’t repeat it on every date with the same woman because it’s only a matter of time before the feminist in them kicks in!

Also a confident man is a win-win and arrogance, even a streak of it is a big no-no. Everybody hates an arrogant prick. Remember to never be bossy, pushy or domineering which means you don’t decide what she eats at say, a dinner date. That will have the lady running in no time.

5. Listen more, talk less – Girls dig guys who talk with eyes than mouth. You should remember to listen closely to everything she says and much later, ask her something regarding any specific thing that she had mentioned in the passing. She will be highly impressed that you had listened to everything, remembered it and bothered to ask about it!

And look into her eyes and most importantly, never check out a passing girl. You can save that for later.

6. Compliments – The fairer sex loves to hear compliments. In fact, all of us love being complimented! At the beginning, compliment her on her beautiful dress or her hair-do because girls spend a lot and I mean a LOT of time picking out the right dress. Not to mention the number of hours with the curlers and mascaras.

And later on, in the awkward pauses, compliment her on her beautiful smile or eyes. They make the best fillers. Just remember to sound genuine which you can get right by maintaining proper eye contact.

7. Cell phone off – Who would like to go on a date with the damn phone ringing or beeping away every 10 minutes! That is definitely off-limits.

So make sure to keep it on silent mode and answer only if it is really important. If there are less disturbances, then it would go smoothly.

8. Never argue – You might bump into a lot of girls who can get quite bossy. They may tend to take a different opinion on whatever you might say but don’t let it get to you. Don’t ever argue with her especially on sensitive issues because things can get quite nasty.

Even if she herself argues a lot, she won’t like it if you start doing the same!

9. A small token – No lady will say no to a pretty rose or an orchid corsage. That is a very sweet gesture and it will earn you the extra brownie points!

10. Pay – It is more like an expected thing that guys pay. The ladies may not mind splitting it but refuse the offer pleasantly. Take her to a small, cute bistro or cafe, that way you don’t have to cough up too many pennies.

Besides these points, if you want to make the date memorable, take her to a fair or something similar because giant wheels and other such rides will have her clutching onto your hand for dear life. And that’s romantic. Buy her popcorn or whatever she likes, romp around and finally maybe a little frolicking in the fountain or sprinklers. And most importantly, don’t forget to smile (genuinely) because a smile can be a real life saver. It will smooth out any creases or glitches along the way.

Important bonus tip : Make her laugh and keep it real.

You are ready, boys. Go and sweep them off their feet!

January 8, 2015
Happiness and spirituality

Spirituality is often misunderstood to be a component of Religion. People have this notion of spiritual people are the ones who are often seen visiting the churches or mosques. Then there are also the other kind of people who immediately picture an Indian mystic in a yogic position in their minds. Well, both these stereotypes are so erroneous that Buddha would be turning in his grave.

However, it can mean different to different people. To me, Spirituality means to be healthy spiritually. In other words, when we are hurt by harsh words, it hurts not just our heart but our spirit too. If the wound is very deep, then no matter how much you push it from outside, you won’t heal completely since the injury is internal. A change of external set-up is not going to help if it is not dealt with from the bottom. Haven’t you heard of wounds caused by viruses which go away temporarily when dealt from outside but when medicine is administered which kills the virus in the blood, it never surfaces again. We always have take fight at the grassroot level. Thus, to have a healthy mind devoid of bad and hurtful thoughts is of utmost importance.

You don’t NEED to meditate or go to the temple or say prayers to be spiritually healthy. They just help you reach towards the goal faster. It varies from person to person. Being mentally healthy is the first and major step and right now in this world but more than half of the population is plagued more by mental trauma/problems (relationships,work-related etc) than physical illness. Happiness is a scarcity!

In my opinion, I find following some very simple rules in life helps to live with a smile on the face!

1. Handling harsh words/sentiments – People hurt us with their words, knowingly or unknowingly. But as they say, it is upto us to finally accept the invitation or not. When you feel hurt by someone, try to feel empathetic towards them. They are telling hurtful things because they themselves are hurt and when you respond in a soft manner, they will be taken aback. Anger is not something people can control and 90% of what we say in anger are things we don’t mean. So, be the better man (or woman) and stay calm.

2. Fighting pessimism – How many of you have heard about the placebo effect? A man was administered with certain medicines which was supposed to fight cancer and after continual intake, his health revived and he was finally cured of it! Astonishing, isn’t it? When we convince our mind that something will get alright that you will do just fine, it really happens.
Physical health is greatly linked with mental health. So if you think pessimistically, it destroys the little chance that you have, you fail in your endeavor and end up blaming it on fate. This cycle repeats over and over gain. So, you’ve got to have confidence in yourself that you can do it, hell or high water.

