TRIBAL CUISINES OF INDIA-INDIA’S NORTH EAST

My father was an Anthropologist. Hence, I accredit my interest in tribes and culture to those genes I inherited by virtue of my birth. And I still do not remember where did my interest in cuisine start. My remotest memory traces back to days, when as a ten year old along with another mad foodie childhood friend Mighty Bhullar aka Rattan Amol Singh Bhullar who later became a popular and passionate chef amongst the the tea planters of Assam, I would sell household junk to buy sausages from Harrison’s, Chandigarh and have them with fried onions-

 A combination of these fundamental interests was to prove quite lethal gastronomically in years to come. After all, it was to sober down the fire of hunger for which civilizations came about.

Fisherman fishing in the river Brahmaputra also known as Luit or Lohit in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

It is not easy to be born in India and to be writing about food, let alone tribal food. This country can proudly boast of thousands of varieties of food keeping in view its rich cultural diversity and traditions. My trail of tribal food started almost three decades ago when as a child I would accompany my late father on many of his field trips to remote corners of Himachal, Kashmir and subsequently to the North eastern states. It became part of my gastronomical adventure. My interest graduated to a passion and now has now post graduated to an obsession. 

Known as the ‘Children of God’ the tribals or adivasis are the indigenous people of India who have carefully preserved their age-old customs & traditions till this day.  Observing the vast differences in lifestyle and culture, one can only wonder whose children we are. Although a large part of the tribal populace has integrated with the mainstream and has undergone a sea change in lifestyle, what has remained closest to its purist form is their cuisine. As I was exploring all of these I could also see a gradual unfolding of patterns, common threads and designs. It gives me the same feeling of enigma, which surrounds the possible trade between various civilizations.

A typical Arunachali tribal kitchen-The whole family eats in the kitchen normally

In an age of growing animosity and apathy amongst men, tribal hospitality and strong love for one and all is a shining example for all. Their festivals, dance & song are pulsating with power, joy & enthusiasm for life.

Enough to make you want to ditch the trappings of modern mayhem for a loincloth and a fancy headdress? For the un-decided here is the final factor that will tilt the balance: tribal cuisine! While Indian cuisine has taken the world by storm with the ubiquitous curry, tribal cuisine avoids those very items that define Indian food: oil and spices. Depending on raw and roasted food, vegetarians lean toward dishes of sweet potatoes, salt and wild leaves. Dried seeds of fruits like mango and jack-fruit are often consumed. Ragi is the cereal of choice. Non-vegetarians are spoilt for choice with dishes ranging from pickled red ants to animals like rats, boar, snails and the like roasted or boiled.

Though tribes are differentiated on the basis of six primary ethnic groups: Negritos, Pro-Australoids or Austrics, Mongoloids, Dravidian, Nordics and Western Brachycephals. For the sake of convenience we will rather segregate them on basis of the region they inhabit. I’m certain you will be far happier singing North, South, East & West than spewing a mouth-full of syllables! And for this particular issue, we will stick to what we call India’s northeast.

 North East India my Favourite land

Northeast India, the only region that currently forms a land bridge between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, has been proposed as an important corridor for the initial peopling of East Asia. As for me, northeast is home- the brilliance of colourful hand woven textiles, the captivating folk heritage, its uncut umbilical chord with nature and most importantly the wonderful variety of food. Dancing your way through the hills seems like just the way to travel through this picturesque, breathtaking land. I can already picture myself jumping hills in a single leap. No wait…that’s Superman! For mere mortals however, modern conveniences will suffice. Though the tribes have their own dialects, Hindi, English and Assamese are also widely spoken as link languages in this land comprising eight beautiful states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. And it is a promise that it will be no less than a spiritual journey to walk through the lanes of these hills and discover what these people are made of. But for today, let it be just food.

Pork is the favourite meat of the tribals of North east the picture shows women selling smoked pork

Peculiar, bland, hot, aromatic, healthy, fleshy, fatty-yes these adjectives can be used all at the same time for a northeastern tribal meal. While a meal is incomplete without a steaming platter of steamed rice, various green vegetables and predominance of meat and fresh water fish is obvious. Though each state has their peculiar culinary style, each of them definitely has a nose for the pungent aka bamboo shoot, fermented soya beans, fermented fish, and fermented flesh amongst others. Bamboo shoot is used widely as a souring agent in almost all the tribes. Fermented soya bean popularly known as akhuni in Nagaland, kinema in Sikkim and turumbai in Meghalaya, is a significant ingredient, used to create a pungent aroma in various dishes, also used as a pickle. When I say pickle, an array of hot chilies is indispensable for me to mention. The world’s hottest chilli popularly known as Raja Mircha or the king chilli has various names like U-morok in Manipur and bhoot jolokia in Assam and is widely relished. None of the pork dishes for e.g. in a state like Nagaland is complete without the flavour of this fiery chilli. I’d say, if you have a brave heart and a desire for fire, just ask for it. 

banana flower stem and raw banana is a common ingredient for tribal cooking

The land of the freedom-loving, martial race of the Nagas, Nagaland itself has almost sixteen tribes and an umpteen number of sub tribes with their distinct food habits. Tribes like the Semas and Angamis prepare their pork with akhuni while Ao Nagas love their pork with anishi –a preparation made of dried yam leaves. The Angamis prepare galho a stew, adding lots of green leafy vegetables a little portion of rice and akhuni and of course now all of them prepare all of it.My Charming Godmother or Aunty Tutu the daughter of the legendary Phizo makes the best Galho that I have ever tasted. There are other styles like pork with dried bamboo shoot, with lettuce and spinach leaves and others. The Lothas love their bamboo shoot and cannot live without the Raja Mircha-infact dry bamboo shoot  from Wokha the land of the Lothas is awesome. These tribes smoke their meat at home, over their large kitchen fire, ferment them underground, literally. Well, the same goes with beef, chicken, fish, snails, shrimps, silk worms, red ants and others. And of course it is not just peculiar to the Nagas but various other tribes of northeast India. For the tribes in Arunachal, killing mithun or the bison is the symbol of utmost valour and wealth. And of course eating it!    

A Singphu woman in Margherita, Assam using bamboo to cook rice

Rice is fundamental. You have various kinds at that; the favourite of them all is the wild sticky rice. Many a times rice is prepared in hollow bamboo tubes. Apart from steaming the rice, they prepare them like a stew. The Bodos of Assam prepare a stew out of chicken and a rice powder called onla wangkhrai. The tribes in Meghalaya have a rice preparation called jadoh out of rice and pig liver. In Arunachal Pradesh too, like all other states, rice is consumed at every meal and has different names; ekayi, tongtep, khautek, porok amin, dung poo are a few. Dals and lentils are also staple, however, the methods of preparation varies. Most of the times in the north eastern states, rice will be prepared with yam stem, bamboo shoot and other locally grown herbs.

