From Eden Gardens to God’s dining table! 😄

When I visited one of the Indian Hindu temples in California, I was given a ‘prasad’ (a portion of the food offered to the God), which was a bit of surprise to me. Normally the prasad distributed in India are sweets. But this prasad was spicy/sour and made of rice! It is called tamarind rice (called Puliogare in South India).

 

I wondered how the Hindu Gods developed a taste for this spicy rice! Actually, tamarind is such an essential ingredient in South Indian cuisine that a typical South Indian cannot think of cooking without tamarind!

But plant historians say that tamarind is not from India, but from Africa. They say that tamarind was known even before 500 B.C. in Egypt. 

It is believed that humans evolved from Africa. So is tamarind from Eden gardens where the Gods are supposed to have created Adam and Eve?! Probably that explains why it is God's favorite 😄

Do you know something? The very name tamarind comes from the Arab word ‘tamar hindi’ meaning Indian dates! The flesh resembles dates and there is even a sweet variety that tastes almost like dates. Even the botanical name Tamarindus indica suggests that the fruit is from India! Does it mean that the fruit moved straight from Eden Gardens to God’s dining table in India???  😄 😄