Hand pounded paddy rice practice still alive in Thottiyapatty Village

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