mundiri, and other such precious stuff!

Here is my take on this.

Reading that post, just brought back memories of my own.

Mine is a huge family, with tonnes of visitors who dropped in unannounced for a meal or a snack.
There was always food at home.
But there was one precious ingredient that was rationed very carefully.
The maliga kadai (provision store) would give a small plastic packet with about 6 cashew nuts in it, as a freebee with the monthly provisions.
Apart from that cashews were bought sparingly. For festivals and special occasions.
But the privilege of being the youngest was that sooner or later, you'd be the only one left at home... so mundiris could be used with more abandon. in ven pongal and upma once a week...
mum used to break the cashews into small pieces (yes it's possible and is a skill), so that it gave an appearance of being plenty.
But the ingrate i was would call those piddly bits 'kannuku theriyatha kirimigal' (the name of a tv programme and it translates roughly to 'invisible germs').
However, now there is no rationing... i live in the gulf after all! the least i can afford is a steady supply of cashews for me and mum.
And the funny thing is, she still breaks it into pieces, and makes sure that every serving of my fave dishes is topped with some.

PS: By the way, the provision guy still sends that tiny packet of cashews every month.