BENGALI CUISINE & CULINARY CULTURE POST SENA DYNASTY

From time immemorial, Bengal has played host to a large variety of foreign people. We have had Turks starting with the Khilji Maliks from the 12^th century. From the 15^th to the 18^th centuries the Portuguese (from 1528 to 1666), Dutch (from 1610 to 1800), French (from 1673 to 1757) and then British (from 1612 to 1947) came in and stayed on. Apart from such people who ruled a part or whole of Bengal, this part of India has also seen a variety of immigrants like the Armenians, Jews, Germans, Afghans and Chinese. Each people influenced the cuisine of Bengal in its own way giving rise to various new dishes. Thereafter, Bengalis have returned from countries of South East Asia like Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand) and other South East Asian countries and have contributed to the Bengali cuisine.

But, such is the tenacity of the Bengali cuisine that it has still retained its originality though more than 2000 to 2500 years have elapsed.

Before we go into changes that have occurred to the food habits of Bengalis, we will take a stock of the original Bengali cuisine. Conventionally, Bengali cuisine is divided into four types:

• ·         Charbya – food which is to be chewed
• ·         Choshya – food which has to be sucked
• ·         Lehya – food which has to be licked
• ·         Peya – food which has to be drunk

The sequence of serving and consuming food was also set, rice being the staple food is consumed with all the dishes and the sequence is generally as follows:

• ·         Starts with ghee
• ·         Then comes spinach and the rest of vegetables
• ·         Followed by fish/ poultry/ meat
• ·         Finished with milk, jaggery and rice or curd or payash

It is noteworthy potato or dal do not feature at all.

The introduction of dal was to cater to a different requirement. It is only in 15th-century texts, such as the Mangalkavyas, that different kinds of dal and the process of cooking are mentioned. The ready availability of fish in Bengal made dal unnecessary as a source of protein. The requirement of dal as the source of protein arose with influence of Sri Chaitanya and the emergence of the Vaishnava Bhakti cult whose followers were strict vegetarians. They had to substitute fish and meat with dal which resulted in dal becoming a feature in the Bengali cuisine. Dal  was not cultivated in Bengal at that point of time in a large way. Khichudi, a preparation of rice and dal and some spices, often offered to the deities as bhog, is also a significant dish in Bengal. 

From the late 15th century European merchant ships from various countries began to touch the shores of India. The Portuguese were the first to set their foot in Bengal when they landed at Hooghly in 1571. They were gradually followed by the Dutch, French, Danes and the British. On the other hand, America and different parts of Africa also became colonies of these European powers, from where colonizers extracted various kinds of commodities and quite a few landed up in India and Bengal.

We learn quite a bit about Bengali cuisine from Mukundaram Chakravarti’s Chandimangal (16^th century). It will be apparent from the following paragraphs that the variety of dishes witnessed a drastic upsurge post 12^th century.

There is mention in Chandimangal of multiple vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Shukto receives a very significant mention. Prior to 15^th century, we do not find any reference to shukto. It is said that shukto was introduced by the Portuguese. Initially, it was prepared using karela (bitter gourd). Subsequently other vegetables and milk found their way into this Bengali dish. There is also mention of jute leaf dried in ghee, palang sak (spinach), various types of bori (sundried cakes made of dal paste), chaltar jhol, kachur tarkari, dishes made from thor, kasundi (mustard sauce), karanjar tok, various types of bora especially from fish roe, small fish chachchari, fried saral puti with prawn, roasted fish with lime juice, prawn curry, chital fish fried in mustard oil, mango with lentil and sweet dishes like khoi (puffed rice) mixed with sugar and curd, pitha made with coconut and til.

In another section of Chandimangal we find mention of a meal of boiled broken rice, lentil and gourd boiled in water with spices, burnt native potato, ol, kachu and ambal. We also find mention of venison, roasted mongoose meat and kachur ghanto with amra.

Other Mangalkavyas also discussed the popular cuisine in medieval Bengal. There is mention of spinach, shukto, helencha fried in ghee, mung dal, muger bodi, tilbada, tilkumda, mauya aloo, paltar shak, chital peti, morich diye magur macher jhal, fried koi mach, mahasholer ambal, prawn raslash, whole dal with head of rohu,  shuktoni with pabda fish and ginger, boal macher jhal, shol fish curry, fried hilsa, jumbo prawn fry, pigeon meat, turtle meat, mutton and venison. Sweet dishes included nadu, pitha made with kheer, chandrapuli, manohara, talbora, chandrakanti and payash were very popular then.