4. Controlling anger – Most of us go red with temples on the verge to burst out when it comes to anger. However, even the smallest bit of irritation/anger can be controlled. Despite knowing that it unnecessarily harms our health by increasing our blood pressure which ups the risk of heart diseases, we don’t do anything to stay calm. I know it is not easy.

But there are various various ways to deal with this. For example, people with a high sense of pride can manipulate and train their minds into thinking that giving into anger would mean defeat to their body. They are controlled by their emotions; they are not their own masters. The person who is trying to make you angry wants to see a reaction. So, if you don’t give the expected reaction, it would frustrate them. Bingo!

Try thinking about something pleasant and remember to focus on it. That can calm you down. You can also try counting numbers (personally, never worked for me).

5. Jealousy – The green eyed monster is no new visitor. Starting from children to big adults, everyone is subjected to jealousy. Jealousy is hurtful since it inflicts a mixture of pain and hatred in the heart making you restless and vindictive. I can hear many ”Well, we can’t help it”s!
I have a simple strategy to deal with it. Whenever I get jealous, I remind myself that the competition should actually be with myself. Every new day, your goal should be to beat the person you were yesterday. It doesn’t hurt to compete with oneself where failure and success is taken with good sportsmanship. Burning with jealousy for your just-promoted colleague or that supermodel’ish girl is not going to get you anything but pain and hurt. Are they worth your pain? Instead compete with self.

6. Regret – Yes, it is true that regret is our mind’s permanent tenant. Some consider that life is all about one shots. You are wrong. You can always pick up the cudgels and fight for another chance. There is always another way; unless and until you are ready to believe that yourself, the way out won’t appear. You always have another chance to make it right and it is just a matter of standing up for yourself yet again.
Always remember, everything happens for a reason.

7. Letting go – I have included this on my list since relationship break-ups and losing someone to death make the worst kind of pain. I know that attachments are stronger than any chemical bond. When you have loved someone truly, you can never undo it. Never. And losing that special someone can hurt beyond imagination since love is another synonym for vulnerability. But the intensity and pain of the separation heals with time.

Even if they may not be in your life anymore, they will always be in your heart. Look after the memories tenderly even if the separation had been bitter because you loved them and nothing makes you more happy than their happiness. They would want you to be happy too. So, move on and harbor only good thoughts for them because life is too short for tears and grief.

8. Believing in something – This is the most important key to happiness. Have you ever wondered why a child feels secure in the arms of a mother who is physically incapable of protecting him? Because he believes in his mother.

When you believe in something/someone, you will have hope and when you have hope, nothing can destroy you. You know that they will always be there for you no matter what and you can draw strength from it. They will always be there to protect you. So you will be never be alone. This source can be divine or anything which is innocent and pure. Divine because definitely there is something behind the working of this universe starting from the microscopic quarks to the gigantic galaxies. On the other hand, you can believe in say, your dog because he loves you innocently. Anything which is innocent is divine. That’s why they say babies are divine and that they see god when they smile in their sleep.

Incorporate these ideas in your lives and see the magic!

December 30, 2014
Is There more to Hinduism?

We are all very too familiar with our pantheon of gods and each day, we find youngsters rejecting the idea of religion especially when it comes to Hinduism since they find it absolutely impossible the existence of so many gods in such weird forms. ‘Weird forms’ is what we label these bodily eccentricities seen in our myths and legends. But, take a moment and just try to think outside the box.
Firstly to all my non-hindu readers out there, I would like to inform you all that Brahma is called the creator and is shown to have four heads placed perpendicularly to one another along with four faces and four arms. He is supposed to have CREATED our world.

Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge is said to have originated from his tongue. Vishnu, he is the one who preserves what has been created and he is said to rest on top of a many headed serpent called the Shesha naga in the milky ocean ‘Palazhi’. He has many arms like Brahma and Saraswati. Shiva is the destroyer; he destroys everything thus completing the circle. And the rest of the gods are all subordinate to these superior three. Here itself, we can see that the circle of creation-preservation-destruction is not a silly idea and it carries the underlying meaning of recycling energy and matter. Yes, this is something that we can guess about as it sounds like a random coincidence. But the interesting facts are yet to come.

The city of Dwaraka, the kingdom of Krishna (another avatar of Vishnu), lies submerged in the waters and also the city of Ayodhya, kingdom of Rama, also exists. Since there is some kind of evidence like this, it is not right to completely do away with the fact that they might have existed. They could have been celebrated kings and stories might have been written in such a manner that it elevated them into the position of gods. These kings might have possessed some frightfully advanced weapons and those were being called ‘Vimanas’ and ‘Astras’. Believe it or not, the scriptures have detailed explanations of the description of these objects!