 

Tribal Women Sellin Vegetables in Aizawl Market

Despite the predominance of flesh in their cuisine, the people of northeast are heavy vegetable consumers as well, given the fact that they are grown naturally in abundance. Nagaland and Mizoram are organic by legislation! In Sikkim they ferment leafy vegetables like rayo saag, leaves of mustard, radish and cauliflower and sun dry it for later consumption. They call these preparations gundruk and sinki. Sinki is prepared from radish taproot only. Momos and thukpa of course make a wholesome meal! And of course, Sikkim is known all over for its cottage cheese.

Fish being grilled in a typical tribal fashion using khorika i.e. bamboo sticks

Like pork, chicken, duck and all all other edible flesh, fish is also very popular and has variety of ways of preparation. Fresh water fish is barbecued in banana leaves in Meghalaya, Assam and other states. Fish intestines are relished. Many people make mixture of rice powder or a handful of steamed rice and fish intestines and prepare a delicious preparation out of it. Fermented fish chutney, dried fish chutney with oodles of green chillies let your nose running for hours after you eat them. People in Tripura love their fermented fish preparation called shidal. The Riyangs of Tripura love to cook their vegetables in hollow bamboo over chacoal fire. Just imagine the flavour it would exude!

Technically Manipur is not a tribe-dominated state, as their prime inhabitants the Maiteis are staunch Vaishnavaits. However, Manipur also has its fair population of tribes namely the Kukis, Paiteis, Zilliongs etc. manipur has some of the best chutneys that I have relished. Singzu is chutney prepared from green vegetables, chick peas and fermented fish called ngari and is relished all over the state. The most interesting part of northeastern tribal cuisine is the usage of minimalist spice. A chilli or two (enough for sparking the fire), ginger and garlic, occasionally sesame and some local herbs are the ingredients to tickle your taste buds.

Beverages in North East:

What does these intoxicatingly beautiful people do when it comes to intoxication? Why, they brew their own beer of course! All the tribes have their recipes of brewing rice beer. As it is self explanatory, it is brewed from rice. Rice is soaked in water for several days to let it ferment. Few intoxicating agents are added to give that zing. These agents are mostly local herbs. In Arunachal, the local rice beer is called opo or apong or yu, o or marwah. While in Assam it is called laopani or kshaaz. Each tribe has their own method of distillation, however the raw materials are more or less the same. Most of the times, the rice beer is offered to the deities before consumption, and needless to say, every celebration is pretty incomplete without serving rice beer.

Apong bieng prepared for a wedding in Kenri's home in Basar in Arunachal Pradesh

But of course, we must not forget that Assam is the tea hub of the world. Though the people involved in the laborious cultivation are the adivasis who were brought by the British planters some two hundred years ago from the Chota Nagpur plateau primarily the region of Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Hence a huge number of Oraon, Mundas, Khariyas, Saoras have become completely engrained in the demography of Assam and follow not only some of their original food habits, but also certain assimilated habits. Black tea which the people in Assam call laal saah, is mostly consumed with jaggery and is extremely popular in the villages. Towards the Northern part of Arunachal Pradesh lies the great Himalayan range and it’s chill and the mountaneous topography definitely makes butter tea extremely popular, especially in the districts of Tawang, Siang and Kameng.

 As I say, it is never enough when it comes to food-be it eating, cooking or writing. I still feel a little incapacitated because of the fact that there are several things, several dishes I had to give a miss because of the extensive subject matter. Considering the fact that the northeast India’s demography is tribe dominated, time and space is always insufficient to talk of the legends.

SUCH IS THE HOSPITALITY OF THE TRIBALS OF NORTH EAST THAT THEY WILL FEED YOU TILL YOU GET FED UP-I AM ONE OF THE FEW FORTUNATE ONES

Bhutanese food A Tantric Delight—There is passion, fire and warmth in their cuisine

 

RELIGION/CULTURE

The State religion is Drukpa Kagyupa a branch of Mahayana Buddhism. It has been institutionalized in the Dratshang (Central Monk body), headed by the Je Khenpo (Chief Abbot) who is chosen from among the most learned lamas and enjoys an equal rank with the King. Bhutan is the only country in the world to have adopted Mahayana Buddhism in its Tantric form as its official religion. The Buddhist faith has played and continues to play a fundamental role in the cultural, ethical and sociological development of Bhutan and its people. It permeates all strands of secular life.

FOOD CULTURE

The country of Bhutan, nestled in the Himalayas, is truly a magical place. The magnificence of the landscape match with its varied cuisine that is as mystique as the land itself.

The people of Bhutan love to eat and every region has its own specialty. Bhutanese affinities for Yak meat is well known, but they also relish a completely vegetarian dish made of humble cheese and chili. This special dish is known as ‘Ema Datshi’. It is said that a trip to the Dragon Kingdom is incomplete without tasting this delicacy. It is undoubtedly tasty but very, very hot.

Yes! The Bhutanese are passionate about chili. The species of chili used here is Capsicum onum, a fluffy red variety. The entire country seems to sing “Without chilies we die”. Chilies are spread all over – on the roadsides, on rooftops and on the courtyards. The huge baskets of chilies at the market put to shame the bursting pumpkins, white radish, potato, cabbage, cauliflower and beans.

The Bhutanese do not add much spice to their curry, the only ingredient being chili, chili and lots of chili. “If it does not make you sweat, then why ever bother to eat?” they ask. Therefore, the taste of Ema datshi or the Zhan-s-pa (pronounced Zhasappa) at a Bhutanese household may not be to your liking. The variety served in restaurants is less hot and spiced to make it more palatable to external tongue.

Another important feature of this exotic cuisine is the use of rice. Five kilograms per head per week is the normal consumption. As this is the only crop cultivated, rice finds its way in various forms from breakfast to dinner. It’s either rice with curry or curry with rice.

Two categories of rice are used in Bhutan. The urban areas including Thimpu, Paro and Phuntsholing use the white rice while the rural population use the red rice (the grained variety). Rice based delicacies include ‘Desi’, a tasty mixture of white rice, butter, sugar, golden raisins and saffron and ‘Zow’ or fried rice mixed with sugar, butter and sometimes oilseeds. Both these are the favorite of His Majesty King Jigme Wangchuk and are served on special occasions.

