Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture
Nov 5, 2022 16 tweets 8 min read Read on X
What did people eat during the Rajaraja Chola times?
What were their favorite snack?
Did they consume meat? Did they drink alcohol in celebration?

A thread!

Warning: Reading this thread could trigger the foodie in you!

#PonniyinSelvan1 Image
Image
Kalki has documented some (not ALL) of the Chola's eating habits.
Mostly through Vandhiyadhevan!

Vanthiyathevan is the hero we always wanted: he flirts well, sleeps better, and eats like a king!

He relishes the good food served by Sendhan Amudhan's mom. Image
Image
He Starts with Idiyappam and Coconut Milk, a combination straight from heaven.

Then moves on to Puliyodarai, and Corn Flour Paniyaaram.

Finishes off with curd rice.

Sumptous! Image
Image
Image
Image
Ponniyin Selvan &Poonguzhali eat the fiber rich Varagu Rice (Kodo Millet) as cooked by the mute queen Mandakini.

What about snacks?

Some of Chola snacks: Roasted peanuts with a sprinkling of fresh coconut, millet & jaggery toffee made with sea water, or spiced guava and jamun Image
Image
Image
Image
Food had moved beyond sustenance & had become a luxury for Cholas.

Records show they cultivated paddy, sugarcane, banana, brinjal, black gram, cow peas (‘karamani’) & spinach.

The phrase "Chozha Naadu Soru Udaithu" shows how fertile the land was, and droughts were unheard of. Image
Image
Their food was bereft of the current day masala.

It was healthy - with a good mix of protein, carbs, fat and vitamins.

They included ghee- good fat, as part of their food and ate all their veggies.

Some natural fruit sugar was fine too - banana, jackfruit and sugarcane. Image
Image
They relished their time preparing food. Avarai beans, cooked in tamarind gravy & served with bamboo shoot curry, is a time-consuming dish to prepare.

This dish was prized for its flavour & health benefits, & the texture, once soaked &cooked, had a rich, melt-in-the-mouth feel.
Due to abundance of sugarcanes, they savored sugar -in the form of akkara adisal (Sugar Pongal).

Their favorite snack seems to be Adhirasam, a sweet delicacy.

Fermented foods like Dosas, Appam, were regular foods too.

Post food, they had the habit of chewing Betel leaves. Image
Image
Image
Image
Of course, they did consume meat as well.

From fish fry to Tortoise/Rabbit To Roasted Peppery Goat, it was a feast.

Historians say non-vegetarian food such as ‘kari choru’ (rice & meat cooked together) was common.
Offering ‘chatti choru’ (pot rice) is still in practice in TN. Image
Both men and women seemed consumed alcohol - as a celebration.
But they were well aware of the ill effects of alcohol.

Go back 1000 years, and one could see the then TASMACs displaying warning boards in entrance: "Bali Aaveer!" (You'd d!ë)

This is documented in Pattinapaalai: Image
Image
All in all, during peace times, the Cholas savored good food, dressed up, drank alcohol, sung and danced, paid 16.66% tax, prayed to god, celebrated their king and lived with responsibility.

Live and Let Live.

A lesson 21st century could learn from history.

#Cholas #TamilNadu
If you liked this thread, please follow @labstamil for more such content.

Tag your fellow foodie friends and let them know.

RT The first tweet in the thread:
Sources:
1. Rajaraja Chozhan by Kannan: amzn.to/3UpvIq3
2. Indian Food, a historical companion: amzn.to/3sYVYvA
@krishashok @kbalakumar you might be interested in this thread on Chola period foods!
Want to read a delightful retelling of Ponniyin Selvan in 300 pages?
Want to travel along the path of Vandhiyathevan covering 100 spots with helpful google map links to guide you?
Ponniyin Selvan Route Map is the book you need to read!
Amazon Link:
amzn.to/3BG8zYW

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Tamil Labs 2.0

Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @labstamil

Dec 11
Today is Bharathiyaar's birthday.

142 years have passed & nobody even comes close to his poetic prowess.

A selfless patriot & a peerless poet, his Dharmic poems rouse nationalism, bhakti & courage in everyone.

Here are 5 places you can visit today to pay your respects! (1/6) Image
Pondicherry folks can pay a visit to this Mahakavi memorial house. Entry free.

He lived here for 10 years from 1908-18 and composed immortal poetry - Kannan Paatu and Kuyil Paatu here.

