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The beginnings of rnodern South India emergeswith the ap pearance of the Dravidians nho followed on their heels and and religi'on, settled in that part of the coulr' new thinking aggresoI wars try. Archaeological finds near early the ln settlementslndicate that lhe Drr' sion or migrations for better liv' vidians had attained a measureof ing, in geograPhicalor Political sophistication in their lifesvle' but in the change in cataclvsms, They used fired earthenware Ui' the liiestyles of the PeoPle these ensils for cooking and storageoi events touch. grain and water,. stone modans Contact brings change, more ed to the genre of food-gatherers. newcomers were more advanced and pestles. Rice was their staple and sradual than in the Political Their food was the fruit of the than the people theY disPlaced. food. Excavationsat Adicchantl' iivic spheres, less dramatic or have earth which like their Stone Age From certain works that lur show that they kn"* .nd qterr sudden in terms of daY-to-daYlivcousins all over the world, they come down, lt seems that these new vegetables like the smal{.cuit ing where even if mandatory, people knew the use of rice. TheY harvested with rude stone lmplecumber (potola1, iackfruit. gourd cannot be enforced. But slnce ments. also ate pumpkin, brinjal, the baand radish. They used spices [n is In' interaction between PeoPle They made their way to the nana, coconut, rose apPle, Pometheir cooking and also basi evitable, change is bound to south of lndia and are'i:ven be- granate and watermelon. TheY leaves, tamarind and chewed bc take place, insidious though ll lieved to have crossed the seas, flavoured thelr food with turme' tel nut. They ate tish and mpat. may be, lemon' to the Andamans. When later ric, ginger and a kind of inrmigrants- the Froto Austra- They extracted oil from the musQuite a bit of modern South Geopolitical historY ls reflect' lndian cuisine is derived from loids or the Nisada of Sanskrit tard seed and also PrePared a ed in the gastronomlc story of a these times. The way food is Pre. Breeding of form of jaggery. country, for ln food, one feels literature came on the scene,they cattle, however, seems to have pared, served and eaten in mrilf history through the sense of taste, were killed off in the enounter or South Indian homes today trrn* ken. Even preceding its 5000 Years absorbed into the new tribes. The been bevond their ports one back, over the millcnir" of recorded history, the subcon' to the homes of their Dravidian tinent was rubiected to a conti' forbears. For instance, in lhr nuous Influx of invading armles, Dravidian household of the earlraders arrC immigrants. liest times a dish called 'vataht' The spice-laden breezes of the was served. 'Masa' or gren lndian Ocean, like the sirens oJ beans were soaked overnight in Creek rnythology, lured the exwater. The next mominp th| plorer, merchant-trader and colo. skins rvere skimmed off and thc nralist with its heady fragrance grain ground This was then sweet, pungent, aromatic, seducshaped into balls and deep fried. 'Manasollaser' tive -- and changed the course of the old treatise,on history. lt was the need and cooking, mentions that they thm greed for India's fabled spices were soaked in a sour gruef. that inspired the age of explora. Here we have the ancestors ol tion, saw the establishment of cothe bade and dahi bade. lonial empires and added a new The 'phulka' of northern lndir dimension to living on both sides had its origins'in the Indus Vd. of the equator. ley civilisation that existed simulIt ls spice that added varldty taneousiy wlth the Dravidlan oc. to the cuisine of lndia. lndian cupation in the South. Mohencuisine is as diversified as the iodaro excavations have yielded multiple peoples who came and the same kind of circular oven stayed and became assimilated for baking bread which is stil in the national mainstrearn, or used all over Northern India and in the earliest period of existence atso exists in other Asian coun laid the foundations of a civilitrres. The lndus Valley peoplc sation. were more advanced than thc The earliest Inhabitantsof tho Dravidians of the mountain earth garneredtheir daily requirerange. They had copper and ments from what abounded in silver vesselsin addition to clal their immediate vicinity. Roots, pots The last they painted a red {ruits and berries, leaves-whai and black and even sometime they could lay their hands on, decorated with various ,motifs. becametheir meansof sustenance. A pastoral people, they bred Later, as they became aware o{ cattle, and milk was an importtheir potential and developed ant item in their diet They alsc skills that could help thern hunt, used mules to work the guerns ir they discovered the taste for anlmal food. llketch, couilesy: ,Codng (X fh The earliest Inhabitants of by Shivafi Reo erd ll.l:..tr'.. India are beliwed to have belongShallnl Hol*ar.