In eastern Bhutan, some wheat is cultivated and the staple diet is ‘Puta’ or wheat noodles. In most families of Southern Bhutan, corn kernels are dried in bamboo shoots and then ground coarsely to make ‘Kharang’. This is then added to the leftover curry and made into a ‘Thukpa’(porridge) style breakfast.

The rice is served in a special tightly woven bamboo bowl called ‘bangchung’ made in the Kheng province. Meat, especially Yak meat, is a staple food for the non-vegetarian. Yak is a common sight in every household. Not a single part of the animal is wasted, similar to the banana plants in India. Beside meat, their milk is dried and made into cheese, even the skin is fried and served as a snack with drinks.

The Yak herders come down from the highlands in autumn and sell meat, butter and cheese to villagers in exchange of rice to last them a full year. The average meat an adult Yak yields is 250 to 260 kg. It also produces 1 kg of butter and an equivalent amount of cheese in three to four days. The locals sometimes hang thin strips of yak meat in the courtyard to be dried in the hot sun and stored for use in the winter. “The dried variety is more delicious”, quipped a village woman on enquiry.

Though they appreciate the pleasure of meat, being a Buddhist country, slaughter of animals is restricted. In Bumthang, a district in eastern Bhutan, slaughter of animals is not allowed at all. But you can eat the meat if the same animal fell off a cliff. What a concession!

The common preparation of meat is ‘Pa’, a curry. Large chunks of meat are mixed with lots of vegetables and chillies and boiled for a long time to make a curry. Turmeric or other spices are not used, leaving the curry white.

‘Zhasonpa’ is prepared in the same manner, except chicken pieces (Zhason) are used instead. This specialty can be tasted … obviously without the chillies. Bhutanese also love ‘Momos’. Though a Tibetan specialty, it has occupied a permanent place in the Bhutanese culinary. Chicken or Pork Momos are favored but cheese Momo is most common.

Coming back to ‘Ema Datshi’ or churpi or yakshi we call in India—very popular in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh but in the Twang region. Here is a brief on how it is made

To make the cheese, pour boiling water to the liquid yogurt left in the butter churn after the butter is removed. Stir gently till it turns into a soft yellow paste that is fried with butter and sugar to get the ‘Datshi’. Finally, add chili, salt and cook with the Datshi to make a curry.

Sometimes the Datshi is dried for a few more days to make it hard. It is then cut into pieces, stringed and kept over fire for three to four months (yes!) and Wow! The stone hard chewing gum is ready. And this is what the Bhutanese chew all the time. They say it helps to keep the body warm. I tried it and actually liked it but my friends threw it out in no time due to its pungent odor.You just have to develop a taste for these things actually 

 

 

The Kitchen

How do they wash down all these hot, spicy delicacies?The answer is simple. Either with drink or with Tea. The Bhutanese can drink ‘Suja’, butter tea or ‘Ara’, a locally made wine. Ara is made from any grain cultivated in the region, rice, wheat or Barley. In traditional feasts an unusual snack is offered. Butter is heated with egg and Ara is poured over the whole offering.

In the Northern District of Ha and Lingzhi, another queer dish is prepared from Yak haunch. The entire haunch is wrapped in a cloth and kept for two to three months and then served with chillies and wine.

In the Kheng region, raw meat is served with drinks and on special occasions, the whole village participates in the feast. In Bumthang, a rare tea is made from a parasitic plant ‘Neshing Jurma’ that grows on Oak trees while the predominantly Nepalese area of Southern Bhutan savor ‘Shel Roti’. Salt and sugar is added to rice flour and made into a paste, which is then fried, in bubbling hot oil.

These days however, the Urban Bhutanese are tilting towards the Western type of food and even the rural population is not interested in this laborious process. But in festivals, weddings and other traditional gatherings they always go for the cuisine of the land.

THE BHUTANESE ARE VERY SPIRITUAL PEOPLE BASICALLY AND THEY LOVE TO COOK FOR THEIR GUESTS-A MEAL IN A BHUTANESE HOME IS WELL WORTH IT-THE MAIN FLAVOUR IS WARMTH AND HOSPITALITY-IT MAKES THE FOOD TASTE EVEN BETTER

 

 

 

 

THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD LANGAR—TRULY IS A GREAT VIRTUE

  

Guru ka Langar (literally, langar or refectory of the Guru) is a community kitchen run in the name of the Guru. It is usually attached to a gurdwara. Langar, a Persian word, means ‘an almshouse’, ‘an asylum for the poor and the destitute’, ‘a public kitchen kept by a great man for his followers and dependants, holy persons and the needy.’ Some scholars trace the word langar to Sanskrit analgrh (cooking place). In Persian, the specific term langar has been in use in an identical sense. In addition to the word itself, the institution of langar is also traceable in the Persian tradition. Langars were a common feature of the Sufi centres in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Even today some dargahs, or shrines commemorating Sufi saints, run langars, like Khwaja Mu’in ud-Din Chishti’s at Ajmer.  

The principle of Guru Ka Langar is so important that even when the ruler of India Emperor Akbar visited Guru Amar Das Ji, he too sat in the pangat to take Langar before he was allowed to see Guru Ji. Hence the mighty ruler of India also sat amongst the common people as an equal and had the same simple food. So impressed was he by the Langar that he offered a great jagir (a great amount of land and wealth) as a contribution to it’s maintainance. As the Mahima Prakash records, the Emperor refused to step on the silks spread out for him by his servants when going to call on the Guru. He turned aside the lining with his own hands and walked to the Guru’s presence barefoot. The Guru would not accept the Emperor’s offer of the jagir, so Akbar offered it as a wedding present for the Guru’s daughter. It is believed that the gifted land, is today, the city of Amritsar.

When President Nasser of Egypt visited the Golden Temple he was so touched to see so many Kashmiri Muslims, Hindu’s, Christians and Sikhs sitting together to eat in the Langar that his party left all the money they carried with them as a contribution to it’s running.

The Langar is run by sevadars ‘voluntary selfless’ Sikhs and others who wish to help. It is a community kitchen and anybody can help in it’s running. This function of Sewa brings a community feeling in the persons mind and destroy their ego and the feeling of “I” or “me” by the performing of this valuable service to humanity.

