Karkidaka Kanji at Gandhi Bhavan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the birth of ‘Karkidakom’ month, ‘kartikaga kanji’ packets are back in shops. But the Naturopathy Club members of the Kerala Gandhi Smarak Nidhi forbid the use of such kits if you are one for healthy living habits. The reason why they have started distributing freshly-made ‘karkidaka kanji’ at Gandhi Bhavan from Monday.According to Naturopathy Club organiser Nanukuttan Nair, many of the herbs and leafy vegetables are not just food, but medicines too. Kerala has remained a treasure house of herbal medicines for so long because our forefathers could make out every herb and every leaf. Not anymore, he said."You get the herbs all grinded and packed in packets and some people even store it in refrigerators to be used for a whole week. It mars the real objective of the ‘kanji’. It is to take this message to the public and to give them fresh ‘kanji’ that we are doing this,’’ Nanukuttan Nair said.His wife and a staunch naturopathy believer Saraswathy Bai is behind the naturopathy cooking at Gandhi Bhavan which they had done last year also. She uses various leafy vegetables to be make the curry to be taken with the ‘kanji’.There are a couple of herbs like the ‘poovamkurunila’ and ‘manithakali’ which are boiled with rice and coconut extract added. A little bit of salt and cumin powder are added to give it that desirable taste of a medicinal ‘kanji’."It is the ‘dasapushpam’ which means ten herbs that are used for the ‘kanji’. For those coming here, we will give them tips to make the ‘kanji’ at home,’’ he said.According to the couple, the leafy vegetables are such a storehouse of vitamin A and B, iron and calcium that the goodness of it is expected to remain with the person for the next 11 months.So, before the ‘panja’ month comes to an end, health conscious people out there can try having ‘karkidaka kanji’ straight out of the kitchen at Gandhi Bhavan.