In the Sanskrit Samarangana Sutradhara, it is recorded ”Strong and durable must the body of the Vimana be made, like a great flying bird of light material. Inside one must put the mercury engine with its iron heating apparatus underneath. By means of the power latent in the mercury which sets the driving whirlwind in motion, a man sitting inside may travel a great distance in the sky. The movements of the Vimana are such that it can vertically ascend, vertically descend, move slanting forwards and backwards. With the help of the machines human beings can fly in the air and heavenly beings can come down to earth”. The instructions are very precise; loads of sanskrit texts on these topics are lying untranslated. Both the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata carry various evidences in them which describes the weapons in the most fascinating manner. Indra, the king of gods, has a powerful astra which when aimed at anyone, consumes the victim with its beam of light. Doesn’t this frighteningly remind you of lasers?

Moreover, the Ramayana has a detailed description of a trip to the moon itself in the Vimana! It is unbelievable. Thousands of years ago, they had already discovered how to go to the moon and it goes on to furthur describe a fight there. These descriptions are plush with scientific words and based on the idea of anti-gravity. They also claim to fight the pull of gravity with the help of mind’s power. That’s a bit of spiritual mix there. Also, there were four types of vimanas followed with detailed descriptions; basically Vimanas are cylindrical (sometimes circular) with a dome and porthole; it is said to emit a melodious humming noise while travelling at the speed of wind. Apart from Vimanas, Valmiki is seen to be teaching Rama two kinds of use of electricity (shushka and aardra) which when literally interpreted says – Continuous motion between poles will create electricity that can be transmitted through a metallic wire and it should have a mechanism to stop and start for smooth functioning.

Did you know that not just in our epics, but the Babylonians also have mentions of the flying machines?

Truly remarkable, isn’t it? The historians have it recorded that when Alexander had tried to invade India, his army was driven away by the sheer sight of ‘fiery, flying shields’. There is no more evidence about this spotting and we are left to guess it out. Many years later, they say that the Nazis got the idea of pulse-jet engines for their buzz bombs from our scriptures since information regarding various propulsion sources such as pulse-jets and combustion engines. Our scriptures seem to informed about so many scientific facts which means people of those times were far more brilliant that we ever presumed!

Many years later, King Ashoka had put together the scientific information from all the Vedic scriptures and compiled a series of books. Since he was against violence, those books were fiercely guarded from other blood thirsty kings. One of the books dealt with gravity and it was called ‘The secrets of Gravitation’. It also talks about interstellar space travel with the help of the power of ego in man’s physiological makeup called laghima which is “a centrifugal force which can counteract the gravitational pull” and this “laghima” enables a person to levitate.

The best part is yet to come. The portrayal of the war in Mahabharata is so realistic that it literally sounds like a nuclear war. It is said that ”The hair and nails fell out; pottery broke without apparent cause, and the birds turned white – after a few hours all foodstuffs were infected – to escape from this fire, the soldiers threw themselves in streams to wash themselves and their equipment”. This sort of thing is exactly the aftermath of a nuclear war. Water is the only thing which can save us. To top this all, the skeletons excavated from Mohenjodaro have been found to be highly radioactive! The Indus valley civilization (Mohenjodaro and Harappa) were the first ones in the world. If you look closely, you can imagine that the end of our epics were brought upon by a nuclear war between extremely powerful kings with some strikingly advanced artillery.

So what if the Hindu gods actually were great kings of the bygone era? Their power was so great that people made them gods. We may not have large amounts of evidence but I believe plenty of our manuscripts are yet to be translated from the old Sanskrit and that may hold the answer to all the mysteries because our Vedic scriptures are much vast and informative than anybody can ever imagine.
After all it is true that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. So guys, try to ponder on this and let your imagination run wild! We should not let our beautiful, rich heritage with its invaluable scriptures go undiscovered!
Hinduism is more than what meets the eye. It is more than a myth.

December 27, 2014
Pickle Juice? Stuffed Mussels? Think Istanbul.

Istanbul, where the West meets the East is home to a variety of finger-licking street food. Its not just about their taste, their uniqueness is something that deserves mentioning. Every region and country have their own native, indigenous flavors and recipes. Nothing can be more interesting for a foodie than discovering the secrets of the kitchen of the famous Turks.

Now, we are going to look at some of the bizarre, different but scrumptious roadside items that you can find on the Turkish streets.