The langar continued to perform its distinctive role in days of the direst persecution. Bands of Sikhs wandering in deserts and jungles would cook whatever they could get, and sit in a pangat to share it equally. Later, when the Sikhs came into power, the institution of langar was further consolidated because of increased number of gurdwaras running the langar, and assignment of jagirs to gurdwaras for this purpose.

Rules concerning the tradition of Langar – The Langar must be:

1. simple and vegetarian

2. prepared by devotees who recite Gurbani while preparing the langar

3. served after performing Ardas

4. distributed in Pangat without any prejudice or discrimination

5. fresh, clean and hygienically prepared

Importance of Langar to Sikhism

Bhai Desa Singh in his Rehitnama says, “A Sikh who is well to do must look to the needs of a poor neighbour. Whenever he meets a traveller or a pilgrim from a foreign country, he must serve him devotedly.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh made grants of jagirs to gurdwaras for the maintenance of langars. Similar endowments were created by other Sikh rulers as well. Today, practically every gurdwara has a langar supported by the community in general. In smaller gurdwaras cooked food received from different households may comprise the langar. In any case, no pilgrim or visitor will miss food at meal time in a gurdwara. Sharing a common meal sitting in a pangat is for a Sikh an act of piety. So is his participation in cooking or serving food in the langar and in cleaning the used dishes. The Sikh ideal of charity is essentially social in conception. A Sikh is under a religious obligation to contribute one-tenth of his earning for the welfare of the community. He must also contribute the service of his hands whenever he can, that rendered in a langar being the most meritorious.

“Keep the langar ever open” are reported to have been the last words of Guru Gobind Singh spoken to Bhai Santokh Singh before he passed away at Nanded. One of the lines in his Dasam Granth reads: “Deg tegh jag me dou chalai—may langar (charity) and sword (instrument of securing justice) together prevail in the world.” The first Sikh coin minted in the eighteenth century carried the Persian maxim: “Deg tegh fateh—may langar and sword be ever triumphant.”

An essential part of any Gurdwara is the Langar, or free kitchen. Here the food is cooked by sevadars and is served without discrimination to all. After the Sadh Sangat has participated in any ceremony, they are served the Guru’s Langar. It was inspired by Guru Nanak’s act of serving food to wandering holy men when given money by his father to strike a good bargain. The practice of serving food to all was started with Guru Nanak’s Sikhs at Kartarpur.

The Guru’s Langar is always vegetarian, and traditionally is made up of simple, nourishing food. Strict rules of hygiene and cleanliness are important when preparing the Langar (i.e., washed hands, never tasting it while cooking). Individuals with communicable diseases should not participate in the preparation of Langar. It is also suggested that Gurbani be recited during the preparation.

Once Guru Gobind Singh, disguised as an ordinary pilgrim, made a surprise check of the langars at Anandpur. He discovered that Bhai Nand Lal’s langar was the best maintained. He complimented him and asked others to emulate his standards of dedication and service. One of Guru Gobind Singh’s commandments was that a Sikh visiting another Sikh’s door must be served food, without hesitation or delay. Another of his sayings ran: “Gharib da munh guru ki golak hai — to feed a hungry mouth is to feed the Guru.” This spirit of common sharing and of mutual co-operation and service was the underlying principle of the Sikh tradition of langar.

Guru Nanak and his successors attached a great deal of importance to langar and it became, in their hands, a potent means of social reform. The former gave it the central place in the dharamsala he established at Kartarpur at the end of his preaching tours. He worked on his farm to provide for himself and for his family and to contribute his share to the common langar.

He had such of his disciples as could afford to set up dharamsalas and langars. Among them were ‘Sajjan Thag, then lost to godly ways, and a wealthy nobleman, Malik Bhago, both of whom had converted to his message. Bhumia, formerly a dacoit, was asked by Guru Nanak to turn his kitchen into a langar in the name of God. A condition was laid upon Raja Shivnabh of Sangladip (Sri Lanka) that he open a langar before he could see him (Guru Nanak). The Raja, it is said, happily complied.

 

Guru Angad, Nanak II, further extended the scope of the institution. He helped with cooking and serving in the Langar at Khadoor Sahib. His wife, Mata Khivi, looked after the pilgrims and visitors with the utmost attention. Such was her dedication to work in the langar that it came to be known after her name as Mata Khivi ji ka Langar. The Var by Satta and Balvand also applauds Guru Amar Das’s langar wherein “ghee and flour abounded.” In spite of rich variety of food served in his langar, Guru Amar Das ate a simple meal earned by the labour of his own hands. “What was received from the disciples was consumed the same day and nothing was saved for the morrow.” Contributing towards the Guru ka Langar became an established custom for the Sikhs. Partaking of food in Guru ka Langar was made a condition for disciples and visitors before they could see the Guru. Guru Amar Das’s injunction was: “pahile pangat pachhe sangat”—first comes eating together, then meeting together.” Langar thus gave practical expression to the notion of equality.

At Goindwal, during the time of Guru Amar Das Ji a rule was instituted that anyone who wanted to have a meeting with the Guru (receive his Darshan) would have to eat food from the Langar. Even when the Emperor of India, Akbar came to see Guru Amar Das, he sat in pangat (where Langar is served) before meeting the Guru. From that time forward, at Goindwal, Langar was served 24 hours a day.

Bhai Jetha, who came into spiritual succession as Guru Ram Das, served food in Guru Amar Das’s langar, brought firewood from the forest and drew water from the well. By such deeds of devoted service, he gained enlightenment and became worthy of the confidence of Guru Amar Das. Langar served to train the disciples in seva and to overcome class distinctions.

The institution of langar had become an integral part of the Sikh movement by now and, with the increase in its numbers, it gained further popularity and strength. With the development under Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan of Amritsar as the central seat of the Sikh faith, the capacity of the local Guru ka Langar increased manifold. Sikhs came from far-off places to see their Guru and to lend a hand with the construction work. They were all served food in Guru ka Langar.

Bhai Manjh, was was attracted to Sikhism from a Muslim sect, engaged himself in serving the Guru’s langar by fetching fuel wood from the nearby jungle. Once, due to inclement weather, he fell into a well whilst carrying wood on his head. On hearing this, the Guru Arjan Dev rushed to the well with necessary equipment. When the ropes were lowered, Bhai Manjh requested the Guru to draw out the fuel wood first, as he considered dry wood more essential than himself. It was done, and when Bhai Manjh was drawn out, the Guru embraced him in his wet clothes blessing him, “Manjh is the Guru’s beloved. Whosoever keeps his company shall be redeemed.”

