The Tale of Three Trees 03: The Palm's Paradise!

Palm? Paradise? Thinking of something related to a beach? 

As the 3rd post of the series TToTT, you are here to see one of the mind blowing tree, that nature has given us. A blissful blessing indeed!

The Panai Maram!

Panai Maram or palm tree.

It is regarded as the celestial tree as every part of it is extremely useful. India (South-India particularly), dominates the world panai maram population. It is also the official State tree of Tamil Nadu now!

So what all comes inside it's 'extremely useful' list?!

I'll show you!
1.Panai Kizhangu
Tasty, healthy and nutritious as always, this 'kizhangu' is the initial stage after the palm seed is sown, further which it grows as a palm tree if not uprooted.
To make the long story short, the below picture sumps up all :)

The early stage of a panai maram and the panai kizhangu is underground. Those black heads are the ripe palm fruit that falls down and later becomes the source of growth.

Of course, it is an once-upon-a-time 'snack'! And it is still the same in villages :) 
Because of my mom, it is occasionally our snack too! 

Panai Kilangu.

2. Patha Neer
Patha neer is a sweet beverage, a juice under stable conditions if not it becomes as 'kallu' or alcoholic.Knowing how we get this is indeed an interesting story! 

Harvesting the padaneer. Source: Google.

It is collected overnight by scrapping the top of the palm trees known as 'kurumbal' (the thick portion where olai grows) and usually a collecting pot is kept beneath. Now, these pots are coated with 'sunnaambu' or calcium carbonate to prevent it from fermentation. 
Talking about it's taste, pathaneer has a unique sweet taste that is translucent and with a light white shade in it's pure form. 
Tree climbers climb for at least thrice a day(to scrap)and collect it during mornings and prepare for the next cycle of collection.
  Why mornings? Because later it accelerates fermentation due to increase in temperature.
Now this is either consumed directly as juice or it is further boiled at a larger scale and let to solidify - they're the 'karupatti' (palm jaggery) and all that we get who are super duper nutritious :) 

Padhaneer on a panai olai used as a bowl *winks*.

Karupatti.

panam kalkandu.

3. Panai Olai and Panai Art

 Leaves aren't just leaves, they're the amazing natural art materials for mind-blowing craft works.
Recently, 'plastic ban' was the talk of the town, so was the hunt for an alternative.
What if I say that this existed like a pro since a veryyy long time?and that we have forgotten?  
panai paai (floor mat), panai olai petti(basket) and yeah! that's a long list indeed.

The leaves are called the panai olai.

I am not sure if y'all have seen this...this is a 'visiri' again made from palm leaves.

Visiri. Source: Google.

Below are some of the handcrafted art from panai olai that I found online. Aren't they adorable and astonishing!

Some of the handcrafts made from palm leaves.

Below are some more baskets and other boxes woven out of panai olai.

Source: My home-PhotoSpeaks.

A kutti basket. Source: Google.

Everything is handmade and there's nothing to get surprised if you see any workshops in the near future that are highly priced for teaching us to weave them!
4. Nongu or Ice Apple
They basically keep our bodies hydrated during summer. Along with the outer part it is called the palm fruit and here the outer shell is removed- the inner jelly-like part is 'nongu'.

More than saying it has this, that and everything, all I know is, eating them will give the ability for our body to adapt to the conditions that we live in - the sub tropical region.
I believe that's the original meaning of eating right.
Maybe you can try asking your amma or aachi , they'll tell you more than what is over here!

The actual palm fruit.

Nongu or Ice apple.

5. Panam Pazham
You just saw the palm fruit. In native places, when it is well roasted they call it panam pazham. 
Honestly, it smells amazing, looks beaming inside,but tastes awful(only at first!). Yet, is a stunning source of fiber.
You just eat the yellow part like eating a chewing gum.

The roasted panam pazham.

The yellow part that we eat.

6. Panai Naar
They make 'kattil' out of it! That has an average life of around 8 years if used well. Panai 'naar' is the dried thicker part where the panai olai grows.
Panai kattil's are highly customized you know!
From specifying the length and breadth to telling how dense those naar should be, you can tailor'em so well! 

panai naar kattil. Souce: Google.

Maybe, your're thinking that how this is going to be as comfortable as your beds...that's exactly what I thought too.
Trust me, it pacifies our body so well :) :)
You know why it is important? Because it stabilizes our body temperature- it cools our body and lets our body to 'breathe' when it rests.
After knowing more about this, I wanted to have one at my home too...when I randomly googled 'panai naar kattil' it showed a price tag of 9K !!
Never ever I thought it would cost so much. As I learnt more about this, I realized that people have recently started to know more and 'want' these products.
But the sad reality? We have very less to no workforce or people who 'know' to do all these work.
One good reason is that people are becoming aware, however on the other side is that the culture is struggling to get back to life. Of course, things are lost over time...
I really wish we could uphold the remaining wealth!   

Vazhaelai quote:

அடிமை பற்ற நாடு சுதந்திரம் அடைந்துவிடும், அனால் ஒரு தேசத்தின் கலாச்சாரம், பண்பாடு மறைந்துபோனால், அது மீண்டும் புத்துயிர் பெறாது! 

~ ஸ்ரீ ராமகிருஷ்ணா விஜயம் .

Translation: A country slaved will be free someday, but if the culture of the nation disappears, it cannot be revived!

~ Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam.

Thanks a ton for reading this! Hope I added some value to your time :)
PS: Here's the link to my other posts.
Do give them a read!

PPS: Wondering what's TToTT?
Check it out here :)