Kokum Butter - Reviving a traditional way

                               Kokum Butter - Reviving a traditional way 

                (a pictorial  recipe of traditional way of preparing Kokum Butter ) 

-Poornima Sukumar with BuDa folklore

Lets begin this blog with gratitude to forest  and for giving us in abundance!

And processing the fruit of the forest is what happens next. Nature's bounty fills hearts with gratitude and baskets with fruit —Indira Vijaysimha -participant 

fresh kokum seeds before drying

She was our guiding star in the process of making the butter. Her expertise and patience is what we also learnt apart from the making of butter. 

dried kokum seeds coated with ash

seed shells are separated form seed kernels 

separating outer shell from the seed kernels

Easy traditional way of loosening the outer husk of the seed 

after removing the outer shell of the kokum seeds 

Roasting the seeds on a wooden fire 

Meanwhile, as the seeds get roasted Akka was cleaning up the grinding stone. It helps with the removal of the previous mixture or stains and it is always good to clean up before you begin!

“In the deep Mysteries of the world, their belong time, still unexplored and to be explored.” 
― Jerril Thomas Abraham

Pile the seeds into the little pit, it will be a little hot after roasting. Keep it that way!

Take a break while you need and continue to pound. Here is where you can share conversations, sing a song or two!

Grounding the seeds finely is the key. It makes it easier for the later stages. Make sure you feel the powdered seeds authentically generating a little moisture (which is the oil content)

grinding 

Soon after you have finished pounding all the seeds, slowly add water.

“...no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” 
― Julia Child.

Start gathering the kokum butter  paste with all its residue  all in one place and then into a small vessel. 

Add about 2 cups of water into this paste mixture. 

Boil it in low flame. to convert the butter into a oil 

As it is a time taking process , so its best to continue with your own work like gathering firewood , chatting with Nugli and getting to know people. 

Of course, Akka had to keep an eye in the kitchen since she wanted to make sure the butter/oil comes out well.

The unfiltered kokum oil floating on the top

unfiltered  kokum oil will be collected in a separate vessel and  boiled again with a small ammount of water

kept it  overnight and the hard,raw  kokumbutter  /oil is ready to use

During the process of boiling all the heavy impurities are trapped by the heavier .water layer at the bottom while filterd kokum oil is skimmed off from the top

Raw unrefined Kokum Butter