Guru Hargobind and Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled extensively in north and northeast India. This led to the establishment of many new sangats. Each sangat meant an additional langar. In the reign of Guru Gobind Singh, the institution of langar acquired further significance. At Anandpur, the new seat of Sikhism, a number of langars were in existence, each under the supervision of a devoted and pious Sikh. Food was available in these langars day and night.

The Protocols

When preparing food for the Langar, the mouth and nose will be covered by a piece of cloth known as a “parna”. Also during the preparation due regard is made to purity, hygene and cleaniness, the sevadars (selfless workers) will normally utter Gurbani and refrain from speaking if possible.

When the Langar is ready, a small portion of each of the dishes is placed in a plate or bowls and placed in front of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and a prayer called the Ardas is performed. The Ardas is a petition to God; a prayer to thank the Creators for all His gifts and blessings. A steel kirpan is passed through each item of food, after the “Guru-prashad” has been blessed. The blessing of the Langar with Ardas can be done anywhere, in case the Langar needs to be served before the completion of the Gurdwara ceremony. The Langar is not eaten until the Ardas has been recited. After the Ardas is completed, each item of food is returned back to its original pot or container. It is said that the blessings of the “holy” food are thus passed to the entire Sangat through the Langar.

When serving the Langar, the servers must observe strict rules of cleanliness and hygiene. Servers should not touch the serving utensils to the plates of those they serve. When serving foods by hand, such as chapatis or fruit, the servers’ hands should not touch the hand or plate of those they are serving. Those serving should wait until all others have been completely served before they sit down to eat themselves. It is advisable not to leave any leftovers.

Since some Sikhs believe that it is against the basics of Sikhi to eat meat, fish or eggs, hence non-vegetarian foods of this sort is neither served nor brought onto the Gurdwara premises. Others believe that the reason vegetarian food is served in Gurdwaras is so that people of all backgrounds can consume the food without any anxiety about their particular dietary requirement and to promote complete equality among all the peoples of the world. Alcoholic and narcotic substances are stringently against the Sikh diet, hence these with any meat products are strictly not allowed on Gurdwara premises.

A Means of Social Reform

Community kitchens came into existence with the Sangat or holy fellowships of disciples which sprang up at many places in his time. Sikhs sat in pangat (literally a row) without distinctions of caste or status, to share a common meal prepared in the langar. Besides the kitchen where the food was cooked, langar stood for the victuals as well as for the hall where these were eaten. The disciples brought the offerings and contributed the labour of their hands to prepare and serve the food. The institution of Langar had thus demolished the long established caste barriers and gender prejudices of the time.

High caste Brahmins would eat from the hands of low caste Sudar and vice-versa. This practise, slowly overcame the century old established prejudices ingrained in the minds of common people of the land. Before the establishment of Langar, a Brahmin would not eat in the presence of a low caste person and was thought a bad omen if a low caste person was to enter a room where the high caste Brahmin was eating. The institution of Langar removed all these barriers in the culture of Northern India

“SUCH IS THE VIRTUE IN A LANGAR—TO FEED WITH LOVE –A BLESSING INDEED-THE FOOD AND THE FLAVOURS OF LANGAR CANNOT BE SAVOURED ANYWHERE ELSE -I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT”

 

 

 

The KING as it is rightly said.

The hottest chili pepper in the world– bhoot jalokiya/naga jalokiya/raja mircha/u-morok

Since 1994 and until 2006 the record holder as the “hottest pepper” was the Red Savina Habanero with an SHU rating of 577,000. In 2006 two agronomists, Joy and Michael Michaud, in Dorset, England, bought some chili peppers at a Bangladeshi market in Bournemouth, took them home and found them extremely hot. They took some seeds and grew them in their garden and when they tested the harvested bite-size chilies they recorded an SHU of 876,000. They sent it to a laboratory in New York where it recorded even a higher SHU of 970,000. They called it Dorset nAgA recognizing that it is a variant of Bangladesh’s fiery nAgA morich. With all the certificates of analysis they applied for the “hottest pepper” status in the Guinness Book of Records. At about a million SHU, the Dorset nAgA became the hottest pepper around. End of story? Not quite!

In August 2000, some Indian scientists from the Defence Research Laboratory in Tezpur, Assam, reported on a new chile cultivar which they identified as Capsicum frutescens cv. Nagahari. It was dubbed Tezpur chili and also referred to as Indian PC-1. The native name is NAGA JALOKIYA, “chili of the Nagas”, after the inhabitants of Nagaland. Its heat index was 855,000 SHU. The results were published in the journal Current Science, (79, 287, 2000). However, the work invited considerable criticism for lack of proper calibration of the HPLC apparatus that was used in measuring the capsaicin content.

In addition, authentic NAGA JALOKIYA A material was not available outside of India for others to corroborate the results. Also it was questioned whether a Capsicum frutescens variety (to which the Tabasco pepper belongs) could engender such a high SHU material. However, in 2003, it was suggested that the Tezpur variant could belong to Capsicum chinense (to which the Red Savina Habanero belongs) which lent some credence to the heat claim. The Dorset Naga, which is a variant of the Bangladesh species, was characterized as C. chinense. It appears that NAGA JALOKIYA has the genes from both C.frutescens and C. chinense. This NAGA JALOKIYA is commonly grown in northeastern India (Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur) and Bangladesh

NAGA JALOKIYA is also called variously as Bih jalakia (“poison chili pepper” in Assamese language) in some places of Assam, Bhut jalakia (“ghost” — perhaps due to its ghostly bite or a reference to its introduction from neighboring Bhutan), Nagahari, Naga morich, and Raja Mirchi (“king of chilies”). In Manipur it known as U-MOROK.Despite such different names they all refer to the same chili with the name Naga, a name associated with the warrior clan of Nagaland. Ripe NAGA chilies measure 6 to 8 cm long and 2 to 3 cm wide with an orange or red color. While similar in appearance with the Habanero peppers, the skin of NAGA peppers is dented.

The Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, decided to test the validity of the “world’s hottest pepper” claim from several entries starting in 2001.The director of the institute received seeds from one “bhut jolokia” from someone who collected it while visiting India.

The institute grew those seeds to get some bulk seed in order to conduct field trials and compare with other varieties. After a few years they had enough seeds to conduct field trials of seeds from bhut jolokia, orange habanero and red savina.

