Then I think we are a little mullai-pu challenged/scarce in Kerala : )

I may be wrong but I seem to have read that the Buddha (at least once) ate beef. If memory serves right, it seems to have been in a Amar chitra katha/ Tinkle copy.

I think the taboo on beef and meat in general has come through Buddhism and Jainism. Such verses as you mentioned can be found also in the Vedas.

The Sangam literature refers to the Early Cholas (cff Wikipedia) who were around at that time.

Yes, Achaya mentions pulao originated in India, and was Sita’s favourite food. The word biryani might be non-Indian in origin.

Arun,

I’ve quoted Achaya in extenso. But you raise a good point..will take some time to look this up.

Perhaps another commenter could switch on the light for us all?

Roadside kallu (toddy) shops in Kerala will still serve you a mean little combo of sizzling fried aral and the AM’s fresh sweet toddy (the latter, provided you have the right connections of course ; )  And when the sweet toddy has dulled your senses enough and you leave the toddy shop’s mud and thatch protection into the hot blazing sun- ah, to reminisce those pleasures on a gray chilly manhattan day…   

I thought the Cholas only came to power around the 9th century CE. 150 CE must be just before the Pallavas. It was the Pallavas (Mahendravarman and others) who developed the links to further East and spread Hinduism to present day Indonesia, Cambodia, etc.

Before the Pallavas we had the Guptas/Mauryas, including Ashoka who had a strong Buddhist inclination.

There is some mention of the earliest organization of Tamils as far back as 150BCE, and the Cholas were involved in that. But they were never even a regional power after that till the 9th-13th century CE.

Would you be able to clarify some of this?
Arun