From: tstpcc@gwunix1.gwu.edu (Paul C. Chemmanoor)
Newsgroups: alt.culture.kerala
Subject: FACK [Rel: 1.4] Welcome to Alt.Culture.Kerala
Date: 20 Dec 1992 20:23:51 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


F.a.q. for Alt.Culture.Kerala.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Revision: 1.4
Current Originator: paulchem@tigger.cs.colorado.edu

<< The Acker List has been separated from faq and is given as a 
   separate article.
   Recieving A.C.K. by mail information has been added to faq.
>>

This is a regular weekly posting that explains alt.culture.kerala to new users.
This article attempts to answer some of the questions that are 
frequently posed in this newsgroup. In addition some information
about Kerala and malayalam are provided as a basis for understanding
what this group discusses.

Information about how to post to ack and how to access a.c.k by mail
and other network related information is given in this article.
People who are new to newgroups in general and ack in particular
may find this article very useful.

This F.A.C.K. is in multiple parts.
It is intended to be split into separate sections once these
sections grow to their final sizes.

Any sections marked with [ ---- --- -- ] are to be filled in 
future releases of the F.A.C.K. Responses are invited from the
readership for these entries. Readers are encouraged to send in
other questions that they feel are relevant to be included in the
F.A.C.K. Please direct responses to the current originator.

Part - I : Questions & Answers.


Q (1) 	What is alt.culture.kerala ?
A (1)	This is a newsgroup devoted primarily to discussion of the
	culture of the people who originate from the state of Kerala
	in the south of India. Its charter includes 
	(i)	Books.
	(ii)	Films.
	(iii)	Nostalgia.
	(iv)	Social Issues.
	(v)	Politics. 
	(vi)	News.

	relating to Kerala or its language : Malayalam.

Q (2)	When was alt.culture.kerala formed ?
A (2)	alt.culture.kerala was formed in September 1992.


Q (3)	How do I post to alt.culture.kerala  if I dont have 
	access to newsreaders or I dont have post priveleges ?
A (3)   Mailing the article to alt-culture-kerala@cs.utexas.edu
	will cause the article to be posted on alt.culture.kerala.

Q (4)   What is the scope of distribution of articles in alt.culture.kerala ?
A (4)   alt.culture.kerala has a world-wide distribution.
	Most newsreaders including rn will automatically insert a 
	line describing distribution during posting of an article.
	The default distribution is "world" for alt.culture.kerala.

Q (5)	Why dont I get alt.culture.kerala at my site ?
A (5) 	Since the usenet news mechanism relies on internetworked
	machines, any site which acts as the sole source for another
	site can control what groups the downstream group recieves.

	This is also the reason why some sites show 0 articles all
	the time. The best way to solve these problems is to contact
	the local news admin who will be able to better brief you 
	about your options.

	The news mechanism involves store-and-forward type algorithms
	for messages. This creates a need for disk space on a very large
	scale. So system admins have to be selective about what groups
	they carry. Certain newsgroup hierarchies are as a convention
	carried always, like the soc. and rec. groups. 
	The larger degree of freedom allowed in the creation of the
	alt. hierarchy groups lends itself to abuse, with the result that
	many sites avoid carrying alt. groups.

	alt.culture.kerala is planned to be moved into the soc.culture.kerala
	in the future, thereby assuring that most sites will carry it.

Q (6)   My site doesnt have news. How do I get to alt.culture.kerala ?
A (6)   telnet to bbs.oit.unc.edu
	The system will tell you the rest.

	An alternative way to get the newsgroup by e-mail if you have 
	a e-mail address either bitnet or internet is :

	Send a message to paulchem@ucsu.colorado.edu with
	'SUBSCRIBE ACKMAILSERV'
	in the subject line.

	To get info about the server, send mail to paulchem@ucsu.colorado.edu
	with 
	'INFO ACKMAILSERV'
	in the subject line. You will recieve a description of the service by
	e-mail.


Q (7)   What kind of articles can I expect to see on alt.culture.kerala ?
A (7)   Articles that in the past have appeared include
		(i) Discussions on the concept of Dowry.
		(ii) Feminism in the indian and keralite context.
		(iii) Nostalgic articles about kerala.
		(iv) Recipes and hints for getting stuff for keralite cooking.
		(v) Dating vs Arranged Marriages.
		(vi) Articles about "ackers" -- the insider word for readers
		     of alt.culture.kerala.
		(vii) Lyrics from malayalam film songs etc.

Q (8)  What are the places to see in Kerala on a visit ?
A (8)  [-- --- --]


Part - II: Information.

Kerala.
-------
[ --- -- ---]

Malayalam.
----------
[ --- -- --- ]


Malayalam-English Transliteration scheme for A.C.K.
---------------------------------------------------
[Courtesy of Mathai Chundat]

The Malayalam Alphabet
________________________________________________________________________
Vowels                               
________________________________________________________________________
a   aa/A  i    ee   u   oo   R~   
                              
e   E     o    O   ai  ou   am   a:

u + a = wa                            
________________________________________________________________________
Consonants With                      Combination of Consonants 
Group Numbers                        0.  Double consonants
				     n.  Combination with the group 'n'.
________________________________________________________________________
1.                               
ka   kha    ga   gha    nGa      
		            0.	 k~ + ka = kka, g~ + ga = gga
				 nG~ + nGa = nnGa

                            2.   k~ + tha = ktha

			    3.   g~ + da = gda
				 g~ + na = gna

                            6.   k~ + ya = kya, k~ + sha = ksha
				 k~ + La = kLa, k~ + Ra = kRa

				 kh~ + ya = khya

				 g~ + ya + gya, g~ + ra = gra
________________________________________________________________________
2.
cha  Cha    ja   jha    nJa      
			    0.   ch~ + cha = ccha, j~ + ja = jja
				 nJ~ + nJa = nnJa

