TODDY

A toddy shop is a drinking establishment seen in some parts of India (articularly Kerala) where palm toddy, a mildly alcoholic beverage made from the sap of palm trees, is served along with food. The food served with toddy is very spicy and hot with chilies. The main dish is tapioca with red fish curry. Palm wine also called kallu(Tamil: கள்ளு, Malayalam: കള്ള്), palm toddy, or simply toddy (Hindi: ताड़ी), is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, date palms and coconut palms. In the Indian state of Kerala, toddy is used in leavening (as a substitute for yeast) a local form of hopper called the vellai Appam. Toddy is mixed with rice dough and left over night to aid in fermentation and expansion of the dough causing the dough to rise overnight, making the bread soft when prepared. In Kerala, toddy is sold under a licence issued by the excise department and it is an industry having more than 50,000 employees with a welfare board under the labour department.

Visit to Toddy Shops

During your boat cruise or while on a trip across the village, one thing that may have caught your attention is a small thatched building with a black board outside with ‘Kallu’ written boldly in white. This is a traditional toddy shop in Kumarakom, though now many have tiled or concrete roofs. Toddy is the indigenous Kerala beverage extracted from the inflorescence of the coconut tree.  Tourists could, on request, be taken to see toddy tappers extracting sap by incising the inflorescent stalk using a special knife that they carry on a hand-made, natural waist belt. The toddy is collected in a clay pot. Freshly extracted toddy is sweet in taste and is called madhura kallu - sweet toddy. On fermentation, the sap will taste sour and will then give a kick. The sweet toddy is used as an ingredient in kallappams or hoppers, a dish made in Kerala houses with rice flour. The toddy shops in Kumarakom are often furnished with wooden benches and tables and the liquor is served in clay pots. Malayalam film songs or music from the radio is played in most places. The consumption of alcohol by women does not go down well with the largely male-dominated society of Kerala and so, women stay away from these places. One cannot talk about a toddy shop without mentioning the lip-smacking food there. The well-flavoured curries are known for their tanginess and spiciness, probably to appeal to the customers in various states of inebriation. Rice, mashed tapioca and fish curry, crab curry, mussels fry, Pearl Spot baked in banana leaf, frog leg curry, duck roast, spicy pickles and various delicious meat preparations are available in most of the toddy shops. A hot, spicy dish in combination with the sweet or sour brew is a great combination. Kallu (toddy) as we call it in South India “Mula pal kainechto kola pal”. This line means after mother’s milk its coconut flower milk. Once upon a time in Kerala kids were given fresh toddy or un-fermented toddy, when they are ready for external feeding after breast feeding. It is one of the super food. Kerala governments law for extracting kallu and selling was restricted in the year 1957 to only licensed person and they have to give a particular amount to the society where kallu is collected and later distributed to local Kallu shap (local bars which specialize only in toddy and serve it along with delicious dishes). Along with fresh toddy Kerala also lost the palm jaggery. For preparing palm jaggery fresh toddy is required. Kallu is also offered to Gods. While performing Theyyam, person who enacts the God fasts for almost a day and only consumes Kallu or tender coconut water. Toddy can be served as neera which is sweet with no-alcohol or basically fresh sap which can be sealed in tetra packs, Traditionally people added lime(chunnab in malayalam/ chuna in hindi) to fresh toddy so fermentation doesn’t happen. It can be sold as kallu which is a little sour beverage after fermenting the sap. Naturally it cannot become as strong as wine. Wine was consumed in olden days know as arrack which needs distillation. Toddy taste best when stored in mud vessel. The Indian Union Muslim League(IUML), Christian fathers and social organisations desperately want to stop the easy availability of toddy or liquor in Kerala. I would suggest please stay away from toddy. I feel they represent Kerala. Why don’t you stop slaughter of cows??? or Stop foreign liquor??? Far more people die because of eating red meat and unhealthy eating pattern than consuming bad alcohol. Kallu is the most difficult thing to be produced. It is a agrarian activity. Tappers have to be hard working and healthy, such people can only perform this dangerous job of climbing many palm trees in a day. Which is mostly done by the ezhava or thiyya(north malabar) community , which is 40 percent of Kerala’s population. It is well documented that in parts of isolated islands where toddy is extracted, when crops failed, for months people survived on this drink. A average healthy coconut tree will have 25 to 30 coconuts in a bunch and like that there would be 5 to 6 bunch at a time. Note: every month coconut palm produces a new bud so ideally you can harvest 1 bunch of coconut every month(production is throughout the year in Kerala). For example if we take just 5 bunch and in each bunch 25 coconut are present that totals to 125 coconuts. If each coconut has half liter of water(note it will be more than that if the tree is healthy) there will be 62.5 liters of filtered mineral water. We are not included the moisture content of leaves and stem. So imagine the amount of water coconut tree pulls up and stores! Step by Step Process of Toddy Tapping done in Kerala Described below is my first hand experience of how kallu (cull)is extracted atleast in Kannur. First step is to pick a blooming coconut tree. It should be bearing healthy coconut fruit buds. The tree is then leased from the owner. Direct selling of toddy by tree owners or toddy tappers is illegal in Kerala. If caught in the act the tapper will loose his license and also buyers will be prosecuted. If you are interested in tasting the real toddy, you should approach a tapper in