When it comes to India's "Ah San", everyone must have a lot of their strange behaviors in their minds.
A series of confusing behaviors such as the opening of a military parade with more than a dozen people hanging on a motorcycle, "everything can be a masala", bathing in the Ganges, and not using paper to go to the toilet are really incomprehensible.
In addition to these, there is another thing in India that sounds disgusting, and that is "cow dung cake".
Animal dung has always been avoided by everyone, but in India, cow dung cakes, which sell for a few hundred rupees a box, are sold out of stock.
What is such a hot cow dung cake, and what can it be used for?
When it comes to cow dung cakes, we have to mention the "sacred cow" complex of Indians.
Indians' worship of cows is not just talk, in India, cows are really "god-level" existence!
Walking the streets of India, it is not uncommon to see herds of cattle roaming leisurely, even in the bustling parts of the city.
This is not because they are not afraid of traffic, but because they have a supreme position in the hearts of Indians.In Hinduism, Vishnu's mount is an ox, and Vishnu is the god who rules the universe. Therefore, in the eyes of Hindus, the cow is a magical creature that connects the mortal world with the divine realm.
Not only that, but the cow also has a beautiful meaning in Indian culture. Many Indian families worship a statue of a cow in their homes in the hope of bringing good luck and prosperity.
Sometimes, people even put ribbons and garlands on the cows, treating them as if they were family.
From a historical point of view, in ancient India, cattle were an important labor force, helping farmers to cultivate the land and transport goods.
They are the backbone of rural life, providing farmers with food, dairy products and manure as natural fertilizers, and this symbiotic relationship has allowed cattle to occupy an integral place in the lives of Indians.
So, don't be surprised when you see cows roaming leisurely through the streets in India.
Their status here is as precious and sacred as the pandas in our eyes, and respecting them is also respecting India's history, culture and religion.
The worship of cows in India has reached the point of obsession, they regard everything about cattle as treasures, and some people even drink cow urine, they are convinced that cow urine has a miraculous effect and can lead to various diseases.
The most famous products related to cow dung are the cow dung cakes, which are sold well in Japan and abroad.
In many cultures, cow dung cakes may be considered inedible or even unclean.
In India, however, this cake-like solid, made from a mixture of cow dung and hay, has a unique status and use.
Despite its unique smell and the fact that cow dung is the main raw material, this has not stopped it from gaining popularity in India and even becoming a unique cultural phenomenon.
In India, women are experts at making cow dung cakes, and their skills are skillful and agile, and they skillfully roll clumps of cow dung into a large ball with their bare hands.
This process may seem simple, but it requires a great deal of skill and experience, as cow dung is wet, sticky, and easily broken.
Then they gently slap the ball, slowly flattening it until it becomes a perfect cake of cow dung.
This step requires precise control of the force, too heavy can break the cake, too light and not the desired thickness.
Once the dung cake is finished, Indian farmers are quick to get into action.
They carefully arrange the loaves on the walls of their homes or in the small yard in front of their doors so that they can dry quickly over the next few days.Weather conditions are crucial for the making of cow dung cakes. If the sun is shining and the drying conditions are good, then these cakes will dry completely in just three days.
In India, a box of cow dung cakes can sell for a few hundred rupees, which seems to us to be incredible.
Converting** Minyuan, a box of cow dung cakes is nearly 40 yuan, for everyone, this ** is simply jaw-dropping.After all, its raw materials are just cow dung and hay, which are worthless in the eyes of most people, but this just shows the huge potential and huge profits of cow dung cake in the Indian market.
What's even more surprising is that despite such a high demand, cow dung cake is still very popular in the Indian market. Cow dung cakes sold in India** tend to sell out quickly.
So what do people buy these cow dung biscuits?
This cow dung cake is a "baby" in India, although the name has the word "cake", but like our Chinese's "pearl jade white jade soup", don't be deceived by the name.
In this magical land of India, there are countless religions and strange tastes, but cow dung cakes are really not for eating!
This thing has a famous festival in Hinduism - Deepavali, on this day, Hindus do not set off firecrackers and fireworks, but light cow dung cakes!
On Deepavali, worshippers light cow dung cakes in sacrificial vessels.
When burned, the cow dung cake will emit an indescribable smell, but the Indians say that it is used to cleanse the soul, and perhaps they think that this smell has a mysterious power.
Every Deepavali Festival, this cow dung cake becomes a hot commodity, and merchants are also fighting, in order to make the taste more unique, they will also add some "condiments", such as pigments and other additives.
In addition to sacrifices, Indians also like to stick cow dung cakes on their walls, you say it's not surprising, this thing can keep warm!
In the summer, the heat from the outside is absorbed by the cow dung cake on the wall, so that there is less heat coming into the house.
In winter, cold air can also be reduced.
Moreover, the dried cow dung cake is still a kind of high-quality fuel, it burns up and the fire is prosperous, and the food burned with it must taste unusual.
Therefore, there are many people who use cow dung cake as fuel when cooking food.
In fact, the raw material of this cow dung cake is the grass eaten by cows, don't look at its simple raw materials, the nutrients in it are not low, crude protein, crude fat, nitrogen-free extract and crude fiber are a lot.
When it comes to cow dung, we Chinese will definitely think of the famous "cow dung hot pot" in the south
In the deep mountains and old forests of Guizhou, China, there is a unique hot pot, which is called "cow dung hot pot".
However, the name is actually misunderstood, as its main ingredient is not actual cow dung, in fact, the raw material used in this hot pot is semi-digested grass from the cow's stomach.
Everyone knows that cows have four stomachs, and they digest their food by chewing it repeatedly. During the digestion process of cattle, the forage is digested and broken down in the stomach, releasing the aroma of the forage itself. This is the secret of "cow dung hot pot".
To make this hot pot, people feed the cows some special herbs in advance, and when the cows digest these foods, they develop a unique aroma. Then, the semi-digested grass in the cow's stomach is removed and used as the main base for the hot pot.The reason why cow dung hot pot is called this name is also because it gives off a faint smell of cow dung when it is made.
Of course, we should be tolerant of different cultures.
Only when we truly respect and accept cultural differences can we better promote the exchange and integration between different cultures and jointly create a harmonious and beautiful world.