India's Culinary History

India, a country situated in Southern Asia, boasts of a unique civilization where diversity merges with unity. From climates and soils to languages and customs, India has always been to name. India with its vast and ancient heritage is also known worldwide for its food.

Indian culinary is one aspect that many foreigners love to talk about. Indian cuisine is home to innumerable kinds of dishes, many of which have gained international recognition and fame. Indian cuisine is known worldwide but its origins, the process of preparation and the different crockery and cutlery required to prepare many of these dishes have remained shrouded in mystery. The Indian cuisine that we know today has been influenced by cuisines brought in by invaders and colonizers.

India's culinary history is quite vast and much of the knowledge associated with it is lost or has not been looked into yet. Hence this post would only be giving glimpses of culinary history of this magnificent country. This topic is very interesting to research on as this section has not been thoroughly looked into yet and if you are interested in the culinary arts, history of food and dishes may just astound you. Most of the information posted here is taken from various sources and if you are really interested in digging up of India's culinary history, there is a book written by a food historian based in Chicago, Colleen Taylor Sen, named " Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India". This book can be found in all major online bookstores around the world.

The classification of food

In the Indian context, food has always been more than just satisfying your hunger. Food has also played an important role in Indian medicine and Indian spirituality. Ancient Indian texts such as Vedas puts a heavy emphasis on food suggesting that food was not only important for nourishment but was also a part of cosmic moral cycle.

According to ancient texts, food can be classified into 3 categories namely:  Satvik, Rajsik and Tamsik food. Ayurveda texts state that all foods originating from the under the ground was Tamsik in nature and all foods originating from above the ground was Satvik in nature. Hence all fruits and edible leaves would be Satvik according to these texts. Each of these classification had their own unique properties as Satvik food would bring in characteristics of calmness and purity in a person if one consumed it and Tamsik food would bring in anger, ignorance and negative thinking in the person. Rajsik food would inculcate egotism, greed, pride etc. in a person.  Satvik food would normally constitute of milk products, non-refined cereals and fruits. Rajsik food would include spices, refined cereals and fried food. Tamsik food would contain meat, alcohol, tea and coffee and stale food. Thus according to ancient Indian philosophers, Satvik food was deemed the best kind whereas Tamsik food would be deemed the worst.  Hence the saying " You are what you eat" could possess more depth and meaning in Indian philosophy. This sort of thinking could also inspire strict vegetarianism that we see in India today as vegetarian food was known to inculcate good thinking and habits in those who consumed it. Hence, even today, food has always been synonymous with spirituality and in many festivals, food is always an integral part of the rituals and festivities.

Influence of Foreigners on Indian Food

Indian cuisine that we see today has been mixed with foreign elements which has created world famous dishes that we know of. Important vegetables of Indian dishes such as potato, tomato and onions were brought in by European powers when they came to India for the purposes of trade. The Portuguese has been been applauded for introducing potatoes, tomatoes and chilis onto Indian soil. Tea, one of the most consumed beverage in India, was brought in by the Chinese. The Arabs brought coffee and dried fruits such as dates. The Afghans introduced the system of tandoori, a process of roti making which at present has become a fan-favorite among Indians and foreigners worldwide. This mixing has created an entirely new taste and cuisine in Indian subcontinent and India is known for many of these influenced dishes.

Indian cuisine brings immense joy and excitement to Indians and foreigners alike with their strong flavors, spices and herbs and the variety of dishes that could be made using minimum ingredients. But no one thought that Indian cuisine which was beloved by all, would scare a mighty empire. This is an account of an Indian flatbread causing uproar in the British Empire.

Chapatti Movement

This movement was first brought to light by a British surgeon Dr. Gilbert Hadow who wrote his experiences with the authentic Indian flatbread to his sister in Britain in March 1857 stating that," No one seems to know the meaning of it....It is nor known where it originated, by whom or for what purpose, whether it is supposed to be connected to any religious ceremony or whether it has to do with some secret society. The Indian papers are full of surmises as to what it means. It is called the chupatty movement". This enigmatic movement caused an uproar in the British Raj in India. In this movement, thousands of chapattis were being distributed in towns and villages. The British had no clue as to the perpetrator behind this act nor they knew the intentions behind it. The only information they gathered about this movement was that people from jungles would give these flatbreads to village headmen and would ask them to make more of them and distribute to other village headmen of adjoining villages. They would carry these items inside of their turbans. The British began to feel threatened by these mysterious mails as news came about claiming that almost all villages in North India were all involved in this movement and their distribution was faster than their own British mails. The Indian population who were receiving such odd gifts too did not know the meaning behind this. They were only informed to distribute them to neighboring towns. The British evidently were perplexed and the opinions behind the motive was divided, but many Britishers especially officers in police and governmental bodies came to the conclusion that these flatbreads were acting as carriers of coded messages.

Although they believed it to have some political agenda behind it, the flatbreads examined by them did not show any signs of secret messages etched on them. This movement was disconcerting to the ruling British as they felt it to be some agenda facilitating the overthrow of the British Empire and they were worried if it indeed was to overthrow them, it would be nearly impossible to stop them and it would result in losing India which would impact their trade and buying of raw materials and natural resources. Although they could not find the motives behind it on it, it spooked them and questioned their strength of their empire.