After growing all the three under controlled conditions, the pods were harvested and the SHU of each was measured by HPLC. The orange habanero measured 357,729 SHU while the red savina was even less than the orange habanero. The bhut jolokia crossed the million mark at 1,001,304 SHU. DNA analysis also indicated that bhut jolokia had genes of C. frutescens and C. chinense. Correspondingly Assam-based Frontal Agritech had their Bih jolokia tested at 1.041,427 SHU thereby affording independent verification of the chile pepper from north-eastern India/Bangladesh being the “hottest chile pepper in the world”.

In February 2007, Guinness World Records certified the Bhut Jolokia (which is the preferred name for the Indian pepper at the Chile Pepper Institute) as the “world’s hottest chili pepper”. As noted above, all the varieties, bhut jolokia, NAGA jolokia, and Raja Mirchi belong to the same class and originated from north-eastern India/Bangladesh. The Dorset NAGA that was mentioned at the outset, likewise, is a derivative of the NAGA JALOKIYA. So, at this point and until some other species/cultivar can claim a higher SHU, the Bhut Jolokia/Bih Jolokiya/NAGA Jolokia/Raja Mirchi/Naga Morich clan can hold the title as the “hottest pepper in the world” When a chemical called substance P is released from a neuron (nerve cell), pain gets propagated. Capsaicin reduces the amount of substance P in nerve endings and interferes with pain signal transmission to the brain. Capsaicin can be used in a cream or ointment form to relieve neuralgia (pain in the nerves near the skin), and minimize the pain caused by diabetic neuropathy, osteo-arthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Capsaicin also relieves the pain caused by shingles (blisters around one side of the waist caused by the chicken pox virus) in adults. A Danish study confirmed the pain-relief effect of capsaicin when applied to the wound area during/after surgery

IF YOU HAVE DESIRE FOR FIRE THEN THIS IS THE RIGHT SPICE FOR YOU–IT IS AWESOME,GREAT AROMA,BOTH FRESH AND DRIED-A MUST TRY

My Kitchen…

“My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me. It is place where the surfaces seem to have significance, where the sounds and odours carry meaning that transfers from the past and bridges to the future.”

“TO FEED WITH LOVE IS A GREAT VIRTUE AND YOUR KITCHEN CAN NEVER GO EMPTY”

MY PHILOSOPHY

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INSIDE AN ASSAMESE KITCHEN

TYPICAL ASSAMESE FIREPLACE-JUHAAL

Inside The Assamese Kitchen & eating Culture !!

Let us first familiarize ourselves with the basic Assamese kitchen vocabulary which is as interesting as the well spread Assamese platter. Rice adorns the ‘taj’ of the staplefood along with various daals, while pristine golden mustard oil, basic spices and condiments are used to cook a variety of seasonal vegetables grown on the soil genetically set fertile by the alluvium of the Brahmaputra.Among the cooking vessels, the keraahi (iron woks) where most of the cooking and frying is done, the tawa (griddle) on which rotis and parotas are made, the handi – a special large pot for cooking rice and the handleless modification of the sauce pan – the rimmed, deep, flat-bottomed dekchi are all hallmarks of the Assamese kitchen. And of course you will also find the pressure cooker which is indispensable to any Indian kitchen.As for the other utensils you absolutely can’t do without the hetaa or Koroch (ladle), the khonti (metal spatula), the ghutoni (wooden hand blender) the wooden belna (round pastry board and rolling pin).

SOME TERMS USED IN DAY TO DAY ASSAMES CUISINE:

KHAR : A curry mixed with the juice of banana soot.
TENGA : A sour dish, normally a curry made with various souring agents.
BHAJI : Anything dry or deep fried, either by itself or in batter.
BHAPOT DIYA : Fish or vegetables steamed with oil and spices. A classic steaming technique is to wrap the fish in banana leaf to give it a faint musky, smoky flavour.
PITIKA : Vegetable or fish boiled and mashed and seasoned with mustard oil or ghee and spices.
SOBJI : Tiny pieces of one or more vegetable, usually flavored with panch-phoron or whole mustard seeds or kal jeera. Chopped onion and garlic can also be used, but hardly any ground spices. Not completely dry neither semi gravy.
JOLA : Literally, hot. A great favorite in Assamese households, this is made with fish or shrimp or crab, first lightly fried and then cooked in a light sauce of ground red chilli or ground mustard and a flavoring of panch-phoron or kaal jeera.
JOOL : A light fish or vegetable stew seasoned with ground spices like ginger, cumin, corriander, chilli and turmeric with pieces of fish and longitudinal slices of vegetables floating in it. The gravy is thin yet extreamely flavorful. Whole green chillies are usually added at the end and green corriander leaves are used to season for extra taste.
BOR : Dal or Ground meat or vegetable croquettes bound together by spices and/or eggs.
POORA : Literally, burnt over charcoal. Vegetables are wrapped in banana leaves and roasted over a wood or charcoal fire. Some, like eggplants (brinjals/aubergines), are put directly over the flames. Before eating the roasted vegetable is mixed with mustard oil and spices.
TORKARI : A general term often used in Assam the way `curry’ is used in English. Originally from Persian, the word first meant uncooked garden vegetables. From this it was a natural extension to mean cooked vegetables or even fish and vegetables cooked together.
PITHA : Typical Assamese snack, prepared from powdered sticky rice called Bora Saul. This snack is sweet as various sweeteners like sugar, jaggery, crated coconuts are added. This snack is well accompanied with a cup of refreshing Assam tea. They are unavoidable requirement of any Assamese Festivals.

Eating and Serving Assamese Food

The Assamese are great food lovers. A leisurely meal of many items which requires long hours of labour, preparation and ingenuity in the kitchen has long been a major part of Assamese culture. The traditional way of serving food is on the floor, where individual pieces of wooden stool, called piras are laid on for each person to sit on. In front of this seat is placed a large platter made of bell metal/steel or on a large piece of fresh cut banana leaf. Around this platter a number of small metal or earthen bowls are arrayed in which portions of khar, dal, vegetables, fish, meat chutney and dessert are served. In the center of the platter sits a small mound of piping hot rice flanked by vegetable fritters, wedges of lime, whole green chillies and perhaps a bit of Kharoli and khorisa (a pickles made from bamboo shoots).

The approach to food is essentially tactile. As in all of India, Assamese eat everything with their fingers. What, after all, could be better to pick out treacherous bones of fish like hilsa and kaoi? Apart from this functional aspect, the fingers also provide an awareness of texture which becomes as important as that felt by the tongue. The various mashed vegetables or different rice or varieties of fish we eat are all appreciated by the fingers before they enter the mouth. The other peculiarity about the Assamese eating scene is the unashamed accumulation of remnants. Since succulent vegetable stalks, fish bones and fish heads, meat and chicken bones are all meticulously chewed until not a drop of juice is left inside, heaps of chewed remnants beside each plate are an inevitable part of a meal.