1. Stuffed Mussels. Yes! There is a dish called stuffed mussels which is quite elegant looking with its oval shape and its bluish-black shells. They have quite hard coverings and they have to be soaked in hot water to be softened.Often stuffed with flavored rice and condiments, they make for excellent appetizers. You have to prise them open with a spoon or knife, squeeze out a trickle of lime juice and finally scoop out the insides from the shell with the other. Live ones can be tastier and quite fresh, only that you have got to have a thing for RAW.

2. Pickle juice. Everyone knows about the universally famous pickles. But pickle juice? Anything ranging from chili pepper,garlic and onion to beetroot doused in a cup of spicy pickle juice is a special drink of the Turks. Its Turkish name goes by ‘turşu suyu’ and it is considered good for health.It will take quite some time for anyone to get used to this drink! But, it has its own charm.

Apart from the drink, one can find mountains of bottled pickles in just about any shop. They Pickled gherkins, onions, beetroot, garlic, aubergine, carrot, tomato, plums, broccoli, olives ..you name, they have it. They are bottled away in different shapes and sizes of glass jars packed neatly and placed one on top of another.

3. Lahmacun. Pizza is an all-time favorite among, well, everyone if I am not wrong. But then, are you ready for the native Turkish pizza? It looks like our good ol’ pizza and can trick any pizza lover into believing so. It is a circular shaped baked dough topped with a layer of meat of any kind (according to one’s preference), not to mention the mandatory lime juice as flavoring. Once prepared with the above mentioned ingredients, it is put into the oven and heated till it gets crunchy and slightly blackened. Sounds pretty easy but quite difficult to get that right amount of heat to do the trick.

Pretty sure that many mouths are watering by now.

4. Doner kebab. Aye my non-veg lovers! This is yet another saliva-inducing item of the Turkish kitchens. The meat can be lamb, chicken or beef which is cooked and roasted over a vertical stick that keeps rotating beside the burning embers. It can be seen as a different form of barbecuing. As the stick rotates, the meat is scraped off with a knife from all sides and served hot in various forms. It can be wrapped up in flat bread or served as the stuffing inside a sandwich.

It is usually spicy; onions, chili pepper and such are served along with the meat. It’s Arabic name ”Shawarma” is known more commonly among people. Another thing to note is that there are plenty other variations of this kebab and can be found in a number of countries starting from the Middle East to the Norwegian regions!

5. Turkish delight. Invented in the 1777, these are tiny little cubes of delight, literally. Of various hues, they sit cutely on the shelves of the confectioneries. Anyone with a sweet-tooth is sure to be bowled over by these little ones.

I recently had a chance to taste them when my friend had returned from a world tour. It was my first time that I saw such sweet-looking sweets. Jelly-like, coated and dusted with sugar icing, it can come in different flavors. They come in various types; some have nuts like walnut placed inside them while others are two flavored. They are made of very simple ingredients – corn starch, sugar and water. They are called as Rahat lokum in the native tongue. Highly praised across the world, this sweet ended up travelling to many regions and thus has multiple varieties.

6. Simit. Its is a sort of circular bread coated with sesame seeds. They look cute too; imagine brown bread rings! It can taste a little sour but quite crispy. One of the favorite items for breakfast of the Turks is this bread ring and it can be accompanied with jam, cheese or jelly. It is popularly called the eastern sister of the popular Bagel.

7. Çiğ köfte. It is a kind of raw meat dish which is usually cooked with the meat of either lamb or beef. ‘Çiğ’ means raw and ‘köfte’ means rissole in Turkish of course. Supposedly very spicy since it requires the kneading of the tender meat with onions, tomatoes, chili pepper,fresh mint, parsley and various other spices. Scrambled eggs can be used instead of the meat if you want to do it vegan style. The whole dish is accompanied with lettuce leaves and lemon. Sometimes this meat is wrapped up in pitas or crackers. The Arabs eat it with bread with a little tomato sauce over it. In Istanbul, it is sold the vegan way since meat from fast-food outlets is not considered hygienic unless you get it hot right out of the oven of a Turk’s home.

All you chili lovers out there, you have to try this once at least in your life.

These are the seven major gourmet specialties of the Ottoman kitchen. Apart from its colorful cuisine, Istanbul also boasts about the Blue mosque with 6 minarets! It is a magnificent and grand specimen of Islamic style of architecture with blue-tiled interiors grabbing the limelight. Well, we can keep the architecture for another day.

Take a break and book a ticket to Istanbul. You don’t want to miss the Pickle juice, do you?

December 27, 2014