Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

THE RELUCTANT GOURMET

The zing thing

PHOTO: A. ROY CHOWDHURY

SUMMER FAVOURITE Tender coconut water

Suddenly, when it comes to health only the most exotic products will do. They have to arrive in funky packaging, swathed with the ardour of dozens of breathless advertising campaigns. They have to be expensive, because — of course — so many of us believe that money guarantees results. And if they’re difficult to track down, consume or pronounce those are powerful added advantages.

No pain, no gain, right?

You couldn’t be more wrong. And thank goodness for that.

There have always, and will always, be cheap, practical, effective ways to get healthy. One of the most powerful of these is the good old tender coconut.

For many it’s the flavour of childhood. Reminiscent of sweaty road trips in clunky Ambassador cars with frequent stops for cool coconut water. Drunk through a straw by the edge of the road, it’s associated with pretty pictures of little green coconut hills, or huge bunches carefully suspended from the branches of towering tamarind trees for maximum effect. Then, there’s the coconut choreography: the fluid hacking of the husk, followed by a sharp crack of the nut within. Finally, the pleasure of eating the wobbly, sweet, translucent pulp with a spoon fashioned from husk.

Over the years, hip energy drinks, convenient diet sodas and flavour-rich fruit juices seemed to be edging out the far less glamorous coconut water, held back by it’s voluminous husk, intimidating nut and subtle flavour. Coconut also managed to acquire a remarkably bad rap sheet, including everything from heart attacks to the chief reason you can’t fit into your little black dress.

It might surprise you to know that, Rujuta Diwekar, the celebrity dietician and nutritionist whose book Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight, is a strong advocate of tender coconut. Her diet plan includes a daily snack comprising coconut water, followed by the tender coconut cream.

Rujuta is against the current trend of making angels and demons out of certain foods. Good guava, bad banana. Good honey, bad sugar. Good beans, bad coconut. She says it is vital to eat food that is nutritious. Besides, research has shown that coconut, in sensible quantities, works as a fat burner and boosts your metabolism. Still sceptical? Kareena Kapoor, Rujuta’s most famous client, achieved her ‘size zero’ with tender coconut.

According to India’s Coconut Development Board, the country’s been growing coconut for 3,000 years now. Currently, its figures state that the crop covers 1.91 million hectares with an annual production of nearly 13,000 million nuts. Which explains why it’s so easy to procure. If you don’t already know who your local coconut vendor is, take a walk. The odds are you will probably find one within a three km radius. It’s a privilege too few of us take advantage of.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are finding ways to store coconut water at home. Cocojal, which started packaging coconut water nine years ago, produces 10,000 bottles a day from 10,000 coconuts. (Each coconut yields about 200 ml of water.)

Ajay Kumar Jain, Managing Director of the company called Jain Agro Food Products, which buys coconuts from farmers in Maddur, Karnataka, says they see a yearly increase of 25 per cent in sales. Their Cocojal is now stocked in hotels, homes and hospitals, and exported to the United States and Canada, besides being available in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

It makes sense to stick to a combination of fresh and bottled, if you plan to drink a glass everyday. That way you’re saved a mad dash down the road every time you’re thirsty, and at the same time you support your local vendors. There already seem to be fewer of them; it would be tragic if they disappeared.

For those of you who detest the straight and narrow, try whipping up the tender coconut pieces with coconut water. Add a dash of lime and some honey. Chilled, it’s a deliciously chunky, satisfying, wholesome drink. Makes you almost enjoy the summer heat.

shonali@thehindu.co.in

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail