Akin to manicured nails with pointy edges bearing yellow nail-paint
Cream-colored stemmy fingers stacked closely
Safely locked in beet-red, leafy envelopes
The stems, bearing an almost exact semblance with human fingers, except they’re way thinner!
Even the arch in the center is visible in every stemmy finger, as they stay closely stacked.
Unboxing or Unleafing them, if you will...is a painstakingly rewarding process.
The end goal is to catch the “kallan” (thief) and take it out tactically, without tearing the stemmy fingers apart too much!
Each stemmy finger is enclosed in a skin-colored leafy-case…
A tender spreading-apart of the stemmy fingers, would expose the “kallan” out right away!
The “kallan” would stand out with a blackhead, amidst the other thin stems enclosed within, and it’s easy to identify!
Each “kallan” is thus deftly taken out until all the stemmy fingers are freed of the black sheep amidst them!
The beet-red leafy envelopes and the “kallans”are discarded!
As the beet-red leafy envelopes get discarded one after another, layer after layer,
The stemmy fingers continue to be discreetly hidden within the leafy envelopes, almost as if they’re caved-in with great protection.
The stemmy fingers begin to look a lot whiter and tender, as the main stem is disrobed of all the leaves...
What’s left of this arduous effort is a bunch of neatly manicured fingers and nails
And a pointy bouquet-like mainframe, against which all these leafy envelopes and stemmy fingers chose to stay put and rested.
They’re all ready to be chopped into fine pieces for a tasty side-dish, along with a meal of rice!
My paternal grandma used to reduce this task to nothing but having to identify the kallan, making it sound like a game, invoking interest in the activity.
She used to say – if you take the “kallan” out, I’ll give you the “vennai” (butter)!
Child-like delight in awaiting the butter until the end, only to realize that it’s not the real butter after all,
But a spongy portion with a particular taste that’s pretty much acquired!
A look back into one’s own fingers would show a dark expression of the stain from the plush banana flower, that was just manicured, after all!
Your own hands would yearn for a manicure, thanks to coconut oil, that would do the trick of stain-removal!
The Vazhai Poo / Banana Flower is a testament to tough chopping and vegetable-handling techniques!
Such a pleasure doing this work, to watch creation in every hidden leafy corner!
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