Whether you have five dishes or sixty, the most important part of eating in Assam is eating each dish separately with a little bit of rice in order to savor its individual bouquet. The more delicate tastes always come first and it is only by graduating from these to stronger ones that you can accommodate the whole range of taste. Khar dishes are the first item followed by dal, perhaps accompanied by fries or fritters of fish and vegetables. After this comes any of the complex vegetable dishes like, followed by the important fish jhol as well as other fish preparations. Meat will always follow fish, and chutneys and ambals will provide the refreshing touch of tartness to make the tongue anticipate the sweet dishes.

With all these delicious flavors combined with textures to be chewed, sucked, licked and gulped with suitable chomps and slurps (the better the meal the louder the sounds of appreciation) an Assamese meal usually ends with a great fortissimo burp!Later on betal nut and betal leaves with little lime. It leaves a taste in your mouth that lingers for a long time.

AN ASSAMESE MEAL IS A MUST TRY-I SIMPLY JUST LOVE THIS FOOD

Amma…alias Zaibun Nisha—the last of its Kind…after her, What?

She says, “What my father had in his hands, I do not even have a portion of it…but what he did leave behind with me was the determination to keep my tradition alive.”

If she meant that her shooley and khud murg were only one fourth of its original taste, I would give a million bucks to get into a time machine and go to the period when her father existed. May be even the Khajuraho sculptures could not have provided what her food gave us…orgasm that meandered from the nose to the tongue to tickle the body from within.

She comes from the legacy of inventors of the famous Tunde Kebabs of Lucknow. Her father worked for a megistrate in Lucknow, who later got transferred to Jaipur. Hence, just a couple of years before India saw the light of freedom, Zaibun Nisha, along with her family migrated to Jaipur bag and baggage. Her father started working in the kitchens of Maharaja Man Singh. And indeed a new evolution of migrant cuisine took place. Today, Zaibun Nisha is the last of that legacy, a delight of the foodies of Jaipur. I have heard stories where five star hotels have asked her to cook her special recipes for visiting State guests and even Heads of States, and marketed them as their own.

Today, she stays all alone in a small, but exceptionally clean shack at C Scheme masjid, Jaipur. I came to know about her existence while sniffing around the wall streets of Jaipur for that aromatic wiff. Dear friend Shan Bhatnagar, a painter, a designer and above all, a foodie informed me about her. Hence my eyes rovered through the streets to figure out who this ‘amma’ is.I must also mention here Sajid Mehmood the dynamic General Manger of Country Inns and Suites,Jaipur whose constant inputs,warm hospitality and immense knowledge of Heritage cuisine further motivated my quest.

So I chugged along full steam with my Puwali, the invincible Arindita alias Gogoi soon to discover a past life connection, a chemistry, a bonding with ‘amma’. We gazed at each other, eye to eye contact, and we knew there lay a synergy of purpose—a meaningful synergy. She offered a chair to me. I resisted, doubting the durability of the chair vis a vis my weight. I sat down only to realise that I was feeling well rested, relaxed. My meditation class was to begin. We talked while Puwali noted, scribbled on her note pad, our conversation only to be involved and convert it from a twosome to a healthy threesome. That sums up the summery of my first interaction. I realised that I had moved from inches to inches only to leap from milestones to milestones.

We had ordered for Shooley ( sort of kebabs made out tender lamb that melt in your mouth) and khud murg (whole chicken stuffed and marinated with aromatic spices wrapped in roti and normally cooked in a pit ) from Amma. We brought back the food to the five star hotel where we were staying, and offered to share the food with the hotel kitchen. They beautifully garnished it and brought the platter to us. Indeed, the rustic look of the dishes were gone, only to reiterate my belief that how much does an environment, mood and feel affect the food and taste buds. The food was stupendous without doubt and we could not adhere to any table manners while savouring her magical food. But the aroma of Amma’s kitchen and her simple utensils at the backdrop of the mosque kept on ligering in our minds. No matter how expensive the cutlery of the five star hotel may be, but it can’t compensate for the simple alluminium plate on which she offered me her wonderful food.

The Orgasmic Wiff Of Rustic Dining…

I set off on a journey to the historical city of Jaipur to trace the migrant Muslim cuisine of the Pink City. It is said that the Muslims settled in Jaipur during the reign of Maharaja Mansingh and Akbar.

 

“Serenely full, the epicure would say,
Fate cannot harm me, I have dined today.”

 

 

laloo’s favourite food litti

LALOO’S FAVOURITE LITTI

Laloo Prasad Yadav has by far been the most popular politician in the country, thanks to his native wit and rustic charm that has cut across people from all walks of life within India and abroad. His one-liners have made even his most ardent critics smile. His antics to connect with the common man have drawn immense media attention. He’s done what no politician would ever dare to do. He’s roamed the streets of Patna (state capital of Bihar) on cycle rickshaws and on elephants back, hosted litti-chokha parties, played Holi bare-chested on the streets, participated in local festivals like “Chhath”, acted in Bhojpuri (local language) and Bollywood films- all this, during his stint as the Chief Minister of Bihar, which most citizens would term as being a disaster (atleast for us Biharis). Yet, few will disagree with the fact that he’s the most successful Railways Minister India ever had. Since he came into power 3 years ago, apart from making some radical changes in the railways’ functioning, he’s resolved to serve passengers “pure, indigenous items”.

 

Laloo announced the use of “khadi” (instead of cotton) bedrolls, “kulhars” (earthen cups) as opposed to plastic cups and “mattha” (salted buttermilk) instead of cola. Railways also began to serve fresh fruit juice and bananas from Hajipur, Bihar.These experiments met with varied degrees of success but one dish that was immediately lapped up across all stations is “Litti-Chokha”, a rural delicacy of Bihar. “Litti” is made by stuffing “sattu” (crushed gram) and some spices in rounded wheat dough and baking it on fire. Once prepared, it is dipped in “ghee” (clarified butter) and served hot with “Chokha” or “Baingan ka Bharta” (baked/grilled eggplant, mashed and mixed with seasonings…similar to “Baba Ghanoush”).

P.S.: Laloo is now a brand name. Apart from having a television serial, a bollywood film and a toy named after him, there’s also a dating site termed after the most famous political couple- www.laloorabri.com. By the way, Laloo’s wife (she too became the Chief Minister of Bihar) shares her name with a very popular milk based dessert in northern India, called “Rabri”.

