Tamil Cultural Association Waterloo

History of Tamil

Chanchal Thattil — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:48:11 +0000

History of Tamil

The Tamils are an ancient people. Their history had its beginnings in the rich alluvial plains near the southern extremity of peninsular India which included the land mass known as the island of Sri Lanka today. The island’s plant and animal life (including the presence of elephants) evidence the earlier land connection with the Indian sub continent. So too do satellite photographs which show the submerged ‘land bridge’ between Dhanuskodi on the south east of the Indian sub-continent and Mannar in the north west of Sri Lanka.

Some researchers have concluded that it was during the period 6000 B.C. to 3000 B.C. that the island separated from the Indian sub continent and the narrow strip of shallow water known today as the Palk Straits came into existence. Many Tamils trace their origins to the people of Mohenjodaro in the Indus Valley around 6000 years before the birth of Christ. There is, however, a need for further systematic study of the history of the early Tamils and proto Tamils.

The Tamils were a sea faring people. They traded with Rome in the days of Emperor Augustus. They sent ships to many lands bordering the Indian Ocean and with the ships went traders, scholars, and a way of life. Tamil inscriptions in Indonesia go back some two thousand years. The oldest Sanskrit inscriptions belonging to the third century in Indo China bear testimony to Tamil influence and until recent times Tamil texts were used by priests in Thailand and Cambodia. The scattered elements of ruined temples of the time of Marco Polo’s visit to China in the 13th century give evidence of purely Tamil structure and include Tamil inscriptions.

“Tamil Nadu, the home land of the Tamils, occupies the southern most region of India. Traditionally, Thiruvenkatam – the abode of Sri Venkatewara and a range of hills of the Eastern Ghats – formed the northern boundary of the country and the Arabian sea line the western boundary. However as a result of infiltrations, made by peoples from other territories, Tamil lost its ground in the west as well as in the north. In medieval times, the country west of the mountains, became Kerala and that in the north turned part of Andhra Desa. Bounded by the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Desa, the Tamil Nadu of the present day extends from Kanyakumari in the south to Tiruttani in the North….

In early times the Pandyas, the Cheras and the Cholas held their pioneering sway over the country and extended their authority beyond the traditional frontiers. As a result the Tamil Country served as the homeland of extensive empires. It was during this period that the Tamil bards composed the masterpieces in Tamil literature…..

Script

Chanchal Thattil — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:45:38 +0000

Script

The Tamil script, like the other Brahmic scripts, is thought to have evolved from the original Brahmi script. The earliest inscriptions which are accepted examples of Tamil writing date to a time just after the Ashokan period. The script used by these inscriptions is commonly known as the Tamil-Brahmi or “Tamili script”, and differs in many ways from standard Ashokan Brahmi. For example, early Tamil-Brahmi, unlike Ashokan Brahmi, had a system to distinguish between pure consonants (m in this example) and consonants with an inherent vowel (ma in this example). In addition, according to Iravatham Mahadevan, early Tamil Brahmi used slightly different vowel markers, had extra characters to represent letters not found in Sanskrit, and omitted letters for sounds not present in Tamil, such as voiced consonants and aspirates. Inscriptions from the second century use a later form of Tamil-Brahmi, which is substantially similar to the writing system described in the Tolkāppiyam, an ancient Tamil grammar. Most notably, they use the puḷḷi to suppress the inherent vowel. The Tamil letters thereafter evolved towards a more rounded form, and by the fifth or sixth century had reached a form called the early vaṭṭeḻuttu.

Tampiran Vanakkam (Doctrina Christum) was the first book in Tamil, printed on 20 October 1578

The modern Tamil script does not, however, descend from this script. In the seventh century, the Pallava dynasty created a new script for Tamil, which was formed by simplifying the Grantha alphabet (which in turn derived from Southern Brahmi), and adding to it the Vaṭṭeḻuttu alphabet for sounds not found in Sanskrit. By the 8th century, this new script supplanted Vaṭṭeḻuttu in the Chola and Pallava kingdoms which lay in the north portion of the Tamil-speaking region. Vaṭṭeḻuttu continued to be used in the southern portion of the Tamil-speaking region, in the Chera and Pandyan kingdoms until the 11th century, when the Pandyan kingdom was conquered by the Cholas.