The Bengali cuisine underwent a lot of change during the 18^th and early 19^th centuries. It was heavily influenced by the Portuguese and Mughals. The Bhadrolok Babus, elite of the Bengali society played a decisive role. The members of this class, who were Hindus, mostly high caste and literate, employed as officials in the offices of the Europeans or Mughals, cultivated their cultures.

We find from Bharatchandra Ray’s authored Annadamangal about the eating culture of Bengalis in the 18^th century. In this book there is mention of vegetarian dishes like sarsadi, ghanta, different types of fried spinach, various dal like arahad, matar and mug, barbati, batul, bara, badi, fried coconut, dalna prepared with thod, shuktoni, jack fruit seeds with sugar, bottle-gourd with til and pithali, and various preparations of green banana, radish, brinjal and pumpkin. Apart from these there were some unconventional dishes made from bamboo flower, dalkachu and olkachu. Non-vegetarian dishes involved katla, fried chital, koi, magur, shol, turtle egg and various meat preparations like shik pora (the predecessor of meat kebab).

Among the spices, he said that marich (pepper), pippali, labanga (long or clove), jirak (jeera or cumin), elaichi, jafran (saffron), ada (adrak or ginger), karpur (camphor), jaifal (nutmeg), hing (asafoetida) were popular in Bengali cooking.

It is not clearly understood whether onion and garlic were imports from a foreign country or were indigenous to India. Both onion and garlic find mention in the famous medical treatise of Charaka Samhita. But, the use of these in daily cooking was introduced only after the coming of Islam. The process of transformation was very slow. At first, it was the lower classes who adopted, followed by the high class converts to Islam where after this culture spread to the other classes in Bengal.

There is a reason why the Bengali cuisine did not change much till the 16^th century. Before Bengal was conquered by the Mughals in 1576, Bengal was ruled by Muslim rulers of foreign origin. But, they were not connected with Delhi and once they had conquered and settled in Bengal, they became susceptible to the indigenous influences. Thus Bengal retained its regional identity. And there was no major import of foreign cuisine into the Bengali kitchen for the normal people.

But, after the Mughal victory, Bengal, though at the extremities of the kingdom, was an integral part of it and lost its regional identity. The Mughal governors and officials, inhabitants of the north, brought in their food along with their cooks. The elite of Bengal, hobnobbing with the Mughals, were influenced by their cuisine. Thus came in kebabs, kalia, kofta, korma, dum and bhuna into the Bengali kitchen though there is no mention of biryani at that juncture. These were cooked with lamb, goat, chicken and fish and at times with vegetables and chana (cottage cheese). Onion,  garlic and rich spices found its way into the Bengali kitchen, since these were integral part of the Mughal cuisine.

Till the 16^th century, it would be found from the various menus presented above that though there were a large variety of vegetable, fish and meat dishes, especially vegetable and fish, there was a dearth of the same in sweet meats. The Bengali was happy with his simple dudh-chire (milk and flattened rice), dudh-lau (milk and gourd), pitha made with kheer, chandrapuli, manohara, khaja, khar (sweet made of sugar), fani , kadma , dudshakar, khirish, shikharini, talbora, chandrakanti, kheer, moya and narkel nadu. There was no sweet prepared from chana (cottage cheese).

The advent of the Portuguese in the 16^th century saw an immense effect on the sweet meat enjoyed by the Bangali. A large number of sweets made from chana (cottage cheese) like rosogolla, sandesh and chum chum became household names. It is noteworthy that there is no mention of cottage cheese in Bengali texts till the 16^th century, as it was considered improper for the Hindus to curdle the milk to prepare cottage cheese. The Portuguese introduced chana to Bengal. Cottage cheese made in Portugal is almost identical with the one prepared in Bengal. Today, many attribute the sudden development of the sweet industry in Bengal to the Portuguese.

Each district of Bengal developed its own speciality of sweets, quite a few made from chana, over an extended period.

