FoodieLicious- Brief History of Taste #Podcast #Blog

FoodieLicious- Brief History of Taste: Food, one of the most essential substances to give nutritional support to any organism. Diversity in India does not just mean people from different religions but also the variety and diversity in terms of food. Indian Food & Delicacies are extremely famous around the world, be it the flavor or craving for street food or the proper Indian Dishes.

The fact can’t be ignored, that whenever someone pictures incredible India, as a primary though comes of its Cuisines and varieties of food. For clarification on Cuisines, Indian Food can be categories as North Indian & South Indian, let us have a look at different cuisines, of India :

1. Kashmiri Cuisine-
2. Punjabi Cuisine
3. Bhojpuri Cuisine
4. Mughlai Cuisine
5. Rajasthani Cuisine
6. Gujarati Cuisine
7. Bengali Cuisine
8. Andhra Cuisine
9. Goan Cuisine
10. Tamilian Cuisine
11. Kerala Cuisine
12. Karachi Cuisine

When it comes to trying and tasting different varieties of food, we are the first ones to do the same. Be, it any cuisine, the diverse culture of the country is not just visible by people but can also be met by the unique blend of ingredients from different parts of India and in some cases even from the world. Any Cuisine becomes its integral part of any region but it initially makes a couple of factors like weather, topography, and geography to decide the cuisine for a region. Now, let me tell you some facts about your favorite dishes and their ingredients :

Facts & Originations

Did You Know?

1. Jahangir’s Favourite dish was “Masala Khichdi” or Polenta!
2. Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas) originated from Turkey around 6000 years ago!
3. Cauliflower is not Indian & dates back to Turkey and came to India in 1822, along with the Britishers
4. The story goes that the original recipe for sambar a dish that is so intrinsic to Tamil Nadu cuisine can actually be traced to Maratha ruler Shivaji’s son. Legend has it that Shivaji’s son Sambhaji, who was one of the Maratha rulers, attempted to make dal for himself when his head chef was away.
5. Gujarati food has sweetness in its dishes because, in the earlier times, a lot of physical exertion was a part of life, so to regain proteins and energy, the same was used and since then it has become a tradition.
6. Brocolli was genetically manufactured and is not naturally grown. Broccoli is a human invention

The real home of coffee was Africa and for about 500 years , and was only limited for Arabic people. but in India, Baba Budan came with Coffee from Yemen to Southern India.  

Story of Delhi’s Taste

When it comes to food, Delhi has been playing a crucial role, not just in the present but the origination of different cultures dates back to the period when Delhi was looted 13 times. It is said that that period had created a huge impact on the flavors of food, and that was also the period where cuisines such as Mughlai was introduced.

Chaat is a concept that has been famous in Delhi itself. In fact, Delhi’s food was so important that even one of its first residents “David Ochterlony” even mentioned its importance in his life, David despite being a Britisher and Mughal Influence in his life use to love the Indian traditions and the most famous aspects were that he had “13 wives” and use to wear Indian clothes and live life king size.

When it comes to Chaat “Daulat Ki Chaat” seems to have given a huge influence over the same, but do you know that the name “Daulat Ki Chat” was coined after a person named “Daulat” who use to live and sell the Chaat in Delhi at that time. We all know, that when it comes to street food, how important Delhi plays a role in this, be it the famous Aloo Chaat, Gol Gappa or even the proper food such as Tandoori Chicken, or even other food items at Parathe Wali Gali or Galiba Khurj.

Story of “Chaat & Spices”

But do you know how was the concept of Chaat and Tandoori items have arrived from?

When Shah Jahan transferred the capital from Agra to Delhi, it is said that before introducing the concept of chaat, since the water of Yamuna was very polluted, Shah Jahan himself instructed the royal chefs to prepare spicy & oily food in order to combat the effects of harmful water of the Yamuna. So, from that time for Vegetarians, the concept of “Chaat” was derived and for Non-Vegetarians was Tikka and Nihari. (is a stew from the Indian subcontinent consisting of slow-cooked meat, mainly shank meat of beef or lamb and mutton, goat meat and chicken, along with bone marrow)

In fact, the Famous, Dal Makhani, Butter Chicken, and Tandoori Chicken were introduced in Delhi by Kundan Lal Gujral who is also the founder of Moti Mahal Deluxe, a famous restaurant chain. t is named for the cylindrical clay oven in which it is cooked, a tandoor. The dish is attributed to Kundan Lal Gujral, a Hindu from Punjab state who fled newly formed Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India and opened a restaurant in Delhi. Tandoori chicken is often served on the bones.

Not only Delhi but starting from Delhi street food concept started to reach different parts of India and some of the popular dishes or snacks like Samosa, Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani became popular worldwide. It is said that, if a person does not even know exactly where India exists on a Map, even he loves or likes Butter Chicken and even chaat.

Story of Patiala Peg

The People’s Maharaja, the famous moniker, Patiala Peg, was coined by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, in southeast Punjab, who ruled the princely state from 1900 to 1938.. The evening before the match, the Patalia team entertained the ‘Viceroy’s Pride,’ all burly Irish men.

One day, the Maharaja coined the rule of only “one glass” to avoid multiple glasses or shots to make it a rule and let the other men decide of the measure to be of “a finger” and not more than that since then Patiala Peg remains in history.

Other States

Many of the states also have a huge influence of cultures into them. We have also seen how the ruler of the princely states had a great influence on food and implemented some of the greatest traditions and recipes. Be it Kebabs, or others might dishes all of them have been taken as an influence. If we talk about Punjab, the cuisines are also divided into two regions, one hand where some Punjabis treat Mughlai food as real Punjabi Cuisine while the other derives “Makki Ki Roti & Sarson ka Saag” as their real diet.

Also, if we consider a true Punjabi diet which is still the same as Makki Ki Roti & Sarson ka Saag” Partition of 1947 has also created a loss in terms of Cuisines, like certain kebabs, Haleem, Paya, etc. If we talk about bread, there are 30 different types which include, Fried, Tandoori, and many others and for sweets, Nabin Chandra Das first established a sweet shop in Jorasanko in 1864. But he went out of business soon and after two years, he opened another establishment in Bagbazar. This is where he invented the rasgulla.

Conclusion

Food has always been a very special part of our lives especially when it comes to street food. Even other dishes which have become everyone’s favorite have some of the other history related to it. One should always be curious about what he or she is consuming and know its history as well. Only Delhi has been mentioned, but other states have also a very deep impact on today’s cuisine. The reason for choosing Delhi is only the way the influence has grown to other states when it comes to food, other states are also not having any fewer stories of cuisines in fact maybe more but the way Delhi has been despite being looted several times is remarkable.

References

1. Netflix Show
2. Dr. Pushpesh Pant

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