MEDICATED PORRIDGE (KARKKIDAKA KANJI) AS A HEALTHIFYING SEASONAL FOOD- A REVIEW

Health requires healthy food. Healthy foods are those that provides the nutrients need to sustain the body’s well-being and retain energy. Food are the substances consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy. Ayurveda, the science of life gives a decisive place for food in healthy as well as diseased persons. Ayurveda narrates the influence of food in different stages of a disease such as in aetiology, manifestation, treatment as well as regimens that to be followed. There are so many categories of healthy food explained in Ayurvedic science. Most of them are plant origin.

Medicated porridge is the medicated rice soup which is an important dietary regimen told in Ayurvedic medicinal system. A special medicated rice named “Karkkidaka kanji” usually followed as a seasonal food regimen in Kerala especially in monsoon or rainy season (June to August). This medicated gruel contains more than 25 herbs, 9 pulses and cereals that helps in boosting one’s immunity. It supports as a detoxifying agent as well as a remedy for rheumatic disorder mainly occurs seasonally.

The ingredients of “karkkidaka kanji” includes shashtika shali (red rice), chandrashoora (garden cress), dasamoola churna (root of 10 medicinal plants), trikatu (3 pungent herbs), dasapushpa (10 herbal flowers), methika (fenugreek), jeera (cumin seed), coconut milk, jaggery and water. The properties of these herbal medicines make this gruel as a delectable, nutritious and medicated diet. The therapeutic effect of these drugs includes prevention of respiratory ailments, relieves arthritic pain & swelling, enhances digestion, reduces constipation, antipyretic, analgesic, stress relieving effect etc. Through the literary search related to these ingredients can establish the therapeutic effect of the traditional medicated porridge, “The Karkkidaka Kanji”.