Changes in the Indian menu over the ages.
The food that we Indians have been eating has been, over the millennia, steadily evolving both in variety and taste. These have been identified from relics and fossils and also described in written lore. The eminent food scientist Dr KT Achaya has analyzed these in a scholarly and entertaining way.
He points out that dosai and vadai have a 2000-year history in Tamil country but Idli is a definite foreign import. The earliest reference to Idli occurs in 920 AD and again in 1130 AD. But no mention is made of Urad dal, the long fermentation and steaming the batter. The kings who went to Indonesia in 800-1200 AD brought the IDLI from there (It was called kedli, those days).
The Harappan civilization had rice, barley, wheat, karamani, moong, masoor, dates, pomegranates etc. During Vedic period (1700 BC), we are informed, rice, urad dal, spinach, pumpkins, cucumber, suraikkai, paagarkai, radish, brinjal, mangoes, oranges etc were available. Kothamalli, manjal, milagu, jeerakam, hing, elakkai, grambu were also known that time. The first four were of Indian origin. Meat eating was prevalent.
As we move down to Ramayana and Mahabharata (around 1400BC) period, mention is made of hunting animals for food, eating ber (ilanthai) from Sabari. In Mahabharata, cooking of meat with tamarind, and ghee is mentioned. Yudishtra is said to have fed 10000 scholars with pork and spices.
It was after this time that a change in our food habits occurred. Manusmriti (500-300 BC) began forbidding and proscribing food items, based on their ‘temper’ – saatvik, rajasik, tamasic. Buddhism and Jainism taught vegetarianism.
In Tamilnadu, Dosai and Vadai were popular during 100 BC – 300 AD. Among fruits, maa, palaa, vaazhai (mukkani) were famous; so was Puliyodharai, and Thayir vadai. But, IDLI was not known!
During 1000-1200 AD, a meal was to have six components –sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and thuvarppu (arusuvai). A typical royal meal eaten by a king had – first fruits that could be chewed (grape, ber, pomegranate); then fruits to be sucked (mango, oranges, sugarcane); then came food that can be licked and in the 4th course some solid sweet items. Rice followed next and the sixth was of broths. Curd was the 7th and the eighth ended with thickened and flavoured milk. Appalam and Vadam were common.
Cucumber, brinjal, pudalai, senai, koththavarai, keerai, onions, poondu, coconut, karamani, sakkarai valli were all used those days. Do you notice the missing vegetables? Yes, Portugese only brought potato, tomato, tapioca, groundnuts, papaya, pineapple, koyya pazham, rajma, cashew nuts, chiku, and of course capsicum and chillies. Europeans brought cauliflower and cabbage. Cottage cheese was brought by Portuguese, without which we could not have made sweets like sandesh, rasogolla.
The Portuguese word for grain “grao” is the basis for “grams” (Bengal gram, black gram, red gram) we use today. Arabs and Central Asians brought bajra, lobia, and bread. (When Srikanth and others ate aloo-poori yesterday, they should have thanked the people of West Asia and Latin America).
Mughals (1526 AD) and particularly Akbar, introduced to us biryani, pulao (pilaf) palak-sag, khichchidi, samosa, naan, tandoori, cold kulfi etc. With this, the cuisine of North India transformed forever. The Chinese brought litchi fruit, peaches. Significantly, Chinese brought us the camphor (karpooram) – how could we do without it during any poojai? Do you know what is the most precious introduction the “C” made? Their cha (chai in Malayalam and Hindi, now)!! Coffee was brought by Arabs, and tea by Chinese!
British contribution to our cuisine was APPLE. Red and juicy Wilson apples are grown in Garhwal and Kashmir even today, thanks to the Britisher Frederick Wilson. An American Mr. Stokes settled in Shimla in 1920s, started apple orchards. He introduced the variety called ‘Delicious’ which has become the major Indian apple variety today in Himachal and India. Next time you are biting into an Indian apple, it is most likely to be the Delicious.
One wonders what Lord Rama ate. Perhaps it is easier to tell what Lord Rama did not eat. No potato, no tomato, no cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, corn, rajma, no chillies in any form! Maybe today’s young women follow Lord Rama in their vegetable choices – ithu pidikkathu, athu pidikkathu, ithu vendaam, athu vendaam …………
Rajappa
November 4, 2004
*** From articles by Mr. D. Balasubramanian in the HINDU dated 21 Oct 2004, and today 4th Nov 2004. This gentleman is a former Director of Center for Cellular Micro Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and is now with LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad and writes often in “Science Technology” Section of the Hindu. For the past many years I have been a faithful reader of D Bala and would recommend strongly his articles for everyone to read.