A Tamil book printed in 1781

Over the next few centuries, the Chola-Pallava script evolved into the modern Tamil script. The use of palm leaves as the primary medium for writing led to changes in the script. The scribe had to be careful not to pierce the leaves with the stylus while writing, because a leaf with a hole was more likely to tear and decay faster. As a result, the use of the puḷḷi to distinguish pure consonants became rare, with pure consonants usually being written as if the inherent vowel were present. Similarly, the vowel marker for the kuṟṟiyal ukaram, a half-rounded u which occurs at the end of some words and in the medial position in certain compound words, also fell out of use and was replaced by the marker for the simple u. The puḷḷi did not fully reappear until the introduction of printing, but the marker kuṟṟiyal ukaram never came back into use, although the sound itself still exists and plays an important role in Tamil prosody.

The forms of some of the letters were simplified in the nineteenth century to make the script easier to typeset. In the twentieth century, the script was simplified even further in a series of reforms, which regularised the vowel markers used with consonants by eliminating special markers and most irregular forms.

South Indian

Chanchal Thattil — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:40:13 +0000

South Indian Food

South Indian Dosa recipe

Dosai is the ever-popular South Indian breakfast of crispy crepes made with fermented rice and lentil batter. With just a handful of ingredients learn to make the classic Dosai recipe from scratch with my easy video and step-by-step photos. I also cover making your own dosai batter in a blender or mixer-grinder, tips on fermentation and cooking dosai to help you make the best dosai – crispy, soft and so good to dunk in a bowl of Coconut Chutney or piping hot Sambar.

About Dosa

Dosa also called as dosai (in Tamil language) is a famous and popular South Indian breakfast or snack in India as well in the rest of the world. Dosa are basically crispy or soft crepes made with ground and fermented lentil and rice batter.

To make the batter, first the lentils and rice are soaked in water for 4 to 5 hours. They are then ground separately to a fine consistency.

Then both the lentil batter and the rice batter are mixed with salt in a wide bowl or pan. This batter is then allowed to ferment overnight or for 8 to 9 hours.

After the batter is fermented, it increases in volume, has a pleasant fermented aroma and a slightly sour taste. A well-fermented batter makes the best dosa. You will also see many tiny air-pockets in the batter. Making the batter and then fermenting it is such a joy that I always look forward to making fermented foods like dosa and Idli.

The fermented batter is poured on a seasoned cast-iron pan or skillet (tawa) and spread like a pancake and cooked till crispy and golden with a drizzle of oil or ghee.

Type of Lentils

The lentils used to make dosa batter are husked and split Black Gram. These are also known as Urad Dal in Hindi. The other English names of urad dal are Black Matpe Bean, Mungo Bean and Vigna Mungo (botanical name).

Urad dal is available whole as well as split. To make dosa, you can use either the husked whole urad dal or the husked and split urad dal. Both these types of urad dal have an off-white color. The black husks on them have been removed.

For a crispy dosa adding 2 to 3 tablespoons chana dal (husked bengal gram) works wonderfully. Some variations also include adding both 2 tablespoons of chana dal and 2 tablespoons of tur dal (pigeon pea lentils).

You can also add about ¼ cup moong lentils to the batter. Though urad dal forms the bulk of the lentils, but for a mixture of various proteins, consider adding 2 to 3 tablespoons of lentils like chana dal, tur dal, moong dal or masoor dal (red lentils).

Type of Rice

The rice used to make dosa batter can be short or medium-grained white rice or parboiled idli rice.

A basic dosa recipe will just have rice, urad dal and salt. The proportions for making dosa vary and by changing the proportions you can alter the texture by having a soft thick dosa to a thin dosa or a crispy dosa.

The addition of some more ingredients like flattened rice (parched rice or poha), different types of lentils also changes the texture. The color also varies from

Many readers ask me what is parboiled rice and idli rice. So I will mention it.

