THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s own ‘Pazham Pori’ and Kenyan banana fritters were placed close to each other at the ‘Banana Fiesta’, a festival of banana recipes, held at Carmel School, Peyad. That reminded one of the happy reunions of siblings separated at ‘Kumbh Mela’ in Bollywood films of the ‘70s.
Class IX and class X students of the school had sourced banana recipes of French, Kenyan, Nepalese and Indian origin, for a project implemented as part of the British Council's ‘International School Award’ scheme. The delicacies, which the students themselves prepared, have been photographed, and the record will be sent to schools in Nepal and Kenya, which would collaborate with Carmel school for the scheme. Their project is titled ‘From Roots to Fruits’.
They chose recipes in which the ingredients were locally available. In cases where the equipment required to make a certain dish was not available, they had original ideas. Meghna S shared how she almost made a ‘dosa’ instead of a crepe, as she did not have the tools to thinly spread the dough. Lakshmi Jayapal said that they chose recipes which did not involve the use of Kenyan cooking equipment. She said she found the recipes to be far less complicated when compared to Indian food with its many ingredients.
The British Council scheme aims to inspire students across the world to find cultural threads that connect various countries. In this case it was a banana. The students put together more than 70 items made of it. “The fact that the same banana could be used to make so many different kinds of food was amazing,” said school principal Sister Gracelyn. Dietician Lalitha Appukuttan, who paid a visit, said that she was fascinated by the students’ efforts.
