Karkidakam : Unique Culinary Practices of the Monsoon Along the South-Western Ghats
Shruti Tharayil writes about Karkidakam, a period that is considered to be both the darkest month and a time of celebration.
The monsoons in the southwestern coastal region of Western ghats begin in June and go on till late September. The months of July-August receive the highest amount of rainfall, deeming it a month of difficulty, according to the communities of this region. The solar calendars do not host any festivals or celebrations during this season, owing to the harsh climatic conditions. Aati masam according to the Tulu calendar, and Karkidakam according to the Malayalam calendar, are different names of the same month that follow similar culinary practices.
The first year I spent the monsoon in Kerala, in 2019, was also the first time I heard about Karkidakam. As someone who grew up in an urban landscape, it was difficult to understand what exactly Karkidakam signified. Some spoke of it as a festival marked with practices such as adorning dashapushpam (a bouquet of 10 foraged wild flowers) and applying mailanji (fresh henna) on the palms and feet, whereas others referred to it as the darkest month of the year, where rejuvenating the body and mind was the primary focus. I dived deeper, and began discovering for myself, an amalgamation of practices and rituals across communities that were borne from the climatic realities of the landscape. My understanding of Karkidakam changed the way I understood seasonal and local eating. As I began sharing on social media, the various Karkidakam practices followed in Central Kerala, people from other parts of Kerala and Karnataka responded sharing a spectrum of folk practices followed across the vertical landscape of the western ghats.
Food Practices During Karkidakam
Karkidakam is the last month in the Hindu solar calendar of Kerala. According to popular media, this is the month when Malayalis dedicate their time to reading the Ramayana, and practice various rejuvenating Ayurvedic activities. This narrative was different from the one followed in my immediate community, where Karkidakam meant an entire change in culinary practice. According to my mother, Karkidakam was the darkest month of the year, as the sun rarely made an appearance, and the rains were ruthless on anyone venturing outside. Hence, this was the month for which they prepared early on; brining summer vegetables in anticipation of the rains. For example, mango, gooseberry, bilimbi, and hog plum are harvested during the peak of summer, and brined with rock salt. Brined vegetables would be used during Karkidakam, along with dried fish, due to restrictions on fishing in the rainy weather. Onakka meen varathuthu and upaliththu manga chammanthi with kanji (dried fish and brined mango chutney with rice porridge) are a staple, during the monsoon.
Karikidakam kanji with pathila thoran
Image credit: Shruti Tharayil
The popular practice of oushada kanji or merunnu kanji, along with Pat-ila thoran is an ancient practice of building immunity during the rains. Oushada or Merunnu translates to ‘medicinal,’ and is a porridge that is consumed across communities. Some cook the porridge at home and share it within their immediate community; some receive it from the local temple where the kanji is made in large quantities. A typical kanji comprises ingredients such as ooshali (Lepidium sativum), manjal (Curcuma longa), vellulli (Garlic), jeerakam (Cumin), kadugu (Mustard), kakum kaya (Entada rheedii) and coconut milk. The ingredients are sun-dried, ground to a powder, and boiled with traditional rice. The gruel is slow-cooked over medium heat and tempered with ulli (shallots) with Pashuvin Neyyu (clarified cow butter) and meant to be consumed over 10 days. Path-ila thoran is another dish cooked during Karkidakam. Path-ila translates to 10 leaves; a dish cooked with foraged greens with a generous garnish of coconut and sometimes boiled lentils. Throughout Kerala, Path-ila is cooked differently, depending on the socio-geographical locations of the communities cooking it. The recipe differs according to the greens available in the backyard of each family and the knowledge of the wild edible plants of the person foraging. If you google ‘Pathila thoran’ you will find a plethora of articles and videos attempting to list down the names of the 10 specific leaves that are cooked. This is an impossible task, as the thoran is cooked based on the basic principle of consuming foraged greens that grow during the monsoons.
With the change in culinary landscapes, Karkidakam practices take another angle in Northern Kerala. The practices include more meat-based dishes involving oxtail and chicken cooked using specific ingredients, keeping in mind the reality of the season. Vinod, our garden helper in Kozhikode town, would share the different dishes cooked by his family during Karkidakam. “For manual laborers like me, Karkidakam is about building my immunity and strength for the upcoming year. With heavy rains, I cannot go to work, and the cold stiffens my body. Drinking oxtail soup during this season supports my body to be fit so I can resume physical labor once the rain recedes,” he explains.
As one moves higher up the ghats, towards Dakshina Kannada, Karkidakam becomes Aati masam but the practices are similar. According to Akshata Nayak, a dentist by profession and content creator by passion, aati masam is when the digestive fire in our bodies is at its lowest. It is the month of difficulty as mobility gets restricted with the rising water level in the local rivers. Traditionally, the food consumed during this season includes local greens such as tender shoots of Colocasia esculenta, Brahmi (Centella asiatica), Taikilo (Senna tora) and brined or sun-dried raw mangoes, jackfruit, and jackfruit seeds. “Aati is when the year’s rice stock began to slowly deplete. In olden times, there were no vegetables and one could not step out much due to the heavy rains. All we could do is depend on what grows in our immediate surroundings'' explained Nayak.
Boosting Immunity During Karkidakam
Aati is known for the tradition of drinking paleda kashaya and menthe ganji on the day of Aati amavasya (the new moon in the month of aati). Paleda kashaya is an extremely bitter milky decoction prepared from the fresh bark of the pale mara (Alstonia scholaris tree). To whomever I spoke regarding Paleda Kashya, the ritual followed to procure the bark was the same. The bark is harvested barefoot, before sunrise, with a sharp rock and not a knife or ax. According to Eugen Soans, farmer at Soans agriculture, the reason to step out before sunrise is because it is the period of Bhrama muhurta when our body is the most receptive to the various spiritual and religious practices. The kashaya is consumed fresh and in small quantities (30–50 ml). Due to the heating nature of the decoction, the breakfast that follows after the morning ritual is menthe ganji; porridge made from fenugreek seeds and rice, which helps with balance the heat generated through the kashaya in the body. The kashaya along with the local greens help in building immunity and warding off water-borne diseases, preparing the digestive system for the upcoming season.
Sharon Samuel, an Ayurvedic doctor shares how this is the season where the strength and immunity of the human body are at their weakest, leading to the spread of diseases quickly. The season traditionally called for meticulous planning to protect the body. The oushadha kanji or the paleda kashaya complimented with the locally grown uncultivated greens consumed during this period took care of the building immunity for the rest of the year.
As I am writing this, the rains are noisily splattering on our traditional tiled rooftop and the land and its people are preparing for nature’s fury that Karkidakam will bring forth and I can’t help but redefine my understanding of what seasonal food means. For aati and Karkidakam, apart from the local uncultivated greens that grow during this season, everything else that is consumed are either brined, fermented or sun dried. Seasonal is no longer fresh but something that is preserved for the days of darkness and hunger. Bifurcated by political borders and separated by different languages and belief systems, the land and culinary heritage continues to facilitate the similarities across the landscape. In a time where people are either looking towards the west to define their superfoods or joining the expensive bandwagon of ‘back to the roots’ on social media, folk practices like aati and karkidakam are reminders to slow down and re-evaluate the whys and hows’ of seasonal eating.
Shruti Tharayil loves exploring lesser-known narratives about the intersectionalities around food. She also runs a project called Forgotten Greens with a focus on reviving the lost tradition of uncultivated greens as part of our food systems.
Banner image credit: Akshata Nayak
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