Parboiled rice is rice which is partially cooked in their husks. Later they are dried and milled. They are also known as converted rice. Parboiled rice is used for making steamed rice, savory rice porridge (which we call kanji) and snacks too.
- Idli rice is a type of parboiled rice and is specifically meant to make idli or dosa. But I have also steamed them and they taste great with sambar or any other curry or stew. Note that you can use also make the batter with only regular white rice. I personally prefer the Indian varieties of sona masuri or parmal rice.
- Regular rice is polished white rice where its husk, bran and germ have been removed.
So we can sum up that there are many varieties of dosa that can be made with textures ranging from crisp to soft to fluffy to light. These varying textures are due to the proportion of the rice, urad dal and other ingredients used in the dosa batter recipe. That said, dosa can also be made with brown rice or hand-pounded rice.

Why This Dosa Recipe Works

Plain dosa is also called as Sada dosa. The word “Sada’ means plain or simple. Truly so as this humble Sada dosa is served without the potato stuffing (potato masala). So you relish the dosa with just the coconut chutney and sambar.

The Sada Dosa recipe I am sharing here is what I generally make. The dosa batter recipe uses 3:0.75 proportions for rice and lentils respectively. Apart from the rice, I also add some flattened rice (poha) for softness and fenugreek seeds (to help in fermentation).

Adding flattened rice adds a touch of softness to the dosa. So this dosa recipe makes for crisp as well as soft textured dosa. This is how we prefer them at home.

In this recipe, I have used a mix of idli rice and regular rice. But you can also just use idli rice or regular rice. Both sona masuri and parmal rice also work well in the recipe. In the video, I have shown making the dosa with idli rice only.

The dosa batter that is made with this recipe will finish up the whole batter in a day for a family of 3 to 4. In summers, I usually make a lesser proportion as the batter tends to get sour quickly. While in winters, I double the proportions.

I have also ground the rice and lentils together as this much quantity my mixer-grinder can accommodate without grinding them separately. But if you increase the proportions, then do grind the lentils and rice separately.

This is a foolproof tried and tested dosa recipe and you can easily scale the recipe. If doubling or tripling this dosa recipe, then soak urad dal + methi seeds in a separate bowl. Grind urad dal and methi seeds separately. Grind rice separately. Then mix both the batters in a large bowl or pan.

This dosa batter is a 2 in 1 batter as it can be used to make Idli, Uttapam and Paniyaram. The best part of this dosa batter is that you can make the dosa thin, crisp as well as thick. It is up to you. I make both. With the same batter, you can make a variety of dosa.

being an opaque white to pale golden or reddish or golden.

Source: Dassana’s Veg receipies

Sri Lankan

Chanchal Thattil — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 01:44:04 +0000

Sri Lankan Chicken Kottu Roti recipe

This recipe for kottu roti, a popular Sri Lankan street food, comes from Sanjeewa Gooneratne, who prepares the dish at events around New York on a griddle the size of a sled. A flaky flatbread is stir-fried with eggs and spices and finished with a curry sauce. Don’t let the long list of spices deter you from making the dish. You can omit a few and still experience its fantastic depths of flavor. —Francis Lam

Ingredients

For the curry sauce

1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
3 ½ teaspoons Sri Lankan chile powder (or other medium-hot chile powder)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon minced pandan leaves (or to taste)
4 curry leaves (or to taste)
2 green cardamom pods
1 2-inch stick cinnamon
1 small hot green chile, sliced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
5 ounces diced tomato
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Salt, to taste

Preparation

For the curry

In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, 1 tablespoon curry powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons chile powder. Marinate 30 minutes to overnight.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, and sizzle about 20 seconds. Add garlic, pandan leaves, curry leaves, cardamom and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, until the ginger and garlic are golden brown. Add chile, onion and a generous pinch of salt. Stir until the onion is softened and translucent, 3 minutes. Add remaining curry and chile powders, and cook, until darkened and aromatic. Stir in tomato.
Add chicken, coconut milk and enough water to cover, about 1 cup. Bring to a boil, and add the vinegar and salt to taste (you may not need it). Simmer, partly covered, for 35 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. Reserve for kottu roti. Leftover curry may be frozen.