·         Bardhaman – Sitabhog and Mihidana

·         Shaktigarh – Langcha

·         Nadia – Sarpuria, Sarbhaja, Sartakti and Dedomonda

·         Shantipur – Nikhuti

·         Murgacha – Chanar jilapi

·         Ranaghat – Pantua

·         Murshidabad – Chanabora

·         Malda – Mohunbhog, Khaja and Rasakadamba (a primitive variant of Rosogolla)

·     Hooghly – this district is unique being the settlements of the French, Dutch, Danes, Armenians and Germans. Each major habitat of Hooghly has contributed a sweet meat.

§  Janai – Monohora

§  Dhaniakhali – Khaichur

§  Guptipara – Sandesh

§  Jangipara – Pantua

§  Khanakul – Kalakand

§  Kamarpur – Jilapi

§  Gaurhati – Rasakara

§  Srirampur – Gunpho Sandesh

The eastern part of Bengal also had its contribution to the development of some of the sweets though the likes of rasagolla, sandesh and Ladykenni originated in Kolkata. Searching on the net, records of some sweets which are about 100 – 180 years old could be found.

§  Muktogacha – Monda

§  Gaibandha – Rasmanjari, Rasagolla

§  Moulabibazar - Rasagolla

§  Tangail – Chomchom 

§  Netrokana – Balish Misti

§  Naogaon – Pera Sondesh

§  Natore – Kacha Golla

§  Jamtola - Rosogolla

§  Komilla – Rasmalai, Chandramukhi

§  Bogra – Dai

§  Meherpur – Roshokodombo and Sabitri

§  Sirajganj – Doi Sar, Tok Dai

§  Brahmanberia – Chandramukhi, Pera Sandesh

§  Dhaka – Lady Keni

§  Satkhira – Sandesh

Quite a lot of cereals, vegetables and fruits consumed by the Bengali were imports from other countries to either Bengal directly or other parts of India from where they percolated to Bengal. Even some cuisines are also imported and have been modified over ages to suit the Bengali palate. We would endeavour to have a look at some of these.

Rice - To start with, rice, the primary diet of all Bengalis, is an import from South East Asia about 5000 years ago.

Potato - The Portuguese introduced potatoes, which they called 'Batata', to India in the early seventeenth century when they cultivated it along the western coast. They were introduced to Bengal by the Portuguese in 1780.  British traders introduced potatoes to Bengal as a root crop, 'Alu'.

Tomato – Originating in South America, its possible date of entry into India was 1850. Thirty years later Sir George Watts, in his survey of the economic products of India, said that they were mostly grown for Europeans, although Bengalis and Burmans were beginning to use it in their sour curries.

Cauliflower – Cauliflower, another favourite of Bengalis is thought to have been domesticated in the Mediterranean region. Cauliflower has been in cultivation in India since last 150 years. It was introduced from England in 1822.

Cabbage – Cabbage was introduced by traders from Portugal, in the 14th century.

Lal Mirch – An import from Central America, Portuguese traders introduced Chili Pepper to India during 16th century.

Capsicum – Capsicum was introduced by the Portuguese in Goa in the 16^th century

Okra/ Ladies Finger – The Egyptians were the first to cultivate Okra in the Nile Basin in the 12^th century BC. It is suggested that Okra reached India in the 1^st century AD.

Rajma or Red Kidney Bean – Red kidney bean was brought to the Indian subcontinent from Central Mexico and Guatemala. In the 15th century, Spanish explorers introduced these beans to Europe on their return from their voyages to the New World. Later, these Spanish and Portuguese traders introduced kidney beans to Africa and Asia.

Rangalu (sweet potato) – A native of Africa, this was brought by the Portuguese from Brazil in 1780.

Guava – May have originated in Peru. Known in Eastern India since 1550, it is now widely cultivated in Bengal.

Orange – Orange has a long, convoluted history, in part because it is not a wild fruit. Rather, it is a carefully refined hybrid of mandarin and pomelo. Contenders for the countries that first cultivated the orange are northeastern India, southern China, and possibly Indochina. While pummelos originate in India, mandarins came from China.

Watermelon - Africa is the original home of watermelon, and the fruit has likely existed since pre-historic times in the regions known today as Namibia and Bostwana. Watermelon seeds were found in a cave in Hang-Zhou, China circa 3,000 BC. When and how watermelon arrived to India is not precisely known, though the fruit likely existed there since ancient times, even before it migrated to China.

