Today is the third day of my budding muppet nun practice, in which I have set aside 9 times during the day for prayer to the mup gods and operating with a schedule that includes 3 hours a day set aside for spiritual reading (so far that means checking on the new blog posts of the blogs to your right, catching up on Aedicula Antinoi, and reading The Flower and the Scorpion: Sexuality and Ritual in Early Nahua Culture), and 8 hours of work here at Wolf Creek Radical Fairy Sanctuary, every day. I've been thinking, inspired by some writings at Gods & Radicals and by my friend and co-religionist Finnchuill, about the connections between monastic practices, drag, and anti-capitalist pagan/ploytheist practices. To re-enchant the world, we must destroy Capitalism; to destroy Capitalism, we must re-enchant ourselves. Both monasticism and drag are or can be about re-enchanting ourselves. I get the sense that Orthodox monasticism might be closer to my thinking on this than my native Catholicism . . . . Expect more writing on this in the future!
It also means that I will be incorporating more of the Book of Days practice back into my life, honoring and celebrating the holidays of the various traditions from which mup draws its gods and its practices. Today, for example, is the birthday of Sanctus Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and also Atham, the first day of the Kerala holiday of ഓണം!
For Sanctus Karl, I waited until just now (it's about halfway between my sunset prayer and my full dark prayer to make an offering to him. Here at the Sanctuary, we have an altar for the dead (specifically, the Plague Dead) next to the bridge that allows access to the land. At that shrine, I offered Karl a cup of coffee, praying that it give him some of the quickness of life, that he might live for a short time again. I then sang Ignis corporis infirmat, ignis sed animae perstat (the standard Ekklesia Antinoou prayer for the dead) and ended with a round of Haec est undes. It was nice to be on faggot/queer land for these rituals, the first time I felt I could be as loud as I needed to honoring a Sanctus. Hopefully, Karl appreciates my efforts!
Most of the celebrations for ഓണം seem like a little much for me to whip up on the fly, sadly, so to celebrate the holiday, I will be posting two or three ഓണം-related things to this blog for the length of the festival!
First, Wikipedia has thankfully provided the lyrics (and a translation!) of a traditional song sung at ഓണം, so here they are:
"Maveli nadu vaneedum kalam,
manusharellarum onnupole
amodhathode vasikkum kalam
apathangarkkumottillathanum
kallavum illa chathiyumilla
ellolamilla polivachanam
kallapparayum cherunazhiyum
kallatharangal mattonnumilla
adhikal vyadhikalonnumilla
balamaranangal kelppanilla
”
... (Translation)
“
When Maveli ruled the land,
All the people were equal.
And people were joyful and merry;
They were all free from harm.
There was neither anxiety nor sickness,
Deaths of children were unheard of,
There were no lies,
There was neither theft nor deceit,
And no one was false in speech either.
Measures and weights were right;
No one cheated or wronged his neighbor.
When Maveli ruled the land,
All the people formed one casteless races"
And, second, a recipe for Kerala-style plantain chips, which seem to be a traditional beginning to the feasts of the festival.
How to Make Kerala Style Banana (Plantain) Chips
Make yourself the famous Kerala banana chips - a.k.a - " kaya varathathu "
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It would be good if you apply some oil on your hand, plantains discharge a gluey serum that is both hard to get off the skin and also gets between your nails. It would be good if you apply some oil on your hand, plantains discharge a gluey serum that is both hard to get off the skin and also gets between your nails.
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Get fresh raw plantains. Ripe ones can also be used, if you use ripe plantains the chips will have a sweet tang Get fresh raw plantains. Ripe ones can also be used, if you use ripe plantains the chips will have a sweet tang
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Carve straight on the skin, this gives you a slit to remove the skin. Carve straight on the skin, this gives you a slit to remove the skin.
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Open with your thumb, if you have to peel a lot I suggest using a thumb protector Open with your thumb, if you have to peel a lot I suggest using a thumb protector
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You should get something like this You should get something like this
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Take a big bowl and put the peeled plantains and half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and add water until all plantains are submerged. Slightly stir and set aside for 30 mins Take a big bowl and put the peeled plantains and half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and add water until all plantains are submerged. Slightly stir and set aside for 30 mins
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The turmeric wash is only for cleaning and has no color adding value. Plantain chips can be bright yellow even without doing a turmeric wash. You can skip this if you don't get turmeric or dislike it
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Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder
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Ready for adding water to submerge all plantains Ready for adding water to submerge all plantains
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Leave for 30 mins Leave for 30 mins
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Take the plantains out of the solution and pat them all dry
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Pat dry the plantains Pat dry the plantains
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Here is a picture of my tools and plantains getting ready to dive into hot oil one slice at a time. Here is a picture of my tools and plantains getting ready to dive into hot oil one slice at a time.
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Heat coconut oil ( or any oil of your choice ) - remember the oil that you choose adds to the taste.
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Use pure coconut oil for authentic taste Use pure coconut oil for authentic taste
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Let the oil get hot Let the oil get hot
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When the oil is quite hot ( sacrifice some tester bits to see if the small pieces go down the pool of oil and surface back up with bubbles around the edges ) start slicing the plantains directly in.
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Put a tester Put a tester
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When the tester bits are put in they should surface up When the tester bits are put in they should surface up
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The bit surfaces up
The bit surfaces up
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Don't worry about some getting over cooked etc. Just keep your pace and try to finish one plantain at a time into the hot oil. ( Important - do not rest your slicer on the wok ) Take care HOT OIL.
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All getting fried All getting fried
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You should get these kind of chips after some few minutes. Now when you start moving these with a strainer you should hear nice crackling sound. That is when they are ready. You should get these kind of chips after some few minutes. Now when you start moving these with a strainer you should hear nice crackling sound. That is when they are ready.
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Prepare this salt ( optional - sugar ) solution Prepare this salt ( optional - sugar ) solution
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If you want sweet and salty add sugar If you want sweet and salty add sugar
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Dissolve it in water Dissolve it in water
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You should get something like this You should get something like this
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Now before you carry them out sprinkle salt water as per your taste. ( Be very careful as this step splashes out a lot of hot oil and water mixture out ) - You can also try salt and sugar solution
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Be careful when you add water to oil
Be careful when you add water to oil
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Strain out excess oil and carry the fried chips out of the oil and rest them on a big bowl with newspaper or oil absorbent paper as backing.
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There you have it nice crispy, salty plantain chips. Store in an air tight container. There you have it nice crispy, salty plantain chips. Store in an air tight container.
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INGREDIENTS
1 Bunch Raw banana ( Plantain )
½ kilograms Coconut oil or vegetable oil
1 Big wok or deep fryer
Salt to taste
1 Turmeric powder
1 Vegetable slicer
1 Big bowl
1 Air tight container
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