For the kottu roti

½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
1 tablespoon chopped pandan leaves
10 curry leaves
5 scallions, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup julienne carrots (about 1/4 pound)
1 medium red onion, diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Salt, to taste
1 pound Sri Lankan roti, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (or other flaky flatbread, like Indian paratha)
2 chicken thighs, curry, chopped
¾ cup sauce from chicken curry

For the kottu roti

Heat a large, well-seasoned cast-iron pan or wok over high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil just starts to smoke, add the eggs, and scramble them until cooked dry. Transfer to a bowl, and wipe the pan clean. (Alternatively, you can scramble them in a nonstick pan.)
Return the pan to medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of oil and ginger. When it is aromatic, add pandan and curry leaves, and cook, stirring, until the ginger is light golden, 20 seconds. Add scallions and carrots. Stir for 1 minute, then add onion. Cook, stirring, until onion has only a little snap, about 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and salt to taste, and remove to a bowl. Wipe the pan out.
Return pan to medium heat, and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. (If the flatbread you are using is very oily, use less oil in the pan.) When it’s shimmering hot, add roti, and stir until it feels dry and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, cooked vegetables and eggs. Add the curry sauce, and continue to stir until hot all the way through. Taste, add more salt or soy sauce if necessary and serve.

Source: Recipe from Sanjeewa and Shymali Gooneratne

Script

sivakumar — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 20:07:37 +0000

Tampiran Vanakkam (Doctrina Christum) was the first book in Tamil, printed on 20 October 1578

A Tamil book printed in 1781

Instrumental Music

sivakumar — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 19:58:09 +0000

In South Indian or Carnatic music, the vina, a long- necked and fretted plucked lute with seven strings is most commonly heard. The vina takes the place of the bansuri, and the nagaswaram, an oboe-like, double-reed instrument with finger holes, takes the place of the shehnai. The principal secondary instrument has been the violin, though now the violin has been raised to new heights at the hands of some practitioners. Several percussion instruments are used to provide rhythmic accompaniment, most notably the mridangam, a double-conical, two-headed drum.

Bharatha Natyam Dance

sivakumar — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 19:25:08 +0000

An ancient traditional art form with its origins steeped in divinity, Bharatha Natyam reflects the culture of India at its best.

The performer (male or female) is usually a soloist accompanied by a minimum of two musicians and usually four for a full-scale concert. The dancer uses the space as her own sacred temple and brings the audience into her magical circle as she performs and acts out stories with Gods and Goddesses from Indian mythology, folk tales and stories with emotional content. Being a living art form it has continued to enrichen itself changing with the times yet keeping its pristine beauty and nature intact. Linear geometrical patterns, a perfect balance of the body, eloquents of expression, and precision of footwork to intricate mathematical rhythms are the hallmarks of this dance.

The dance originated 5000 years ago and comprises of several arts like sculpture, painting, theatre, literature, music, dramaturgy, and poetry. Young girls were dedicated to the temples at the early age of eight years where they underwent a strict discipline in the above related arts to fully understand, comprehend and evoke the sentiments required of them as dancers. Their tutelage was conducted under eminent performers of the arts who were either the established temple dancers known as “Devadasis” (Servants of the Gods) or ‘Rajadasis’ those who were the courtesans of the state and kingdom. The art form originated in the southern part of India in the state of Tamil Nadu and flourished greatly under the patronage of several kings some of whom were composers of the poetry and musical compositions that the dancers performed to and have handed down this rich tradition by word of mouth.

Vocal

sivakumar — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 19:24:18 +0000

Carnatic music is considered one of the oldest systems of music in the world. Carnatic music is a very complex system of music that requires much thought, both artistically and technically. The basis of Carnatic music is the system of ragas (melodic scales) and talas (rhythmic cycles). There are seven rhythmic cycles and 72 fundamental ragas. All other ragas are considered to have originated from these. An elaborate pattern exists for identifying these scales, known as the 72 Melakarta Raagas. Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri, the three saint composers of the 19th century, have composed thousands of krithis that remain fresh among musicians and rasikas. The most important specialty of Karnatic music is its highly devotional element. The concept of the compositions are set entirely against a devotional outline. The notes of Carnatic music is “sa-ri-gaa-ma-pa-da-ni”. These are abbreviations of the real names of swaras which are Shadjam, Rishabham, Gandharam, Madhyamam, Panchamam, Dhaivatam and Nishaadam.

