Pirandai

Pirandai (Cissus Quadrangularis) is also called as "Vajravalli" in Tamil (meaning: It makes your body strong). It is a creeper variety with more stems and less leaves. 

Choose the tender stem and scrap off the angular edges and nodes to make thogayal or chutney. The juice of pirandai is mixed with dough in making appalam. Be careful in handling this pirandai as it might cause itchiness. It is better to apply some sesame oil before touching this plant. 

It grows in any climate and you can plant it in a small pot, doesn't need much water also. You can cut the stem and plant it, and pirandai will start growing.

It is loaded with vitamin C and calcium and so good for bones.  Pirandai helps a lot in faster healing in fractures. Also regular consumption of pirandai thogayal helps with joint pains and especially for knee pains.  This magical herb is used extensively in Siddha medicines.

My grandma used to make pirandai thogayal at least once a week and stayed strong even at her 80s. Including these medicinal herbs in our diet helps us with better health and there is aslo a famous saying "Unave Marunthu" that means "Food it self is a medicine"

Interesting facts and Amazing health benefits of Storing water in (mud pot/clay pot/earthen pot/Man paanai/Mudka)

Oh what a relief if we drink mutkas/mud/Clay pot/man paanai stored water after a tiring work on a sunny day. 

Peep on Madka water/Man paanai water/mud pot water/earthen pot water interesting facts that one should definitely know.

How does the water stored in mud pot remains cool??????

 I have always wondered, "how come the water stored in mud pot remains cool even if you place the mud pot in a place where it has sunshine?". 

The mud pots have minute pores and when the water is stored in these pots, a small amount of water keeps oozing out. This oozed out water, gets evaporated after absorbing the heat of stored water. This process is continuously happening, giving us the end result of cooooooool mudka water.

Ever experienced the refreshing flavour when you drink matka water???? No, then you should definitely try once.

Why do we need to drink water stored in mud pots?

 Storing water in mud pot is an age old tradition, also a best and natural alternative for refrigerated water. 

Many prefer to drink fridge water for an immediate thirst relief, especially during summer. 

Do you know that drinking fridge water will often prone you to catch cold and cough, sometimes even fever??? 

Health benefits of drinking clay pot water:

Let us now peep into health benefits of drinking water stored in earthen/clay/mud pot.  

• Water stored in mud pot acts gentle on your throat, and is good for your health.

• Clay pot retains the minerals of water and provides a healthy drinking water

• Clay pot has the property of altering the water coolness depending upon the climate or weather conditions,  hence it acts gentle on your body.

• Plastic stored water adds harmful chemicals to water when stored for a longer duration or when exposed to sun, but clay pot water never transfers any harmful chemicals instead is filled with essential micro nutrients and healing elements of earth which are naturally good for your health.

• Clay's alkaline nature neutralises the acidic nature of water and hence giving us a PH balanced water. 

• Drinking clay pot water maintains testosterone levels on contrary to plastic stored water which reduces these levels. 

The other advantages of mud pots are, 

• No electricity needed

• Has natural appealing mud colour and will not discolour over time 

• Bio degradable

• Requires less maintenance cost

• Easy cleaning and doesn't require any technicians 

•  Never produces harmful bi products when these clay pots are produced by potters.

How to clean the mud pot and store water in them?

First time: 

After you buy the mud pot, the first step is cleaning. 

Use a scrubber to scrub off mud and wash it well with water.

Storing:

When you store water, first boil the water and cool it to room temperature then store it in mudka. In addition to boiling, it is best practice to filter the water before storing.

Also cover the mudpot with a plate to avoid dust or insects getting into water. You can either use a stainless steel plate or even a mud plate too.

Generally, the mudpot/mudka is kept on a heap of sand also a wet cloth is covered over it for additional cooling. 

If you cant keep it over sand, just keep it over a wide mouthed container that it collects all the oozed water. Don't forget to discard this collected water frequently.

Cleaning:

Regular storage of water in mud pot leads to scum accumulated at the bottom. 

So, it is a good practice to scrub and clean the clay pot after every use in order to avoid dirt and scum getting accumulated. After cleaning, dry the pots and then refill it.

Never attempt to use any detergent for washing of mudka, since this might get absorbed and released in stored water which is definitely harmful for your health.

When to replace the old mud pot with new one? 

If your mud pot starts leaking or if you see visible cracks, then it is better to replace it with a new one. 

Generally, a mud pot can retain the coolness for one year and might slowly lose its cooling capacity. When you feel that mud pot is not giving you enough coolness, then it is the right time to switch to new one.

These inexpensive mud pots are eco friendly and decomposes easily. Unlike plastics, when discarded, the mud pots never create any harmful side effects to mother nature 

Where do I buy mud pots? 

It is available with all road side vendors, especially during summer you can see more of these mud pots sold by them. 

There are lots of varieties in different sizes and shapes are available in the market. The traditional ones, pots with taps, jug type mudpots, surahi type mudpot and many more. 

Even mud pot water bottles are available for our convenience. You can always choose the one that best fits you.

To conclude, these mudpots are not only eco friendly but promotes the growth of pottery business too.

Are you ready to grab a Mudpot/Mudka for your home?????