The food that we Indians have been eating has been, over the millennia, steadily evolving both in variety and taste. These have been identified from relics and fossils and also described in written lore. The eminent food scientist Dr KT Achaya has analyzed these in a scholarly and entertaining way.
He points out that dosai and vadai have a 2000-year history in Tamil country but Idli is a definite foreign import. The earliest reference to Idli occurs in 920 AD and again in 1130 AD. But no mention is made of Urad dal, the long fermentation and steaming the batter. The kings who went to Indonesia in 800-1200 AD brought the IDLI from there (It was called kedli, those days).
The Harappan civilization had rice, barley, wheat, karamani, moong, masoor, dates, pomegranates etc. During Vedic period (1700 BC), we are informed, rice, urad dal, spinach, pumpkins, cucumber, suraikkai, paagarkai, radish, brinjal, mangoes, oranges etc were available. Kothamalli, manjal, milagu, jeerakam, hing, elakkai, grambu were also known that time. The first four were of Indian origin. Meat eating was prevalent.
As we move down to Ramayana and Mahabharata (around 1400BC) period, mention is made of hunting animals for food, eating ber (ilanthai) from Sabari. In Mahabharata, cooking of meat with tamarind, and ghee is mentioned. Yudishtra is said to have fed 10000 scholars with pork and spices.
It was after this time that a change in our food habits occurred. Manusmriti (500-300 BC) began forbidding and proscribing food items, based on their ‘temper’ – saatvik, rajasik, tamasic. Buddhism and Jainism taught vegetarianism.
In Tamilnadu, Dosai and Vadai were popular during 100 BC – 300 AD. Among fruits, maa, palaa, vaazhai (mukkani) were famous; so was Puliyodharai, and Thayir vadai. But, IDLI was not known!
During 1000-1200 AD, a meal was to have six components –sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and thuvarppu (arusuvai). A typical royal meal eaten by a king had – first fruits that could be chewed (grape, ber, pomegranate); then fruits to be sucked (mango, oranges, sugarcane); then came food that can be licked and in the 4th course some solid sweet items. Rice followed next and the sixth was of broths. Curd was the 7th and the eighth ended with thickened and flavoured milk. Appalam and Vadam were common.
Cucumber, brinjal, pudalai, senai, koththavarai, keerai, onions, poondu, coconut, karamani, sakkarai valli were all used those days. Do you notice the missing vegetables? Yes, Portugese only brought potato, tomato, tapioca, groundnuts, papaya, pineapple, koyya pazham, rajma, cashew nuts, chiku, and of course capsicum and chillies. Europeans brought cauliflower and cabbage. Cottage cheese was brought by Portuguese, without which we could not have made sweets like sandesh, rasogolla.
The Portuguese word for grain “grao” is the basis for “grams” (Bengal gram, black gram, red gram) we use today. Arabs and Central Asians brought bajra, lobia, and bread. (When Srikanth and others ate aloo-poori yesterday, they should have thanked the people of West Asia and Latin America).
Mughals (1526 AD) and particularly Akbar, introduced to us biryani, pulao (pilaf) palak-sag, khichchidi, samosa, naan, tandoori, cold kulfi etc. With this, the cuisine of North India transformed forever. The Chinese brought litchi fruit, peaches. Significantly, Chinese brought us the camphor (karpooram) – how could we do without it during any poojai? Do you know what is the most precious introduction the “C” made? Their cha (chai in Malayalam and Hindi, now)!! Coffee was brought by Arabs, and tea by Chinese!
British contribution to our cuisine was APPLE. Red and juicy Wilson apples are grown in Garhwal and Kashmir even today, thanks to the Britisher Frederick Wilson. An American Mr. Stokes settled in Shimla in 1920s, started apple orchards. He introduced the variety called ‘Delicious’ which has become the major Indian apple variety today in Himachal and India. Next time you are biting into an Indian apple, it is most likely to be the Delicious.
One wonders what Lord Rama ate. Perhaps it is easier to tell what Lord Rama did not eat. No potato, no tomato, no cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, corn, rajma, no chillies in any form! Maybe today’s young women follow Lord Rama in their vegetable choices – ithu pidikkathu, athu pidikkathu, ithu vendaam, athu vendaam …………
Rajappa
November 4, 2004
*** From articles by Mr. D. Balasubramanian in the HINDU dated 21 Oct 2004, and today 4th Nov 2004. This gentleman is a former Director of Center for Cellular Micro Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and is now with LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad and writes often in “Science Technology” Section of the Hindu. For the past many years I have been a faithful reader of D Bala and would recommend strongly his articles for everyone to read.
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