The Ancient Digestive LEGIYAM

Abundant with medicinal properties of ancient herbs and spices, this LEGIYAM promises Digestion.

Festival celebrations are incomplete without a smorgasbord of delectable items. Keeping these not so bite sized indulgences in mind, the traditional South Indian dish that has come to be identified exclusively with the festival LEGIYAM, was introduced.

Abundant with medicinal properties of ancient herbs and spices like cumin seeds, Jeera, coriander seeds and ginger, this LEGIYAM is made as a potion that promises digestion. The herbs are rich in anti oxidants and help neutralize the ghee and buttered sachets that might meander through or arteries.

This LEGIYAM always consumed before devouring the all festival treats.

Recipe :

Ingredients :

1)     Peppercorn – 2 tsps

2)     Cumin seeds Jeera – 2 ½ tsps

3)     Coriander seeds – 2 ½ tsps

4)     Bishop weed seeds / Ajwain – 25 grams / 3 tbsps

5)     Dry or fresh ginger – 30 gm

6)     Cardamom – 1gm / 2 to 3

7)     Nutmeg or jaadhikkai - ½ piece

8)     Ghee or clarified butter – 100 gms

9)     Kanda Thipli (Desavaram Pipala Mool)  - 10 to 12 sticks.

10) Crumbled Jaggery (equal to the amount of ground paste) – 50 grams

Method :

1. Smash all the dry ingredients in a mortar and pestle.
2. Pour some water and soak them for about 10 – 15 mts.
3. Grind into a soft paste in a blender.
4. Add ½ cup water and thoroughly mix up the paste and place in a heavy bottomed wok or vessel.
5. Cook it on a slow flame, stirring it continuously with a flat ladle so that no lumps are formed.
6. When the water is nearly evaporated adds the crumbled jaggery and stirs it in.
7. Add spoonfuls of ghee and keep stirring.
8. When the LEGIYAM comes together in a ball and the ghee is separated from it, turn off the heat.
9. Stir in the honey and store in an airtight container. Take 1 ball of 10 gram of this LEGIYAM      whenever you need for digestion.

What is sleeping sickness?

Sleeping sickness is a very serious disease that attacks men and animals in Africa.

It is an infection caused by parasites called “trypanosomes.” These parasites, or germs, are carried by the tsetse fly which is common in many parts of central Africa.

The tsetse fly may pick up the parasites when it bites a sick man or animal. The trypanosomes enter the fly’s stomach and begin to multiply. They then pass through the salivary glands which supply juice to the fly’s mouth. Here they develop into forms which can infect man.

When the fly bites a man, the parasites are injected beneath the skin. A tiny sore spot appears. During the next three weeks trypanosomes begin to circulate in the blood. About this time the infected man begins to have fever that comes and goes. Often, the skin breaks out in a rash. The brain becomes slightly swollen. In some parts of Africa the infection sometimes stops here and the sick man usually recovers.

But in Rhodesia and Malawi, the disease takes a more serious form. Within a year, the patient begins to show signs that his brain has become affected. He develops severe headaches. He becomes excited very easily. He begins to act in an uncontrollable way.

Then comes to the next stage, He becomes very quiet. And finally, he goes to sleep and stays asleep. He is in a coma, which means he is unconscious. He still has fever. Finally, he becomes paralyzed, his body wastes away, and he dies.

The reason the person becomes unconscious is that an infection takes place in a very important part of the body the brain and men-inges, which is the covering of the brain. There are many things that may cause an infection, or inflammation, of the brain. Such a condition is called “encephalitis.” African sleeping sickness is really a severe form of encephalitis.

By the way, the tsetse fly does not pass on the germ of this disease to its offspring. So sleeping sickness would die out-if there were no sick animals or men for the fly to bite!