is ISTORY writtennot only and of in the exploits kings ruters, in the imPact of

are Geopoliticalchanges reflectedin the gastronomic story of a country, for in food one feels of historythrduehthe sense taste. lndia'sfabled the age of explorationand in,spiceiinspir:ed troduceda new dimension. . . Olga Valladares

whlch they $o0nd their gralit. they used wheat and pea flour perhaps gram llour and cultivated a kind of mustard, sesamum and peas. Wheat wasSheirstaple tood. They ate e variety of ne. Setabler, greens and fruit and rpiced their meat, whlch they got by hunting. They ete beef, mut tor{, pork, fowl, turtles, tortoises md even alligatoru. The next wave of lmmlgration came through the northwest passes. The Atyans canc, In tribes, ovr the next thourand yeers, eaah wavc dlsplaclng thc predeceson which moved furrhcf on or got a3slmllrtcd. ThG Dravldlanr moved further 3sVlndhye uth over the mountrlnt whlch rcrvcd rr t nl. turrl barrlcr to rny rdvarlcc flom the lnvaders.lt lr there mountrln nrtg$ rnd tho cultural rnd rcllglour t$oo3 ihrt thc Dnvldl' rnr r.lrcd thlt kept thclr culturc lnlrct to r hryc GxlCnl, 8rnc. for ntions. The Aryanr.sprcad In all four dircctlons of thc compa* 'Arnvrrta' cxtendcd ovcr the wholc of North Indla, boufid In the north and $uth by thc Hlmelarrs rnd the Vlndhya rangcl, and on the east and west by the rea. |lcrc thcy $ttled down lo t runl existence, raklng cropr rnd ltrc Aryant bracdlng cittle. cosnted thelr wealth ln thc numbcr of cows they olrned. Thcy grar and harvested thelr crops in mudr the 3amewey as is done *cn today In the same vlclnlty. 'All actlons stem from food," they pronounced In thelr Vedas, urging that "one should.worchlp lood for lt enablesa man to use elf his frculties . . ." and also
bondage". ' "':-

wftkh had too much halr or no gates of wftat 13 now called Ba halr at all, carnlvorous. anlmals nar$. Where vegctarlanlsm took and-animals havlng two rorw of hold however, it gave rise to . teeth. varied and imaginativc indlgen. The cow they honourcd as ,Ga- ou$ culsine. The South, for the vl.Devta' and whlle they permltt- most part, har remalned 3trlctll' ed the eating of the flesh bf butts vegetarlan, exceptfor pockcts llke and barren cows, a mllch corv Hyderabad which crmc under was too valuable to be slaugh- Muslim domination and whcre tered for flesh. 'lt war only In the culslne ls based on thc 'bon the later Vedlc perlod that the vivant' Moghlal tradltionS. beglnnlngsot vegetarlanlem crept Splcing is the cornerstonc of in. lndlancookeryand therelnlier the Thc Invadlng,'llght<oloured,, gubtle differences of varloul lsglonal cuislner. The urc of rplce Arytn 3ought to perpctuNtcin economlc dlvlsion of hbour on rlso determlncr thc'tlrlr" of thc lhe basls of colour end dtual. dlsh whethcr lt 13 om ln whlch The origlnat word for caste, Vama- tlvo or three of thc commoncr ar theda, tranrlate3 to ,'colour dlf. rplcesare.used lp poorer housc. ference". Brahmlnlrm bcgrn to holdr or thc rlch rrngs of thc control thc detrllr of cVcrydry morc cxotlc rylctt thrt blcnd Inllvlng. Food wat the mort |rn- to th'prodqrts of morc rfflucnt portant upect rnd wal urcd ar culrlncr. So lmportrnt lr mrrr lhs mort cdfcclvc Inrtrumcnt of la ln Indlrn cookcry thrt In tpma partr of tho country, thc btldc divlrlon. The rellglour rotrlctlont forblddlng ono to cat In thc com. eniurc3 s iolld foundrtlon to hcr pany of thore of Infcrlor crttc marrlaga by maklng hcr vo$,r became ar rlgld tr ths rcrtrlc. standlng on r grlndlng-$onc. tlonr rgalmt the klnd of food The South lndlan uscr fcnu. that. lvat pcrmlsslble. greek,mustardrccd, pcpper, chllVegetarlanlrmwar furthcr pro- ll gnd turmerlc pondcn, clover moted \ the non.vlolcnt icrch. and saffron.Northernand Moghlal

