Kochechi’s Product of the Week- Arrowroot Powder

Arrowroot powder (koova podi) brings nostalgic memories of my childhood days, especially the Christmas holidays, which usually coincide with the Thiruvathira celebration. Thiruvathira falls in the month of Dhanu as per Malayalam calendar. The cool breeze accompanied by the chirping of the birds welcomes us early in the morning. The wind blows almost all the day, filling the courtyard with dry leaves and creating a romantic milieu all around. During night, we watch the full moon in all its glory. Thiruvathira falls on the full moon day. The nights are colder too.  

The most interesting part of the Christmas vacation those days is the wooden swing that we set up in the backyard. The swing was made of coir rope and coconut leaf stalk. Interestingly, it is the season when tamarind ripens. While taking each one’s turn on the swing, we also enjoyed eating the yummy tamarind, fresh and sweet, as it fell on the ground. During afternoon, we relaxed on the nature’s couch – the fallen trees – and that’s the time when all romantic thoughts pour in.

Another interesting hobby those days was bird watching. Our backyard had a good collection of trees, so we would also get to watch birds very often. At least 20 varieties of them! My favorites among them were bull bull, Indian paradise flycatcher (nakamohan), Indian golden oriole (manjakili), wood pecker, magpie robin (vannathikili) and more.

Coming to Thiruvathira celebration: I loved this festival not because of its religious importance but for the sumptuous menu that brought all the seasonal items on the table. It starts with tender coconut early in the morning, followed by bananas, papad and the grand puzhukk (a preparation using chickpea and different types of tubers like yam, taro, kachil, etc. Then the elite one: the koova payasam.

The arrowroot payasam is prepared using the powdered arrowroot, jaggery and coconut. We also add cumin powder to get the special flavor. Sometimes we use cardamom instead. I like the thin constituency for the payasam. It also tastes special when consumed with papad. Simply crunch the papad and spread it over the payasam, and enjoy the sweet, salty savor that will stay on your palate for the entire year.

Arrowroot has several health benefits. It’s the energy drink for babies and elderly especially. I find the best use of arrowroot powder during summer, when I sweat uncontrollably. The arrowroot powder cools your system and cleanses the body. It gives you good sleep at night. It is the home remedy for many illnesses like loose motion in children and urinary infection.  The low-glycemic value makes it the ideal food for diabetic patients. The gluten-free arrowroot is good source of protein, fibre and minerals. To know more, read WebMD or Wikipedia.

Preparations for Thiruvathira celebration starts at least a week before. That’s when we collect the tubers like koova, chembu, kavathu, etc. Preparing koova podi is a strenuous task. As the roots penetrate deep in the soil digging the tubers out is a tiresome job.  My mother used to do that meticulously.  If you miss the target, the roots will be cut, so you won’t get them fully out. After the excavation, we all sit together to clean the skin and then crush them into paste. We use the traditional grinding stone (ural) to grind the koova, and then sieve the paste using a clean cotton cloth. While sieving, we dip the cloth in the water taken in a big round vessel, so that the powder passes through the small pores of the cloth and gets settled at the bottom of the pot. We keep the water for several hours to get the powder settled completely. The water is poured out, refilled again, stirred well, and the settling is done once again. The second round of cleaning ensures that all the impurities are removed. The process can be repeated till the water turns clear. The final process involves drying the powder under light shade. Keep stirring in between to avoid lumping. Small lumps will be there, but that’s not an issue as far as the powder is dried properly. Thus, the entire process takes 4-5 days time during sunny December. To avoid getting dirty while drying, we also use plastic net or soft clothes to cover the drying pan.

Try Kochechi’s 100% pure arrowroot powder to enjoy the nostalgic taste of your home-made healthy koova payasam..

Rajani Baburajan

Co-founder, Kochechi, a brand from Fresh Foods Kerala