		            2.	 ch~ + Cha = cCha
				 
				 j~ + nJa = jnJa
				 
				 nJ~ + cha = nJcha, nJ~ + ja = nJja

		            6.	 ch~ + ya = chya

				 j~ + Ra = jRa
_______________________________________________________________________
3.         
ta   Ta     Da   Dha    Na   
			    0.   t~ + ta = tta, D~ + Da = DDa
				 N~ + Na = NNa

		            3.	 D~ + Dha = DDha

                                 N~ + ta = Nta, N~ + Ta = NTa
				 N~ + Na = NNa
_______________________________________________________________________
4.
tha  Tha    da   dha    na   
			    0.   th~ + tha = ttha, d~ + da = dda
				 n~ + na = nna

		            4.   th~ + Tha = tTha, th~ + dha = tdha

				 d~ + dha = ddha

				 n~ + tha = ntha, n~ + da = nda
				 n~ + dha = ndha

		            1.   th~ + ka = thka, th~ + ma = thma
				 th~ + ya = thya, th~ + sa = thsa
				 th~ + bha = tbha, th~ + Ra = thRa

	                    6.   Th~ + ya = Thya

				 d~ + ya + dya, d~ + ra = dra

				 dh~ + ya = dhya, dh~ + ra = dhra
_______________________________________________________________________
5.
pa   pha    ba   bha    ma      
			    0.   pa + pa = ppa, b~+ ba = bba
				 bh~ + bha = bbha, m~ + ma = mma

		            5.   m~ + pa = mpa, m~ + ba =mba

				 m~ + ga = mga

		            6.   m~ + Ra = mRa, m~ + La = mLa
________________________________________________________________________
6.
ya  ra  la  va  Sa  sha  
sa  ha  Ra  zha La  TTa   
			    0.   y~ + ya = yya, l~ + la = lla
                                 v~ + va = vva, S~ + Sa = SSa
				 s~ + sa = ssa, L~ + La = LLa

		            6.   l~ + ya = lya

				 v~ + ya = vya, v~ + Ra = vRa

				 S~ + Ra = SRa, S~ + La = SLa

				 sh~ + ya = shya

				 s~ + ya = sya

				 h~ + ya = hya, h~ + La = hLa

				 L~ + ya = Lya

                            3.	 sh~ + ta = shta, sh~ + Ta = shTa
_______________________________________________________________________
chillaksharannGaL
_______________________________________________________________________
l  L  n  N  R  m
_______________________________________________________________________


Part - III: Recipes.


1.       Biriyani - Fried Rice 
		       [ By cs911093@cs.yorku.ca (shanty kokkat)]

If you have any questions please contact me.  My e-mail address is:
     cs911093@cs.yorku.ca (shanty kokkat)
Every body have different tastes, different measure cup, the 
given measurement is only aapproximate, I am assuming that you 
know how hot or how spicy you like and you know the measurement.
If you want exact measurement I can try to make it for you.  
Please enjoy this special.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-> Make chicken curry
-> Make Rice
-> Make Vegetables

Add Rice and Vegetables first, and chicken curry after that.

Vegetables:- Take 2.5 cups (coffee cup) of mixed vegetables cook
             it by putting into microwave for 10 minutes.

Rice:-Put 3 cups(coffee cup) of Basmathi rice into water for at 
      least one  hour.(  Before putting the rice into oil, dry it
      by putti washed rice into pot with small holes.)  Take some 
      onion (0.5 onion, long and thin) and put into hot oil (not 
      much) and stir it until the onion change it colour to sort 
      of  brown. Add little `manjnal',salt and one `eleka            
      podichathe'. Add the rice and stir for around 10 minutes. 
      Add some water (about 4 cups) and cook the rice as usual. 
      Add the vegetable and chicken curry that we made.

Chicken Curry:-
  1. Grambu              2 ennem
  2. karuva              about  3cm long
  3. eleka               2 ennem
  4. kurumulaku          4 ennem
  5. perum geerakam      1.5 teespoon   
     salt                
     malliyila
     karuveppila
     tomatoes            1 ennem
  6. mally poddy         3 teespoon
  7. mulaku poddy        1.5 teespoon
  8. manjnal             0.50 teespoon
     ginger
     onion               1 ennem
     velluthully         3 alli
     green pepper        1 ennem

Put onion into the hot oil and stir it until it colour change to
brown.  Add  ginger, velluthully.  Add 6-8.  Add the flour made 
from 1-5.  Add salt and malliyila,karuveppila, green pepper (the
one you put in pizza).
     Add chicken ( I prefer chicken legs, because you don't have
to deal with very small bones!!) that cut into pieces.  Cook it
for 25-30 minutes (add tomato around 10-15 minute), about little
more than medium heat.
     What I do is cook the chicken first.  It the chicken curry
contains `water' after it cooked, I took the water from it and put
this into rice (when we add the water), this will give a good
flavour. You can decorate it with onion, cashews, tomatoes, or
eggs.  You can eat this with salad, pappadam and pickle.


2.      Tuna Chammandi
		       [ By cs911093@cs.yorku.ca (shanty kokkat)]
Here is a easy receipe:

Tuna			180g
Onion			0.5 
Mulakupody		1 teaspoon
Mallypody		0.75 teaspoon
coconut powder		7 teaspoon

Put the onion (which is cut into small pieces) into hot oil
(little oil) and stir until it get browned.  Add Mulakupody,
Mallypody & coconut powder.  If the tuna contains salt, you
don't need to add salt, otherwise do.  Remove the water from
the tuna and add in to it.  Stir it for 10 minutes.





Organization: Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA