Jummina (or Jummana) is a wild
thorny tree common to rainy areas of Malnād and Karāvali It is known as Zanthoxylum rhetsa in botanical circles.. The thorny
tree with moderately large leaves bears pungent tasting bunch of berries known
as Jummina kāyi in Uttara Kannada.
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| Jummana (Kavunte) with berries |
In coastal cuisine the
dried outer skin of the Jummina (Kavunte) berries are used as spices for imparting a special
taste to fish curries, especially Bangude.
People consider that the wild spice has anti-flatulant characteristics to ward
of possible ill effects of indigestion especially associated with fishes like Bangude. The Indian tree is
considered to be a cousin of Szechuan pepper (Zanthoxylum
piperitum) a popular spice in Chinese
and Thai cooking.
In the villages of Tulunadu,
the berries of the tree are commonly known as Kavunte kāyi or Petala kāyi
( kāyi = berry of
the plant), which is used by rural children for playing as toy bullets. The children
while playing make piston like structures in the form of tubular structures from selected
plant stalks, inside which rod like plant parts, are used to drive out the
berry bullets forcibly such that berries explode with a thud sound.
The “Jummina” term might have been adopted
because of the stunning “jumm” kind
of pungent feeling you get while tasting the outer cover of the berry. Our Konkani
and Marathi friends call the tree by the name of Teppal
or Tirphal.
The tree bears fat thorns
on the stem that are used by children to make rubber stamps. The thorns of
Jummina tree are also used in the Yakshagana costumes, especially for designing
the thorn like shoulder ornaments (known as “bhujakeerti”).
R
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