secret if he is kind you may get the original stuff unadulterated and fresh. Now the palm tree is tied with coconut husks with the help of coir rope on every two feet interval. Making the tree a ladder. There are some tappers who use coir rope to climb daily which should be avoided because when a tapper climbs on a tree thrice daily the tree trunk becomes glossy like a tile. After some time it proves difficult to climb up and down. Then new unopened buds of the palm flower are cut leaving 95% remaining on the tree with a knife(katiaal). The whole bud is then beaten and pound with a hammer(traditionally femur bone of deer was used for this process), bud gets swollen. Each new bud can be used until it ceases to provide sap or if it gets infected. A good bud usually last for maximum 2 months. Then the cut bud is bound with tender coconut leaf or a rope ahead of the cut part, and paste of taali leaf is applied on the cut portion. It keeps bacterial infection away and makes the bud ooze sap, also not allowing it to go dry and heal. Some people use a certain type of clay instead, which is ideally not good for the palm. The clay helps in extracting more toddy than the traditional way, toddy smells and tastes a little different when clay is applied as per experts. After beating the new flower bud for a week the flower begins to ooze sap which can be collected twice daily. The same steps are repeatedly daily– cutting, beating, taali leaf paste application. Paani or the mud vessel is fitted in a fashion covering half of the bud so that the sap drips into the vessel. Some tappers even cover the mud vessel mouth with gunny sack material so insects don’t get in the vessel. Toddy Tapper(Chethukaran) has to climb the same palm tree thrice daily – in the morning and evening to collect toddy and in the afternoon to slow down the sap from dripping as it helps the palm to recover. However not every one practice this method. A lot of insects get attracted to this drink, some of which are very poisonous like Asian hornet. Insects pose a lot of danger to the toddy tapper. The beverage is then filtered before it is ready to be served. 1 to 1.5 Liters of toddy can be extracted from each palm tree. Traditionally toddy was stored and collected in calabash vessel(chernga as we call it in Kerala) or lauki in hindi. Note: You can add a piece of white pumpkin or little edible lime/Calcium hydroxide to stop fermentation of toddy, so you can keep it fresh for a long run. Some products derived out of toddy are: palm jaggery, vinegar, arrack and yeast In Kerala toddy is used as a substitute instead of yeast for making vellai appam(soft fluffy dosa). Use suspended thick syrupy toddy settled at the bottom of toddy container which is then mixed with rice dough and left overnight for fermentation making the appam soft. Toddy ferments automatically after sun rise. Amount of alcohol present in toddy is up to maximum 8% on the 3rd day of toddy extraction. After which acetic fermentation process starts, which brings the alcohol content down. Fresh extracted sap will have very negligible amount of alcohol. If allowed to ferment beyond 3 days, it will yield a strong acidic vinegar which has a short shelf life. Toddy should be of good quality and unadulterated. Nothing should be added to increase its intoxication. But these days local toddy shops mix spirit or other intoxicating substances in toddy. Because most malayalees need high spirit in liquor, if not then why spend 45 rupees per liter on toddy? So beware when you drink toddy from an unknown kallu shap. Because demand is high and supply is very less. Ideally Kallu shap disconnected from city and town should have unadulterated toddy. Palm toddy is sedative it also mild laxative and also stomachic. note: In the above image fresh toddy is very light in color and should flow like water.  Fermented toddy will have dark shade of off-white color and will be slightly viscous.  These days toddy extraction is facing challenges. Chethukaran are becoming endangered species. The younger generation is not interested in learning the art of extracting toddy, nor do they climb coconut trees to pluck coconuts. One of the reasons is Kerala has progressed since last few years, and people are more inclined to work in offices or industries than in coconut groves or fields. Coconut climbers have always been looked down. Kerala has more females as compared to males however climbers find it real difficult to get a bride. Most females don’t want their man to have scars formed while climbing on trees and other fact being it is a risky job. Some tappers die while climbing on the crown of the palm or when a coconut leaf dislodges while the tapper is resting on it. As per stats 75 percent of the existing tapper in the cities and rural areas have joined construction industry. This is true I personally know few who have taken this step. As tapping earns them very less compared to other areas. Government agencies and policy makers are ignoring coconut climbers big time and looking for mechanized options. It is definitely not possible to replace a human beings at-least for toddy tapping. There are many reason just to name a few. Identify mature coconut. Even experienced climber have to check some times by knocking on the nut. When harvesting the coconuts. In urban and most rural house will have flower pots and other non movable things which can get damaged if coconuts fall on them. Only expert pluckers can cut and through the bunch at other place. High maintenance of modern machinery used for plucking. Non sustainable (soaring oil prices) High time they realise, encourage and support people who climb trees. Give them good facilities and medical insurance. Kerala government has at-least started and initiative to stem this rot. Toddy is now available in tetra packs. “Gods own Drink” Kerasudha is a government initiative to get toddy in tetra packs. So everyone can enjoy toddy and not get zonked. But this is only on papers I feel. As I have not yet seen toddy in tetra pack in market. Easy said than done. It takes months of practice and patience to perfect the art of toddy tapping and harvesting coconuts.

