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It’s useless without some tasty food…
This is the idea not only in those who live in Sri Lanka but also in many people who have come here from there. Even though they live in a Western country like Canada, most Sri Lankans use Sri Lanka’s own natural spices in cooking their meals, taking the delicious taste as the main consideration. Even if you live in a country where you can taste a lot of different foods belonging to different cultures of the world by walking down the highway for a few minutes, many people say that the heart and stomach do not feel the same taste as eating some rice with a spicy curry. Because it is usual and loved.
Examining related sources reveals that Sri Lankans have been using spices since ancient times in preparing their meals. At that time, many types of food were cooked and eaten with enough spices and sour onions for seasoning. It is mentioned in the book ‘Pujavalia’ that among the spices used for flavoring the food were chillies, cumin, mustard, siddiguru, vahpul etc.The ‘Maha Vamsa’ mentions that King Mihindu III filled bowls of pepper, tippili, betel nut, tipal etc. for the Pamshukulika bhikkhus. This shows that Sri Lankans have been using spices for flavoring food as well as medicinally since ancient times.
In the past, Sri Lanka has attracted the attention of traders and foreign traders because there were many rare and valuable spices unique to our country. The notes show that the Arab traders have mainly brought cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, vasavasi and rupees etc. from Sri Lanka.
Although it is widespread in some countries of the world today, the birthplace of the cinnamon plant, which is considered one of the most important crops among spices, is Sri Lanka. Our country’s cinnamon is still known as the best variety of cinnamon in the Far East. It is mentioned in the Bible that cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka to Palestine in the period before Christ.
Although spices are considered a minor export crop in Sri Lanka today, there is evidence that they were exported on a large scale in the past. Spices are widely used in South Asian cooking. Although many people use spices to make food taste and smell, its medicinal properties are also immense. Enzymes in spices directly contribute to the process of making digestion easier by working with vitamins and other enzyme components in various foods. After seasoning Some foods become soft (meat) and some foods are tough (certain vegetables and fish) as a result of this reaction. Similarly, spices are great for food preservation.
It is normal to have adverse effects from taking too much of anything. Therefore, by knowingly using the spices while adding them to the food, good results can be obtained, but excessive use can cause stomach ulcers, acid reflux (gastritis) etc.
- Three Five: ‘Thunapaha’, which is prepared by adding several types of spices while cooking, is one of the most indispensable condiments in the Sri Lankan kitchen. In the past, our grandmothers and mothers used to prepare thunpaha at home, but today we can buy packets of thunpaha immediately after going to the store, so many housewives do not even know what these two words three+paha contain.
- Three: The three include salt, sour and chili. Although chili and salt are not different forms here, there are several ways to add sourness. Tamarind, sorghum and lime are some of the sours that can be added like this.
- Five: Suduru, Fenugreek, Coriander, Turmeric and Uluhal belong to the five. Even though it is known in common parlance as three-paha, only materials belonging to ‘five’ are used in making the three-paha mixture. The materials belonging to ‘thuna’ are used separately for the desired seasoning of the curries. The qualities of spices belonging to the three five are as follows.
- Three: The three include salt, sour and chili. Although chili and salt are not different forms here, there are several ways to add sourness. Tamarind, sorghum and lime are some of the sours that can be added like this.
- Five: Suduru, Fenugreek, Coriander, Turmeric and Uluhal belong to the five. Even though it is known in common parlance as three-paha, only materials belonging to ‘five’ are used in making the three-paha mixture. The materials belonging to ‘thuna’ are used separately for the desired seasoning of the curries. The qualities of spices belonging to the three five are as follows.
- Three: The three include salt, sour and chili. Although chili and salt are not different forms here, there are several ways to add sourness. Tamarind, sorghum and lime are some of the sours that can be added like this.
- Five: Suduru, Fenugreek, Coriander, Turmeric and Uluhal belong to the five. Even though it is known in common parlance as three-paha, only materials belonging to ‘five’ are used in making the three-paha mixture. The materials belonging to ‘thuna’ are used separately for the desired seasoning of the curries. The qualities of spices belonging to the three five are as follows.
- Fenugreek and Fenugreek: In the ancient Ayurvedic texts, it is mentioned that ‘duru’ is beneficial for all human ailments from birth to death. Sudus, said to have been used to prepare mummies in Egypt, have been found in use as far back as the Roman and Greek periods. Suduru is called ‘jeeraka’ in Sanskrit because it helps in digestion. It is also known as ‘Sihaduru’ due to its quality which is not limited to a spice. Sihaduru means ‘the durum of the pure’.
Sudu is also used in beauty and is beneficial for external diseases of the body such as body inflammation, inflammation of the soles, allergies, skin blisters, body itching etc. and for internal diseases such as indigestion, uterine diseases, anorexia, stomach diseases, asthma, cough, and lung related diseases. Sudu can be called as a medicinal spice.
Suduru, fenugreek, etc., because all types of cumin contain natural antioxidants, the body’s immunity is developed, and many diseases can be easily prevented from it.
Coriander.
The Ayurvedic book ‘Charaka Samhita’, which has a history of over a thousand years, mentions the properties of coriander and it must be said that coriander has a very important place in local Ayurveda. In local medicine, ‘Kustumburu’ is a word for coriander. A Sanskrit word, its Sinhala meaning is ‘disease spreader’.
It is said in Ayurveda that by taking cilantro as a drink, which is literally a cure for diseases, the three doshas in the body such as Vata, Pitta and Kalu are alleviated. Coriander is beneficial for a number of internal and external diseases such as reducing inflammation in the body, quenching thirst, facilitating the digestion process, and regularizing urination.
Knowingly or unknowingly, some people in our country have the habit of giving coriander to children who do not have breast milk, but it is a great food that can provide nutrition to the baby. Because coriander contains a lot of non-harmful oils with protein.
- Turmeric: ‘Kaha’ is a powerful disinfectant with a pleasant color and a distinctive smell. Turmeric is known by various names in Ayurveda and ‘Haridra’ is one of them. In Sanskrit, Haridra means yellow.
In some Asian countries, ‘yellow’ is used culturally in many cases. Turmeric is widely used in Graha Pooja, Yantra magic, thread chanting etc. It is a custom to wash it with yellow water before tying it in Barahara. When it is a dead house, after removing the body, it is a ritual to sprinkle yellow liquid on the place where it was, but people have known since the past that it kills germs to some extent.
- fenugreek: ‘Uluhal’, which is not widely grown locally, but is commonly added to food as a spice, is a major component of thumpaha.
Uluhal contains protein, vitamin C, vitamin B12 and potassium. Uluhal has an important place in Ayurveda and is known as a very valuable medicine that ‘protects the head and body’. Uluhal, which has a bitter taste and a pleasant aroma, can be added to curries and used as a drink to benefit the body.
Diabetes patients, cholesterol patients can control those diseases with Uluhal. Recent research has confirmed that uluhal can influence the secretion of insulin. Uluhal also controls cholesterol by reducing unwanted fat in the blood.
It is a practice known by the villagers since ancient times that by boiling and drinking uluhal and garlic, it relieves asthma. Inflammatory symptoms such as swelling, redness and pain in the body are also cured by grinding Uluhal. It is very good for nursing mothers. Uluhal is also used in cosmetology especially to remove hair follicles.
