We need volunteers !

We need volunteers !

We are proud to inform you that we have added another location to the buDa Folklore Map. We are setting foot in Angadibail ,Ankola! In addition to our existing centre at Honnavar, the new one at Ankola will offer students and researchers a wider perspective on folk culture, environment and sustainable development.

While we are in the process of making the Folklore Research and Study centre at  Angadi bail functional by June 2012, we would like to have volunteers to help us set-up our new unit.

Location 

buDa folklore have come out with a new  set up @Angadibail 40km from Ankola town spread over in 16 acres of fertile land and surrounded by western Ghats and picturesque of hills.

                                     

                   Water is abundant in the form of streams and natural fountains

                      Angadibail is a perfect blend of malnad and costal weather

1. Green architecture and design - Starts in the month of   May

Existing building requires modification in way that reflects Sustainable architecture with traditional construction methods under the lens of environmental consciousness Infrastructure Building. In the area of engineering, design and architecture - We are looking for enthusiasts, specialists and professionals who can design:  an art & interaction space community kitchen and utility space , rooms / dormitories for visiting students, artisans and facilitators. and eco-friendly toilets and bathrooms.,

We want volunteers who are open to brainstorm ideas, draw-up a blueprint and guide the local folk in implementation of the plan and construction. For the construction, we would like to use locally available material to ensure it is sustainable, conducive for the local environment and cost effective.

Volunteers will be provided,

•             Simple food and basic accommodation during the stay.

•             Support of the locals in the construction activity

•             Construction material 

2. Livelihood programme – Starts in the month of   May

It is the season for kokum fruit and the local villager’s largely ignore the value of this fruit .They dry the fruit in an unhygienic way any sell in the local market for throw away prices They are not equipped with  modern processing methods to preserve the juice and bottling techniques

The seeds were used to make kokum butter which has great medicinal value and we lost this tradition.

In the area of sustainable development, engineering and food science we are looking for enthusiasts, and specialists who can help us preserve the Kokum fruit that is available in plenty in this part of the Western Ghats.

Kokum is used to make a local delicacy called solkadi and is also used to make a great cooling health drink - Kokum juice/Sherbet. These delicacies can be made round the year provided the fruit is dried and preserved in the summer months. We would like volunteers to teach and demonstrate to the local village women - hygienic, simple and cost effective ways to dry and preserve this fruit. In the long run, this could also provide an alternate means of livelihood for the village folk.
Volunteers will be provided,

•             Simple food and basic accommodation during the stay.

•             Support of the locals in the food processing activity

•             Materials required in building a simple drying unit.

The above-mentioned project – “Preserving the kokum fruit” is an urgent requirement. We would like to initiate this project as soon as possible as the fruiting season slows down by end of May.

3. Research and Documentation of the Kare okkalu community.

We are documenting the culture and folklore of kare-okkalu community who live in this belt. Individuals who know both Kannada and English and passionate about indigenous culture may apply. Individuals with a prior fieldwork experience will have an added advantage. 

Volunteers will be provided

·                     Simple food and basic accommodation during the stay.

·                     Local travelling allowance

·                  Local Guide.

4. Upcoming programmes and projects:

We also need volunteers for upcoming programmes such as

-To run community based study tour programmes mainly for schools and gap year students. The volunteers’ roles have included designing and anchoring study programs for the students and various workshops for the community.

Experience sharing

In addition to work, the volunteer will also be expected to produce an article, drawings or photo essay about an aspect of their experience and learning. This is for publication on buda website ,our blogs and publications

Please note that volunteers will have to make their travel arrangements to Ankola. Ankola is very well connected by KSRTC and private buses from Bangalore.

Individuals, who are interested in volunteering for either of the above programs, please contact us folkloreindia@gmail.com

How to reach there

In the Google map search for buD folklore or click the following URL link

http://g.co/maps/fexct

The facility

At present, there is a small outhouse with two rooms; one room is being used as kitchen. There is a siddi family looking after the place. They will cook for us and we need to provide the rations.

Culinary Trail : Part 2 - The Chronicles

It is the 14^th of March, 6:30 am. Honnavar spring morning at its best. We get a chirpy call from Aditi & Mina, they inform us that their team is waiting at SDM College. Off we go to receive them and first surprise of the day - Team of young chefs – average age being 7 years.

   

Facilitators at team buDa were undoubtedly happy to be amidst children. It was a wonderful experience to see the little ones jus woken up from their sleep trudging with their bag-packs and eyes all observant about the new surroundings and people. At the same time the team was confused, curious and wondered how these children will cope with the culinary challenges lined up for the next couple of days.

Challenge for Day 1:  Confluence at the local market

The task for the day was to visit the local market and source any vegetable or fruit or root or green leafy vegetable or nuts that they haven’t seen in Bangalore!  To start with, everybody did wonder if that is possible as Bangalore and Honnavar are still in the same state – Karnataka.   

The group was split into two teams and each team was given a budget of fifty rupees to complete the task. The teams nominated their respective treasurers to handle the money and it was agreed that everybody in the team would discuss before making the final decision on how to spend the money.

The local market was eye-candy indeed for the little ones. It was interesting to see the group dynamics and the maturity of 7 year olds in curtailing their desires of buying catapults, handmade windmills, ice candies and other colourful toys in the market. It was tough decision making for them – unappealing roots and leaves to eat Vs interesting and colurful hand made toys.

So, what did the teams buy?

Team 1: A bag full of Soppu. They were happy that they got a discount from the store and saved Rs 10 !!

Team 2: 275gms of Kokum for Kokum juice. They fell head over heels seeing the dried and shrivelled purple colour fruit. It was a unanimous decision - The brown and hairy roots lost the battle to kokum. 

Challenge for Day 2 :  –  Master Chef competition. 

3 groups - 3 different dishes – & Master Chef style of tasting. Jus that the panel didn’t have 3 but 20 tasters who would critically review and give feedback on possible changes to the recipe to suit their taste buds.

Team 1:  Was entrusted with the task of making Kai - Hallu - Kadabu.If this dish were to figure on the menu of a upscale restaurant in Bangalore, the menu would read – “Steamed cucumber and rice dumplings cooked in banana leaves and served with the coconut milk” 

With Vijaya-akka and Gowri-akka as their facilitators, the little master chefs were at it in all earnest – from grating the cucumbers and grinding the coconut on the granite stone to making the dumplings, carefully wrapping them in banana leaves and steaming them.

Team 2:  Tambulis and Kashayas.

‘Amma’ was clearly the favourite teacher among the children and this group was over joyous about having her as their facilitator. The hush–hush conversations among the children revealed that ‘Amma’ had magic in her hands. You ask them the rationale and the answer is: How else can one make thirst quencher tambulis to die for, healthy - coloured juices from flowers and bark of trees and kashayas that tasted yummy and have one wanting for more?? !!

Team 3: Soppu and Mango Pickle.

This team’s challenge was to make a side dish with the soppu they sourced from the market the previous day and make an instant mango pickle to ring in the onset of summer.

With all chopping boards and knives hijacked by other teams, this team was given the ‘thuri mane’ to use. There was competition from all in the team not just to use it but animated conversations on how their grannies use it till date in their ancestral homes/native towns.

While Nirmala-akka, the facilitator for this group was wondering her team would fare given the tough task of using the ‘thuri mane’ – they surprised her on how their tiny yet nimble fingers can slowly but steadily get through the task of chopping the greens and the mangoes.

Besides these complex tasks assigned on Day 1 & 2, the children also got a hands on experience in making:

* Huri akki undi -  Multigrain,fat and gluten free ladoos. They thoroughly enjoyed the process of grinding all the ingredients, moulding hot ladoos and popping in the fresh hot ladoos!

* Divshis - Desi version of momos. It was almost a clay-modelling class in session. The shapes and sizes that were moulded from rice flour dough were fascinating!

* Shavige - Rice Noodles. Besides the grinding stone and the ‘Thuriy mane’ the wooden ‘shavige’ maker caught their fancy. The shape of this kitchen tool reminded them of the hand pump and it intrigued them that fine rice noodles were made from the monster like thing.

