Monday, April 23, 2012

Tengai, Coconut

No part of a “tengai” is ever wasted, or so my grandmother used to tell me. You can drink the coconut ‘milk’, or use the ‘meat’ in your cooking. Coconut oil not only adds flavour to any dish, it is a great hair conditioner, and I massage my legs with it after a long run. 
Husks are used for scrubbing dishes, and for making rope. The leaves are used to thatch huts, and the trunks make resilient beams. You can even climb them for fun. 
Any wonder that people from coastal regions will never want to give up their ‘tengai’?
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described.  In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a  drabble of exactly 100 words.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Natasha - So many things from one simple fruit. Amazing how versatile it is and I love the fact that no part of it is wasted.

Chuck said...

When I was in Fiji last year (I still love saying that) the island we stayed on was secluded from most civilized things. The natives used coconuts just as you mention. There was even a 2 hour demonstration by one of the locals on how many uses his tribe had for the coconut and the tree from which they came. It was fascinating.

Rekha said...

I am enjoying the elaneer thanks to the scorching summer.

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