Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Sulaimani

Sulaimani

 A steaming glass (not cup) of black tea with a dash of lime added to it. The rest of the world calls it black tea and we Keralites call it ‘Sulaimani’. Why is it called so? It’s in the history and on google. Let’s not fret about it.

This beverage owes a bit of its popularity to the veteran comedian of Malayalam cinema, Mr. Mamukkoya. In many a films, he has mentioned or offered this beverage with much love. Much recently, ‘Sulaimani’ made a comeback with a bang through the much loved film, ‘Ustad hotel’ too.

It is usually had as refreshment at any time of the day. We also have it after a heavy meal like a full on Malabari chicken biriyani. Quite often, people add a dash of lime also to it.

When you visit Kerala, make it a point to have a pint of sulaimani. Do not have it in those fancy mugs. You must have it in small glasses as one in the pic and have it by holding the rim of the glass allowing the steaming vapor to refresh you.


Kerala monsoon, a glass of ‘sulaimani’ and a group of friends to chat with. Believe you me, it is as close to heaven one can get!

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

Saturday, 19 July 2014

Varatte?

Varatte?


Of the many quirks of mallus, one is the way we bid good byes. There are various ways of bidding adieu. One such is by saying ‘varatte’. This word actually means ‘Shall I come?’. Imagine a person sitting in your home for about an hour and just about when he/she decides to leave and you show them to the door. Then this person says ‘Shall I come’? What can be more odd than that? But such are we malayalees J.

There are other ways also of saying good bye. One is to say ‘appo shari’. This would roughly translate to ‘okey then’. About the various usages of that, we will see in another blog J. Another way is to say ‘Kaanam’ . This means ‘We will see’ literally and which actually means ‘We will meet again’.

There are also a group of mallus who say it in English. But they say "Good bye" in a way which is made popular by the man in the picture. He is Mr.Sreekantan Nair, an extremely talented and popular talk show host who has his unique way of saying "Good Baaayyyy!!" :).

The best one which I have come across is when one says “Poyittu varam” which means I will come back again.

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees