Of People and Places

Bharnee/ Bharani Ceramic jar The other day I took out our bharnee ( Ceramic jar) to do some watercolor studies. It has been with us since before I was born. My parents have always made this super- delicious, super -simple Konkani lemon pickle in it called 'Limbiya kanchee'. As children, me and my sister were often sick with the flu - liquid gold, if you know what I mean :D and our mealtimes were made of hot rice gruel and kanchee or rice and milk and kanchee.Amma used to feed us both, while we sat cross-legged on the floor, waiting our turn, nose dripping, sneezing, coughing.( Speaking of coughing, amma used to give us juice from a grated onion mixed with honey as a decongestant - I remember it used to work well) I still believe that it was because of the pickle that we recovered faster. Some rice gruel ( pej) and Lemon Kanchee and you are ready to conquer the world! I think most Konkani people remember this pickle from their childhood days. This is one of the few no...