Kallu Shappu Style Njandu Curry

Ingredients to roast the crab ( To serve 4 people)

To cook the crab

1. 5 lb fresh crab

   water enough to dip the crab pieces

   salt enough to taste

   To roast the crab

21/2 tbs chilli powder

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp chopped ginger

3 large onions thinly sliced

1 tsp meat masala

41/2 tsp pepper powder

3 large tomatoes chopped

8 tsp coconut oil 

3 green chilies slit open

salt enough to taste

15 curry leaves

 

 Preparation

 Cleaning the crab

 Cut the crabs into two pieces from center and detach the legs. Then clean the pieces in running tap water for a while. Take water in a large bowl  and add some salt and turmeric powder in it. Put the crabs in this water for 10 to 15 minutes to clean it well. Take out the crab and drain it.

  Cooking the crab

1. Take some water in a large vessel and boil it (water enough to dip all the crab pieces).

2. Add some salt in the water.

3. Once the water starts boiling, add the cleaned crab pieces in it.

 After 10 to 12 minutes, you see that the black spots on the crabs turn orange. 

This shows that the crabs are cooked.

4. Remove the crab from the water and keep aside. You can use this water for roasting the crabs. 

   If you are using this water for roasting,

   you should be careful about the salt you add in the masala as we alreay added some salt in this water .

   Roasting the crab

1. Heat 5 tsp of coconut oil in a kadai.

2. Add chopped garlic and ginger to the oil and saute until the raw smell goes.

3. Add the sliced onions and green chilies to it and saute for 5 to 6 minutes.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes to it and stir well.

5. Once the tomatoes are cooked, add enough salt, chili powder, coriander powder, meat masala and 2 tsp of coconut oil and stir well for 5 minutes.

6. Now the gravy will be somewhat thick and at this stage add the 4 tsp of pepper powder and stir well for another 2 minutes.

7. Now put the cooked crab pieces into this gravy and stir well for 2 to 3 minutes so that all the crabs get covered by the masala. (Before putting the crabs pieces to the masala, break the cooked crab shells a bit to make sure the flavors get mixed. Be careful not to break it too much).

8. At this stage, add 1/2 cup of water to this and stir well until the gravy is thick (Make sure it is not too dry).

9. Now add 1/2 tsp of pepper powder, curry leaves and 1 tsp of coconut oil and stir well for 1 minute and turn off the stove. 

 Toddy Shop Fish Curry

 Seer Fish / Shark - 1/2 kg

 Chillypowder - 2 tsp

CorianderPowder - 4 tsp

Garlic pods(big) - 5

(chopped)

Onion - 3 -4 nos

(cut into long slices)

Fenugreek(Uluva) - 1/4 tsp

Kukum star(Kodum Puli) - 2-3 pieces

Pepperpowder - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 3-4 tsp

Salt - 3 tsp

Tomato (chopped) - 2 -3 nos

Curryleaves -10 nos

 Directions to make Toddy Shop Fish Curry :

1) Soak chilly powder, coriander powder and salt in a cup.

2) Heat 3 tsp of oil in a non stick pan.

3) Add fenugreek seeds and stir till they become dark brown.

4) Add garlic and stir for 2 minutes.

5) Add onions and stir again.

6) Add chopped tomatoes and stir fry.

7) After 5-6 minutes, put the soaked paste. Reduce the flame and stir well for 5-10 minutes so

   that everything gets mixed well and oil gets separated.

8) Add 3-4 cups of water, stir and boil it.

9) When it starts to boil, slip in the fish pieces along with the kukum star.

10) After 10-15 minutes, the gravy will thicken to a dark brown colour and the fish will get cooked

    as well.

:-  DON`T STIR AFTER THE FISH IS COOKED.

11) Add curry leaves.

:-  Serve the dish after 1-2 minutes.