In 2022, only 500 people per month (~ 16 a day) visited here🥲

Map: maps.app.goo.gl/Y4ybJhKC2mEvdD…Image
Image
Chennaites can visit Mahakavi's memorial house in Triplicane.

He spent the latter portion of his life here. The house he lived is now a museum displaying original manuscripts.

Touching a pillar that Bharathi touched would make patriots of us all.
Map: maps.app.goo.gl/MNnE4V8pnX2WXi…Image
Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 4
You must have heard the word 'பன்னாடை' (Pannaadai) as a common insult.

This word is mentioned in 12th century Tamil grammar work 'Nannool' to illustrate the nature of a bad student.

The set of examples for top, mid & bottom tier of students has a life lesson for us all (1/6) Image
Image
Bhavanandhi Munivar, writer of Nanool classifies students into 3 tiers.

The top tier students are like swan and cow.
The mid tier students are like mud and parrot.
The bottom tier students are like broken pot, goat, buffalo and Pannaadai.

What do these examples mean? Image
Mythical swans can separate out the water from milk - it has the ability to discern useful things even out of an adulterated product.

Good students can filter out what's unnecessary.

Cows eat fast but chew slowly. A good student must get a quick download of lessons when learning, but recall it at leisure, and absorb the lessons well.Image
Image
Read 7 tweets
Nov 1
Shouldn't an army Major be remembered for his bravery rather than his caste?

Then, why are some RW handles being "casteist" in demanding an accurate portrayal of Major Mukund's roots in his excellently crafted biopic Amaran?

A thread that offers nuance on biopics (1/10) Image
First off, members of our forces - be it Indian Army, or Navy, or Air Force, these brave warriors cannot be boxed to the confines of caste, creed or religion.

They are unanimously respected for what they do - their selfless service to the nation. Not for who they're born to.
Then why are some RW handles hellbent on showing the real identity of Mukund Varadarajan - a TamBrahm?

If you're irked by it, consider this - how would Tamils have reacted if he was depicted as Major Mukund Menon - from Kochi?

Identity distortion in biopic films is wrong. Image
Read 11 tweets
Oct 20
How should Nandhan's plot have been, for Drav media to have celebrated it?

A hypothetical plot:
First of all, the film must've been titled Kamsan instead of Nandhan - notice the 'subtle' elements in the poster

(1/8) Image
First off, start the film by thanking God Almighty with such an image.

Everybody knows who this ONLY ONE God Almighty is, but still, make things explicit to be double sure. Image
Kamsan is an innocent hardworking atheist who works under Koppulingam's family.

Koppu is a naive politician but has a shrewd assistant named Parthasarathy - who keeps praising him, and instilling evil ideas in him.

When the Panchayat is announced as Reserved, he suggests Kamsan's name to Koppulingam as he'd be loyal.Image
Read 9 tweets
Oct 20
Media paints a rosy picture of "progressive" TN that doesn't even use comm based surnames.

But what's its use if ppl constantly carry c@ste in their mind?

Nandan film exposes this well, but "activists" don't support it, cuz it doesn't toe the D line at all.

An analysis (1/12) Image
Koozhpaanai - an innocent hardworking man from the downtrodden comm, is happy to serve Koppulingam's family.

Koppulingam, who has won 2 Panchayat President elections without competition, is shocked to know his village is now reserved.

He wants a "dummy" to fill his chair. Image
In the previous election, Koozhpaanai prayed to his guardian deity Nondisamy to ensure that his master Koppulingam wins without competition.

This is the norm in the village - the villagers internally decide who's their President, and only they are nominated - to win unopposed. Image
Image
Read 19 tweets
Oct 19
Boat - a 1940s Dravidian propaganda stage play, masquerading as a Tamil feature film.

A thread that reviews this film with a clear agenda (1/9) Image
On Oct 11, 1943, Japanese warplanes bombed the Madras presidency in a nighttime raid.

Fearing another attack, 9 random people get on a boat to secure themselves in mid ocean, with one univited British guest who joins them later, with a gun.

'Did they all survive?' is the plot
The 9 characters stuck on a boat are carefully chosen to represent a Mini-India.

The fisherman & his grandma help onboard a pregnant Telugu woman+ her sick son, a Sait, a regular M, a regular H, and the usual villains of Tamil cinema - a c@steist TB mama and her daughter. Image
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(