* Toda Devu - Hot Crepes.  These are thin crepes made from rice flour and jaggery. The minute the thin batter is spread on the pan, folded neatly and placed on the plate in vanishes into thin air. There was stiff competition between Vijaya- akka and the chefs (who by now transformed into food tasters) on the skill front: Skill of making these crepes Vs the skill of deftly whacking away the yummy crepes from the plate. 

The remark from one such food taster, felt like an award for Vijaya-akka and Gowri-akka, ‘….these crepes are better than the ones you get in U.B.City in Bangalore.’ It also got the food tasters wondering if the chefs got the original recipe from their Portuguese or British ancestors??!!

We didn’t really conduct a survey on what are the top 10 foods they enjoyed, but purely going by the taste meter and a rough estimate of the number of units consumed per head, the Top 10 would look like:

1) Lemon grass tambuli

2) Instant Mango pickle

3) Kokum juice

4) Holige

5) Toda Devu

6) Divshi

7) Kotte Idlis

8) Bay leaf sweet

9) Plain Shavige

10)Kai Halu Kadabu

The absolute NO- NO on the school kitchen menu would be Ragi Ambli. While they had good fun and competition using the grinding stone to grind ragi, the taste of the ambli didn’t win their taste buds.  

“All work and no play can make Jack a dull boy” – To keep the spirits high the chefs were entertained with folk games, folk art form – Shedi Kale, mat weaving, leaf craft, interaction with the village school children and some fun at the beach.

Some moments captured during their playtime. 

The Culinary Trail :Part 1 - The Genesis

Write up by Bhargavi from team buDa

It was business as usual at buDa folklore with study tours, quilting workshops and brain storming on new ideas. It was during one of our quilting workshops that our resource person, Nirmala-akka dished out an interesting dish – literally hand crafted a dish from steamed rice flour and filled the open dumplings with scrambled eggs and mixed vegetables. She does this in flat 30 minutes and serves it with a beaming smile and says, ‘Divishi’ – tasted divine indeed!

That’s when we realised that besides art and craft that is slowing vanishing with the village to city migration and people taking to mainstream jobs, traditional culinary practices too are fading out. Our objective for initiating a culinary workshop was to bring to the city audience aromas from the kitchens of Uttara Kannada, re-discover tasty and nutritious recipes before they die a natural death in the competition with instant ready-mixes and fast foods, rekindle memories of the yore with community cooking, tickle the grey cells of the elders and village folk for heirloom recipes and showcase traditional kitchen gadgets and their superb engineering in comparison to the electric gadgets that have flooded the market.

When we started floating around the idea of a culinary workshop, we expected responses from people interested in culinary art, nutrition enthusiasts, food connoisseurs, experimental chefs, fans and addicts of HOMP (Highway on My Plate) and the likes. But well, we received the maximum response from schools! The first school we had on board for the culinary workshop was ‘Genie Kids’. The children at Genie kids were involved on a project – they were to plan and design their new school campus. The project also involved planning for the kitchen at school and the kind of food that they’d like to eat on a regular day at school.

Interesting project indeed! When we at buDa folklore heard about this project, we were certain that students would be from class 11 & 12. Needless to say we were excited about the workshop too as this was the first of its kind for our team. Hectic preparations started a fortnight prior to the workshop - calling resource folk (facilitators) from towns in and around Honnavar, choosing traditional recipes that we’d like to showcase from the scores of books our founders have researched and documented on folk drinks, steamed sweets and edible roots & leaves. As we tried hard to narrow our list to the top 20 that we’d like to showcase, our enthusiastic facilitators added on. This did have us wondering on, Why didn’t we organise a workshop of this kind earlier? 

                   

Cheerful - Gowri Akka

Our facilitators from far and near:

Patient 'Amma'

Ever green Nugli

Ever smiling Kalpana

Confident Mngala

                                             

         

                            

                        Silent Mangala - Akka 

 

Perfectionist Vijayakka - Behind the scenes 

             

           

             Nirmala Akka - Divshi specialist
               Deviyani & Co - Shavige specialist

                            Watch out for the updates of the tour in Part 2.