Banana - The origins of the banana are as complex and convoluted as the nature of the banana’s taxonomic origins themselves.  Archaeologists have focused on the Kuk valley of New Guinea around 8,000 BC. From New Guinea, the Kuk domesticated variety appears to have spread to the Philippines, and then radiated widely across the tropics. It is probable that bananas arrived in India within the first two millennia after domestication.  

Pineapple – A native of Brazil, this fruit was introduced to Bengal by the Portuguese in 15^th century.

Peanut – A native of China, whence its name China Badam, the exact time of introduction is not known. Possibly it came directly from China or from Philippines.

Papaya – Native of Central America, it entered India via Philippines and Malaysia.

Mangosteen – This fruit was brought to India from Malacca.

Cashew Nuts – Native of Brazil, this was introduced on the western coast of India by the Portuguese. Subsequently, plantations in the coastal region of Bengal also adapted to Cashew Nut.

Corn – Bhutta or corn on cob, originated in Central America. It is known in India since the 12^th century.

Chiku – This fruit found its way to the western coast of India from Mozambique and to the eastern coast of India from Phillipines and Malaysia

Litchi – A native of Southern China, the Portuguese brought it to Bengal at the end of the 19^th century.

Cottage Cheese, Bandel Cheese & Dhakai Paneer – The Portuguese introduced these three types of cheese to Bengal in the 16^th century.

Bread – It was the Portuguese who introduced bread to Bengal in the 16^th century. The Portuguese term for bread is is pao, wherefrom the Bengali Babu got his pauruti. Bakeries dotted the small settlements along the Hooghly — Bandel, Chinsurah, Chandannagar and Srirampur.

The first instance of organised bread making was at Auckland Hotel in 1840, which eventually became Great Eastern Hotel followed by Firpo’s and others.

The story of bread in Calcutta would be incomplete without mention of the Jewish contribution. Nahoum’s confectionery, founded in 1902, which moved to its present location in the New Market in 1916, holds a special place in the city.

Biscuit – This is a contribution of the British and the Western immigrants, the Baghdadi Jews.

Chops, Cutlets & Patties – This is a contribution of the British and Anglo-Indians to the Bengali cuisine. The Bengalis have improvised to give Kabiraji Cutlet.

Singara - This mouth-watering Bengali delicacy is another surprise which has its origins in Portuguese cuisine. However, it is worth contemplation whether it was the Portuguese or the Iranian traders who should get the credit since, Samosa, the west Indian cousin of Singara, was first brought to India in the 13^th and 14^th century by the Iranian traders who came to India.

Tea – Tea without which no Bengali can think of existence, has its origins in China. While the Chinese used it as a medicinal drink, the British soon discovered it and loved it's versatile nature. Now, the British being British wanted to cut China's monopoly in the tea market. So, they brought the humble 'chai' to India by teaching cultivation techniques to the tribals in North-East India plus offering incentives to Britons who wanted to cultivate in India. In the early 1820s, the British East India Company began large scale production of tea.

Biryani – Prior to the introduction of Biryani, Bengal had their own version of it – Mangsher Pulao. There is mention of this version of pulao or pilao or pilaf in the records of Alexander’s adventures. Dissipated of energy, we are aware Alexander’s soldiers were not ready to enter India. It is said that at that point, Alexander ordered his cooks to prepare such a complete food which could re-energise his army which gave birth to pilaf. Another belief is that Pilaf was served to Alexander at a royal banquet following his capture of the Sogdian capital of Marakanda (modern Samarkand). Over ages, pilaf filtered across to the east of India and found its way into the Bengali cuisine as Mangsher Pulao.

Biryani, a Mughal dish, can be well considered to have been derived from pilaf. It’s ingress to Bengal is connected to the deportation of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh to Calcutta in 1856. Thereafter, this Awadhi Biryani has undergone a few changes in Calcutta to reach its present status, notable being the addition of potato and boiled egg. It is noteworthy that though the descendants of Tipu Sultan are in the same city since the beginning of the 18^th century, the Tahiri Biryani of Carnatic, in which there is no meat, has not made any ingress into the Bengali cuisine.

MANGO

However, we can lay claim to have given the world the King of Fruits – Mango. Scientific fossil evidence indicates that the mango made its first appearance 25 to 30 million years ago in Northeast India, Myanmar and Bengal, from where it travelled abroad.

It is also claimed that the humble Brinjal also originated in India.