Nel Pori

                                                                   by Sheela Rani Chunkath

A friend of mine remarked that it has now become fashionable to have oats for breakfast. Considering that India hardly produces any oats and that oats is not a traditional food crop, I am intrigued about how it is suddenly trying to replace our idlis, dosas, kichadis and paranthas. Oats has been traditionally used in the West as a livestock feed and I am surprised why many have become coverts to oats porridge and the like. Oats is grown on a large scale in America and elsewhere and is a crop which has been genetically modified. Tons of pesticides are used while growing the crop which makes it quite unsuitable for health-conscious individuals.

We can easily consume organic rice, pulses and wheat and make our breakfast far healthier than the oats which is projected not only as healthy but heart-healthy. One would think that no Indian millets or pulses has fibre and that oats alone is a fibre-rich, which is its sole claim to being a health food. While I think too much fuss is being made about fibre in the foods we eat, it is interesting to note that many of our minor millets are also quite high in fibre.

One of the traditional foods I love and which I have rediscovered lately is 'Nel Pori' or 'Puffed Paddy'. While murmure or pori (puffed rice) is made from rice, 'Nel Pori' is made from paddy and is extremely fibre-rich. Ayurvedic Vaidyars tell you to eat 'nel pori' soaked in a little water if you have diarrhoea or indigestion. It is one of the most easily digestible and nutritious of foods.

In Karnatka, a dish called ‘Aralu Panchakajjaya’ is made during the seventh month of pregnancy when the traditional seemantham ritual takes place. Made from puffed paddy, sugar, coconut, cardamom and ghee it is something an antenatal or postnatal mother can eat with ease. The reason puffed paddy is such a miracle food is because it is rich in essential fatty acids, contains starch, protein, vitamins and dietary minerals. It is also low in cholesterol.

In puffed paddy, the bran is part of the end product and hence it has all the goodness of bran. It is a good source of potassium, zinc, copper, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6 pantothenic acid, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and manganese. If you eat nel pori regularly you don’t need to eat vitamin B complex supplements.

One would think if such a food is part of our tradition we would be revelling in it and promoting it. But I find that puffed paddy is hardly being consumed and genetically modified oats is being consumed instead. I made organic puffed paddy on my farm by the traditional method of heating a mud vessel well and roasting the paddy in it. It is a bit labour intensive as we have to pick out the paddy husks sticking to it once the paddy is puffed. My friend tells me that her grandmother used to store paddy at home and get it puffed regularly at a nearly shop. The kids at home got to pick out the paddy husks before it was consumed as ‘nel pori urundai’ and the like.

I made a mean bhelpuri with the puffed paddy. The texture and smell of the 'Nel Pori', to use a favourite phrase of another friend, was 'amazing'. 'Nel Pori' made from jeeraga samba is said to be good for promoting fertility among men and women.

Oats are being promoted by multinational companies who would like to see you abandon your traditional foods and substitute them for the highly processed, genetically modified and commercially profitable products that are not really healthy for you.

--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/