Thottiyapatty women pounding paddy rice manually |
Hand
pounded paddy rice practice still alive in Thottiyapatty Village. Rice is the
most important food and most of the people eat rice. Many types of rice are
grown in different parts of India. Rice comes from paddy. Paddy is rice covered
in a husk. In Thottiyapatty village where SG is actively involved in collaboration
with SEVAI/OFI, the local people store the paddy grains in jute sacks. Whenever
they need rice, the women pound the paddy grains to remove the husk and get
rice. Hand-pounded rice is better for health, compared to the machine-milled
rice. During ancient period, hand pounded rice was consumed and today due to
the advancements in milling technology (to reduce the loss due to breakage of
grains in the traditional hand pounding process, the hand pounding practice is
slowly vanishing in several areas and is replaced by modern rice milling
machinery which delivers higher yield of polished rice either raw or parboiled.
Thottiyapatty villagers practice hand pounding, the paddy is being pounded
using a pounder in a stone, which was then winnowed to remove the husk and
minimal amounts of bran to yield hand pounded rice and thus minimal degree of
polishing. This rice is also nutritionally superior compared to fully polished
rice that is being currently consumed. Hand pounded rice contains the highest
nutrients compared to white rice. Sometimes, the villagers boil the paddy and
then remove the husk. This is called boiled rice. Studies have shown that
consumption of hand pounded rice helps in risk reduction of obesity, metabolic
syndrome and diabetes with consumption of whole grains such as brown rice. Of
late hand pounded rice is gaining importance due to increased awareness on the
health benefits of wholegrain consumption, ‘hand pounded rice’ are being
marketed widely. Nutritionally, hand pounded rice is a healthier option to
white rice, as it contains higher levels of dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals
and other health beneficial nutrients. Polishing decreases these health
beneficial nutrients, and increases the rate (speed) of digestion and hence
quickly raises the blood glucose. It is important for the consumers to know the
characteristics of hand pounded rice to make a judicious choice in the market. It
is a well known fact that Hand-pounded rice is a healthy wholesome meal for our
health. Hand-pounded rice is an important tool for protecting heart health. Whole
grain cereals help in protecting from diabetics and also help to protect normal
lipid profile. The hand
pound rice preserves the bran and so this is naturally tasty, softy, digestive and
healthy. The colour of the hand pound meals is a bit pale white when compared
to the fully polished regular rice-Govin
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