Jallikattu

sivakumar — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 15:54:21 +0000

Jallikattu (Tamil: சல்லிகட்டு, challikaṭṭtu) also known as Eruthazhuvuthal (Tamil: ஏறுதழுவல், ērutazhuval) or Manju virattu (Tamil: மஞ்சு விரட்டு), is an event held in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day. Bulls are bred specifically by people of the village for the event and attended mainly by many villages’ temple bulls (koil kaalai). A temple bull is like the head of all cattle in a village; special rituals will be performed for this temple bull during important days. During the event, prizes are announced to encourage the youth to participate. After the event, tamed weak bulls are used for domestic activities and agriculture, meanwhile the untamable strong bulls are used for breeding the cows. It is said to be ingenious where both sport and preservation of Ecosystem works well together.

Jallikattu has been known to be practised during the Tamil classical period. It was common among the ancient people aayars who lived in the ‘Mullai’ geographical division of the ancient Tamil country. In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India banned the practice, citing animal welfare issues.

Traditional Tamil

sivakumar — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 04:57:53 +0000

South Indian Tamil Meal

South Indian Tamil food is served in banana leaf. It’s beleived that banana leaf contains medicinal values and eating on it improves the health. With the rice centered and the other dishes adorned the banana leaf. After finishing lunch or breakfast, folding the banana leaf towards the front is considered as good habit.
South Indian foods contain Curry leaves, mustard, Asafetida, pepper and peppercorns, tamarind, chillies and fenugreek seeds are the main ingredients and these contain medicinal values.Tamil Nadu is one of the important states of South India. Apart from its rich cultural past it reminds us that unique taste of yummy cuisines such as Idlis, Uttappam, Dosas, Rassam, Sambhar which are so popular here and also throughout the world.Kerala is another significant state of South India. The basic food of Keralites is fish combined with steamed rice of usually large size grains.Andhra Pradesh is famous for its hot and spicy cuisine.
We can see the Mughal’s impact in the Andhra deishes. Generally it is too hot and spicy.Karnataka food has mysore, dharwad, mangalore shimoga, coorg, and konkani styles of cooking and each of this has its distinct character and taste Its in not too spicy. More sugar and Jaggery will be added to Karnataka cuisine.South Indian Recipes are great in taste and good to health and accepted world wide as medicinal foods.
South Indian Recipes – the only recipe that has 4 values. They are “Tasty”, “Healthy”, “Variety” and “Medicinal value”. Yes! The preparation of South Indian food may require excess oil for example, Bajji, Vadai, Bonda and some of the items has high fat such as Potato fry, Banana Chips, and some items are too spicy say Kara kuzhambu, Milaga kuzhambu. But still there is a way to control and balance.
The neutralizing agent is also served with South Indian recipes. The neutralizer balances and neutralizes oil, fat and spicy. And even it heals food poison. Generally the neutralizer may be a Pepper rasam, Horse gram soup, Idli podi (Fine ground various roasted grams), Banana flower bud salad, Plantain stem salad, Palm Jaggery, Ginger Tea etc Rasam help digest easily and quickly when food item is prepared using excess oil. Garlic heals any acidity and indigestion problem.
Horse gram dissolves fat.
Generally Idli podi is prepared with excess red chilli and to balance that spicy sesame seed is also added equally.
Sesame has sesamolin that keeps human young and energetic.
Red chilli is also burns fat. When hot and spicy food causes severe stomach pain and that can be controlled by Banana flower bud salad.
The banana flower bud is also heals stomach pain due to heat of the body. When tomato based food consumed with ground water (not filtered) that may cause kidney stones.
Regular consumption of Platain stem salad prevents formation of kidney stones. It also dissolves smaller kidney stones and it is proven.
Recipe such as Pongal (sweet rice) made with Palm jaggery heals stomach pain.
Ginger tea helps digest fast when heavy food like pongal with Urad dal vadai.

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