Hello everyone after
a long break.. a long break of busyness and laziness combined! Well first of
all, hearty Ōṇam wishes to everyone out there! After a delicious "sadya" (Traditional
Ōṇam feast) prepared by my friends, my mood has now turned fresh.. ready for
some foodie research.. and I jumped into a long pending topic, something sweet
for the occasion - "Lapsikā."
Lapsikā is
a sweet described in the text Bhāvaprakāśa written by Ācārya
Bhāvamiśra. Believed to be dated 16th century AD, the text is an exhaustive
masterpiece in Āyurvedik literature, which covers various
topics ranging from the human physiology to diseases and medicinal
formulations. In this text, Lapsikā is described as -
समितां सर्पिषा
भृष्टां शर्करां पयसि क्षिपेत्।
तस्मिन् घनीकृते
न्यस्येल्लवङ्गमरिचादिकम्॥
सिद्धैषा लप्सिका
ख्याता गुणानस्या वदाम्यहम्।
लप्सिका बृंहणी वृष्या
बल्या पित्तानिलापहा।
स्निग्धा श्लेष्मकरी
गुर्वी रोचनी तर्पणी परम्॥
(भावप्रकाशः)
Samitāṁ sarpiṣā
bhr̥ṣṭāṁ śarkarāṁ payasi kṣipēt.
Tasmin ghanīkr̥tē
nyasyēllavaṅgamaricādikam..
Siddhaiṣā lapsikā
khyātā guṇānasyā vadāmyaham.
Lapsikā br̥ṁhaṇī
vr̥ṣyā balyā pittānilāpahā.
Snigdhā ślēṣmakarī
gurvī rōcanī tarpaṇī param..
(Bhāvaprakāśaḥ)
As always, let's
decode the verse.
- समिता - Samitā - Godhūma - गेहूँ (Hindi), கோதுமை (Tamil), Wheat Flour (English)
- सर्पिः - Sarpi - घी (Hindi), நைய் (Tamil), Ghee or Clarified butter (English)
- भृष्टा - Bhr̥ṣṭā - Cooked
- शर्करा - Śarkarāṁ - शक्कर (Hindi), சர்க்கரை (Tamil), Sugar (English)
- पयस् - Payas - दूध (Hindi), பால் (Tamil), Milk (English)
- तस्मिन् घनीकृते - Tasmin ghanīkr̥tē – When it reaches a thicker consistency
- न्यस्येत् - Nyasyēt - Introduce (Add)
- लवङ्गमरिचादिकम् - Lavaṅgamaricādikam - Spices such as लौंग (Hindi), லவங்கம் (Tamil), Cloves (English) And
काली मिर्च (Hindi), மிளகு (Tamil), Black pepper (English)
- सिद्धैषा लप्सिका ख्याता - Siddhaiṣā lapsikā khyātā –
When cooked, this is called “Lapsikā”
- गुणानस्या वदाम्यहम् - Guṇānasyā vadāmyaham – I shall
state its properties.
- बृंहणी - Br̥ṁhaṇī - nourishing
- वृष्या - Vr̥ṣyā – Good for testicles
- बल्या – Balyā – Strengthening
- पित्तानिलापहा – Pittānilāpahā – Reduces pittam and vata
- स्निग्धा – Snigdhā - Unctuous
- श्लेष्मकरी - Ślēṣmakarī – Increases kapha
- गुर्वी – Gurvī – Heavy to digest
- रोचनी – Rōcanī – Delicious, pleases the taste buds
- तर्पणी परम् - Tarpaṇī Param – Highly satisfactory (gives a sense of satisfaction
after eating; is nourishing)
(Please note that the
English translations above are superficial and do not serve to provide the
complete meaning in its complete depth.)