 

FOOD TALK-MY PASSION,MY EMOTION AND MY COMMOTION

Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at, and I sigh.

William Butler Yeats

TV PROGRAMMES ON FOOD—AN OVERVIEW — KUDOS TO ANTHONY BOURDAIN -”NO RESERVATIONS “-A SERIES WORTH WATCHING  

We are now being treated to a plethora of food shows. They are proliferating across all channels. Some are better than others. Some are awful. You have the Reality type; chefs freaking out in the kitchen for a seriously doubtful ‘dream’ job. Casting: One gay, one lesbian, one foreigner, one latino, one retard. Parental approval suggested  i.e. Strong language. Then you have  the Travelogue type; some history, some geography, some eating, some drinking, something, hopefully, disgusting.  The Serious Cook type; details about food ingredients, techniques of cooking, close closeups, low budget production. And finally  the Amateur type; good cook, bad presentation, not enough lights, dirty pans. Regardless of the type of show, most are very successful. Since cooking at home is becoming a distant memory in many houses these shows are quite riveting. I mean- fresh food! In gorgeous technicolour.! Plump tomatoes, golden syrup, brown country eggs, green  kiwi fruit…all lit like Greta Garbo. Irresistable. Let it be clear though that the main ingredient in all these programmes is undoubtedly the presenter. A food show needs someone at least slightly edible.  Most men will agree that Nigella and Padma Laksmi fit the bill. And most women will agree that Vir Sanghvi does not. His weighty, pontificating  and humourless style is not appetising. His statements, sometimes,are in very bad taste and he comes across a man who is so full of himself ( Sorry Vir-no offence meant–just a personal observation-I could be wrong–just taking advantage of my freedom of expression-read “Rude Food ” for a taste)

Now take Anthony Bourdain. Very different story.  I have no reservations in saying he is the ice cream on the cake of food programming.For one thing he does not pretend to be an intellectual. Unpretentious, often downright uneducated about the country he visits, his reactions are honest, very human and frequently funny.  He takes his food as it comes. And his people too. He is no gourmet in this series and doesn’t pretend to be, though he knows what tastes good and what he likes. He is not , never ever, supercilious. His humour is self deprecatory which is attractive Bourdain’s shows in India were interesting in that they showed a different side to several well exposed places and people. Rajasthan revealed a take on  H.H. Gaj Singh which was funny, dinner at a Royal wedding, a look at the home life of a chef and his wife (while no quarter was given to the annoying child), a visit to a soothsayer and a  meal in his home where any preconceived notions about fortune tellers were quickly destroyed. A meal at a roadside dhaba where the presenter seemed quite at home, a hair raising ride on a bus, a drink of bhang. Nothing unusual about the choice of scenes. Kind of typical. Maharajas and palaces, poverty and population, traffic and drugs, fortune tellers, spice merchants and bargaining in the bazaar. No Reservations is a series that deseres a watch in all fairness

What is unusual is Bourdain’s attitude and interpretation. Not ordinary. I call Bourdain a culinary warrior for eating the untried , untested, unknown. Now its the “thing” to do,  like ” Lets eat what these foreigners eat. Ooh isn’t it foul.” Only with Bourdain it is ..”Hmm, not bad, not bad at all. I could actually develop a taste for this.”Opinionated, thank god, what a relief in this age of “lets be polite and sit on the fence and  not challenge anyone’s beliefs”, not one to mince his words, Bourdain’s comments are always interesting whether the viewer agrees or not. 

 

BUT WAIT WATCH OUT FOR “GOOD CURRY NO WORRY ’–YOUR’S TRUELYS DREAM TO HIT THE IDIOT BOX SOMETIME AT SOME MOMENT HOPEFULLY– I WONDER WHAT PEOPLE WILL SAY THEN ——-”HEY  ASH –YOU CAN DO IT”

 

The Food (NE festival at The Park)

North East India consisting of eight States namely Assam,Meghalaya,Sikkim,Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland,Tripura and Mizoram is home to over 100 ethnic tribes , subtribes and communities– each having its distinct characteristics , traditions and cuisines.

A Divine Sojourn to the Heart of Delhi…Chandni Chowk/Jama Masjid

                                                                                                

 It all started from here…my home in Gurgaon-on to a metro from Dwarka

             

Onwards on to an auto with my buddy Yogesh alias Yogi–Sat in an Auto after twenty years…  

                                                                                                                   

   

changeover on a cycle rickshaw: I was amazed to see that it took my weight to perfection!!!                                            

Gharib Nawaz Hotel: serves over 300 poor as part of a tradition that has continued for over 100 years

Our ENT specialist in action

Manohar Shah’s old shop opened in 1947 after partition after Manohar came from Pakistan–famous for its chole bhature /japani samosa -our Indian version of wonton

This is the famous Japani samosa of chandni chowk–how this name japani came is an interesting story-This samosa was created 48 yrs ago and is an improvised version of the wanton

 Streets of Jama Masjid

Jama Masjid Just Before the Friday Prayers

Fruits of Life

Wah! tandoor.

Barkatuddin’s Nihari…too good

Sevai—Semolina being sold in one of the shops near Jama Masjid. Best sevred with milk, cooked in ghee and dry fruits

NEXT TO CHANDNI CHOWK METRO STATION–BREAD PAKORAS AND CHILLA-HIS GARLIC CHUTNEY IS REALLY GOOD

SEEKH KABAB AT –AL JAWAHAR JAMA MASJID

Dates at its Best(!)—this man sells about 30 different varieties infront of Jama Masjid

RASHID’S HALWA–IT IS MADE OF 40 HERBS AND SPICES IN PURE GHEE–RICH AND HEAVY-BUT GREAT TO TASTE AND RASHID SWEARS IT CURES CERTAINS AILMENTS LIKE PAINS ETC. (check out his caption: the last line)

The Journey remains incomplete without the mention of phirni and kheer

Thus Spake the Plates…

Quote Unquote

I WILL BE THANKFUL

“I will be thankful
For the food you gave me God
I will be thankful
For the water that you gave
Me to drink to take my thirst away
God”

“All human history attests that happiness for men….the hungry sinner!…since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner.”

Lord Byron

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”
James Beard (1903-1985)

“If there is anything we are serious about, it is neither religion nor learning, but food.”
Lin Yutang, My Country and My People

“Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage.”
Woody Allen, ‘Without Feathers’
 
 

Glutton, foodies, experts…call them what you may.