Brew Room: 'Ice Achar' : Tracing the spice route

Beach culture – come to think about it, beach is the commoner’s cultural milieu. It is one place where the air is absolutely free; with a wide and open welcome from the sky and the ocean at large, leaving it open for opportunities galore. The local culture instantly reflects on a beach as much as it does in other public places of a town. Whether it is to catch a glimpse of that one ecstatic moment of the sun setting or even if it is to feel the breeze or to take a stroll on the beach sand, how can anybody fulfill all that without completing it with a local delicacy? The fun is lost if everything was packaged and crisp paper tissues made readily available in a mall-like fashion.

The classic thaenga, maanga, pattaani sundal (cooked peas tossed with diced raw mango and grated coconut), cholam (corn), panju mittai (cotton candy) and bajjis (spicy vegetable fritters made out of Bengal gram flour – some of the vegetables that are used for frying are –raw banana, onion, potato and large-sized chillies -'the bajji chilly' meant specifically for this purpose) are some short-eats that characterize the beaches of Chennai.

Just about 600 kilometers away from here, there brews a completely different culture in the Calicut beach. Calicut, the land on which Vasco da Gama set foot, is a port town on the Malabar Coast. Vasco da Gama’s visit opened up trade links between Europe and Malabar. The city also prides itself of a strong Arabic influence in its culture.

There is a peculiar fetish for vinegar – that establishes a pungent connection with the Malabar. Carrots, guava, the 'ber' fruit (also known as Jujube or Chinese date), pineapple, gooseberries and cucumber are sliced and soaked in vinegar and stored in tall glass jars. These glass jars adorn roadside pushcarts and are a common sight on the Calicut beach; serving as crunchy quick-bites.

Something that should not be missed is the Ice achar – literally translated as Ice Pickle. The first time I heard of this roadside delicacy, there wasn't quite a palatable picture on my mind – all I could think of was a 'watery masala.' But eating the ice achar is an experience on its own. Two varieties are sold - one the sweet and sour combination and the other is just the sweetened version. Rectangular bars of ice is scraped and filled into paper cups, and is quickly mixed with fresh orange juice (orange is squeezed right then as you are awaiting your cup of 'ice achar'), beetroot, carrot, cucumber and raw papaya are finely chopped (vinegar - soaked). To this, a syrup of root beer ('nannari') and some pickled-garlic sauce-like mix are added and lo – your cup of 'ice achar' is ready to be eaten/slurped! As for the sweetened version - the mixture contains – sugar syrup, roasted gram and scraped ice. Due to its juicy composition, you tend to both drink your cup of 'ice achar' and also stop by to chew on the pieces of the vinegar-soaked pieces of vegetables or even the roasted gram in the sweetened counterpart. It takes about 2 to 5 minutes to prepare a cup of 'ice achar', with each cup costing just about 15 to 20 rupees. The 'ice achar' is a stomach-friendly concoction that makes you want to keep coming back to the Calicut beach. No unwanted 'masala' that can get it banned!