palm-leaf pothis

Ingredients

palm-frond segment, midrib

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

In South Indian palm-leaf pothis, thick leaves are used as covers. Two sides of a palm-frond segment are kept intact and folded along their midrib. These are then worked together (e.g. boiled and polished) so that the end product appears like a single thick palm-leaf folio. At times, a folded segment can contain another leaf or even a whole other segment to make the cover extra strong (p. 171).

Evidence

"The leaves of palm trees (both talipot, Corypha sp., and palmyra, Borassus sp.) and paper are the most common among them, with the former arguably the first to have been used, in an unfortunately undefinable past."

Remarks

The author notes that palm-leaf manuscripts from Indonesia (excluding Sundanese) consistently feature three holes, while small leaves in other regions may only have one or two (p. 160). The folios can reach a state where they are 'sagging at both ends' suggesting the absence of a protective cover (p. 172).