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Life In The Time Of Corona 

How To Survive Lockdown With Limited Kitchen Supplies - The Malayali Style

The impact of the not much-anticipated 21-day lockdown in India has its impact not only on the major sectors of the economy, but also on the functioning of countless Kitchens throughout the country. The day following the announcement of the Prime Minister, we witnessed the intensity with which panic buying was triggered. Panic-buying can escalate the current situation in the country to terrible levels by causing shortage of essentials.

 In India, we have a well-connected system and there is least need to freak out about necessities. Our role in the time of this pandemic is to maintain social distancing, to break the chain and to stay in quarantine. We must ensure that we step out of our houses the least possible number of times, and that too only when it is indispensable.

Coming back to kitchen, here are some kitchen tips on how to use Kerala's food staples to survive the lockdown with the minimum available.

• Rice is the Key

1. No list of Kerala's staple food is complete without rice. To have  enough stock of rice grains is a must in every Malayali family, especially if residing in Kerala. Let me share with you my Grandma's tip to ensure that your store of rice grains is actually a 'nirapara'(a traditional container of rice grains which, is always filled, and symbolises abundance). As per her advice, every time I took the required amount of grains to be boiled for our family, I  must put three handfuls of grains back into the container from which I took it. Ever since the day she shared this tip, I am following it religiously. The essence of this act is very simple. It is just a caution, a care, an insurance...a reserve for an unforeseen, uninvited dearth that may occur in future.

So the point here is to reduce your daily consumption by a negligible amount and save that to withstand the uncertain future ahead.

• Buying Groceries

2. Go out to shops only when it is urgent. Make a list of all required items and reduce the number of times you go out. Take all precautions including masks, keeping distance etc. Buy minimum. Do not put anyone else's survival at risk by emptying out the racks. Try to buy long lasting as well as vital food items.

3. Rice flour: This can make your quarantine a little better as it will take you through the indigenous taste of the South of India - Puttu, Idly, idiyappam, vada, thattai, murukku, appam, vatteppam, kozhukkatta, dosa, pidi, avulosupodi and what not.

4. Wheat flour: A wide range of cooking options are available with wheat flour - chapatti, phulkas, puri, aloo paratha, roti rolls, wheat pancakes, atta ka sheera...the list continues.

5. Dried lentils and legumes:These are real assets in the time of crisis. Stored in air-tight containers, these will remain in your kitchen for a very long time. Each and every region of India has a unique recipe with each type of parippu(dal). Thuvara parippu (toor dal) is my favourite choice. It goes into everything- sambhar, parippu curry, vada etc. It is also rich in iron, folic acid, magnesium, calcium, Vitamin B and potassium. You can have a small stock of green gram beans, black eyed beans, red lentils, bengal gram, masoor dal. urad dal, and chick pea.

6. Always keep a stock of spices. Chilly powder, turmeric powder, corriander powder, pepper to top the list.

• Handy Crisis Management

7. Fall in love with kanji(rice porridge) and kanjivellam(the water in which rice is boiled) - Boiled rice without removing the water added with a pinch of salt is the last resort that a starving Malayali cannot resist. Even if you do not have sufficient grains, you can survive on kanjivellam. It was on this that our ancestors survived in old days when prosperity was not a popular experience in Kerala.

8. Oil, preferably coconut oil, shallot, dried red chillies and salt - This is a wonderful combination to make the tastiest side-dish ever to have with kanji. Long back when I was isolated due to chickenpox, this was the only side-dish thing I had, along with kanji. So this is how it works - Crush some dried red chillies and store it. When required, take some of it, add some crushed shallots, a pinch of salt and some coconut oil(a spoon of it). Mix well.Trust me. It tastes amazing.

9. Mango/Lemon, garlic, salt and pickle powder - Make a very basic pickle with these items. Even ginger is not a must. In the absence of pickle powder, use some chilli powder. The pickle will still be fine to survive a lockdown.

10. For non-veg lovers - Go for unakkameen(dry fish) and unakkachemmeen(dry shrimp) if it is hard to do away with non-veg.

11. Pappadam - Easy to cook with considerable shelf life. 

12. Recycle Food - Use extra rice for idili, dosa, murukku, ghee fried rice etc. Use leftover chapattis for roti rolls. And try more ideas.

There is a bottom-line to all these tips. A lesson that we should all learn. You may reside in a city or a village. In a 1-BHK apartment or in a mansion in the middle of acres of land. Whatever it is, you should have minimum self-sustenance. Find some space and grow some basic vegetables. Let this go into our top to-do list in the post Covid-19 life; if we manage to survive.