The first line of the verse can be
straightened to a sentence in two ways, just by shifting the position of the
comma – समितां सर्पिषा भृष्टां,
शर्करां (च) पयसि क्षिपेत्, or, समितां,
सर्पिषा भृष्टां शर्करां (च) पयसि क्षिपेत्। (Samitāṁ
sarpiṣā bhr̥ṣṭāṁ, śarkarāṁ (ca) payasi kṣipēt, or, Samitāṁ, sarpiṣā bhr̥ṣṭāṁ
śarkarāṁ (ca) payasi kṣipēt.)The respective meanings would be
– “Add 1) wheat flour cooked with ghee, and 2) sugar, into milk”, and “Add 1)
wheat flour, and 2) sugar cooked with ghee, into milk.” A third way of
interpreting would be, “Add wheat flour and sugar cooked in ghee (each) into
milk.” However it be, the preparation does not seem to be much affected. The
meaning in toto is that the cooked combination of wheat flour, sugar and
ghee must be added into milk. By saying that these should be added “into” milk,
we clarify the idea that milk is boiled first and other ingredients are added
to it later – the recipe is NOT about adding milk after frying wheat flour and
sugar with ghee. The next instruction is – तस्मिन् घनीकृते (Tasmin ghanīkr̥tē) – this
whole mixture must be thickened – which clearly means that this mixture must be
stirred vigorously with continuous heat. Once the consistency gets thick,
spices such as cloves and black pepper are to be added. A quick run through:
·
Boil milk
·
Simultaneously fry wheat flour and sugar in ghee
·
Add the wheat + sugar + ghee mixture into the boiled milk
·
Stir till thick
·
Add cloves, black pepper and other spices
And, that’s it! Lapsikā
is ready.
The
next stage of our study is a comparison of food items we know. The closest I
could get to, is a Gujarati sweet called Lapsi (लापसी). As similar as it sounds, the ingredients match with a
close resemblance too. In this recipe, however, milk is added following the
frying of wheat and sugar in ghee. With the little research I did, the
finishing touch is given by nuts such as almonds, and not by spices such as
cloves as mentioned in our recipe. The video I used as reference for this
Gujarati sweet is here.
I also learnt from my
mom that some people in Tamil Nadu prepare “Godhumai kesari” as opposed to the
conventional “Rava kesari”, which again closely resembles the Gujarati sweet
discussed.
Apart from this, I
learnt from a Malayali friend that this recipe resembles “Chamba godhumbu
payasam.” She added that the ingredients are the same, but it is prepared in a
drinkable consistency, as the word ‘payasam’ suggests. Our similarity here is
that milk is the first thing to be placed on the stove here, followed by wheat and sugar,
further followed by a dash of cashew and other nuts fried in ghee. Apparently,
this is prepared in Guruvayur during Ekadasi (11th day from a new
moon or a full moon).
Lapsi, Godhumai
Kesari as well as Chamba Godhumbu Payasam resemble Lapsikā
in all ingredients except the final touch of spices. The
fact that Chamba godhumbu payasam is prepared on every Ekadasi indicates that
this dish is highly nourishing – because Ekadasi is a time where people
popularly observe fasting. On a day of fasting, all that is needed is something
nourishing and healthy that can keep you going despite sufficient food! On this
note, let’s jump to the properties mentioned by our reference text – Lapsikā
is nourishing, strengthening, heavy to digest, cooling and is healthy for
testicles.
Although
our Lapsikā is mentioned as something that is heavy to digest, it has a
dash of a few spices that help in its digestion – and this is lacking in the
above three contemporary recipes we have correlated here. So Lapsikā is
perhaps not all that heavy on the belly when compared to Lapsi, Godhumai kesari
or Chamba Godhumbu Payasam! Another noteworthy difference is the order of
adding the ingredients into the pan. What difference do you think it would make
between adding the fried ingredients into milk and adding milk into the fried
ingredients? Would it even make a difference after all?
Do
you think Lapsikā resembles any other food item you know? If you’re a
cooking enthusiast, I urge you to try out the traditional recipe of Lapsikā and
share your experiences here.
Do
you think there could be a different interpretation to this recipe? Eagerly
waiting for your comments!
Happy Onam once again and have "sweet beginnings" 😁
Stay tuned and…
Happy eating! 😋