"soicins is the cornerstoneof Indian cirokeil and therein lies the subtle differences variousrepionalcuiines. .. So of important is masalain Indian cookery that in somepartsof the country, the bdde ensurrs solid foundation a to her maniage by making her yows standingon a grinding stone . , ."
; cooklng bletd thelr splcer dlfferently showlng the Arablan and Perslan Influence In thelr cholce of splcesand type of food. In Moghlal culslne speclallses' rlch splcy viands for an old say. Ing afflnns that one cannot be a good Muslim unless dne eals "meat and lots of it". Meat, chicken and tlce are the prlnclpal Ingredlents a numberof Moghof lai specialltier. Rlch pulaor, fngrant blryanls, kababs In Inllnlte variety polnt in the directlon of the Mlddle Eest The "Grand Moghuls" tlved up lo thelr name and their culslne like thetr muslc, art, archrtecture and llteraturpwas extravatart, Intilcate rnd dccorative. Nargkl kabab when cut open reveals a hardboiled egg enclrcled rvithln a border of meat rnd In appc.rance recallr thc nrrglsi or natrltfus. Kashmirl rogan fosh, bada. ml gosht, rran of mutton ere dl n.mes that c0nfurc up rn cn of

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one elselo klll In order to feed tno immortal sonsof fr""u"i. tii" his dis' d"" berng rrce. rhe ,;;; other *:l ^Mahavlra-forbade eggs fish, meat.or and wheat-they learnt lil iri; :i?.1",t-t:-"tt bu! In an .ffitergencyr llke a faDravidians; tt Ir lnt"r;iing-io mlne gr whcn travelling through know that thev served Oirf,?"fl_ an area where.vesetarlan dlet ;-;kri;;;.il;,:rt*-d;k;J-i; " eatlns meat ritt-trie equrvarent;ath;;: :1 allowed' was -TPj.::tllable, o"ri ttrir. rn' ract, trr"y i""r'io Eoth Euddhlst and faln monls have bedn quite proficlent In lhe. art of cookery. To entertaln e had very deflnlte rulesabout food. distingulshedgu$t, they llterally And some of the Euddhl$ rules killed the fatted call or goat. of etlquette conform to modem Meat wa3 not taboo and tt was table etlquette that ls obsenred even used in thc sacrificialcerc- in the best clrcles today, anymonies on death annlrrcr:arlcr.A Where ln the world. ba$/s firct tastc of solids war But not Nll the people of Aryemeat, suitably cooked. vartha g$re up elttni fiGat. lt It ls In thg later Vedic tlrner was only the followers of thc nerv that the ldea of unclean meat raliilons.who olisewed the strlc. emerges."lmpure meatn' Inelud- tures. The othcrc'Gnroycd thclr ed the, flesh of dogs, t'omcstlc norvegetarlan dlets. In faa, vcrnlmals, locusts, camel3, anlmais nison was rcld furt outsldc ths

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opulent llvlng whcn vcrbrl c& trevagrncer mirorcd lururrour livlng. The Panls brought.ln thclr con, tribution of Pcnlan cultuc rnd cuislne. While the dictakr of e host-kingdemandedthat rhey rdopt local hbblts and dress bcfoic he g*e them permlsslonto setlle In hls klngdom, they retained their own tradltioru. They brought ,thc wealth of rlce,, iir dhansalc, falooda, kulfl, patrani macchl. Thelr culsine, bmlcally Perslan,rcqulred Surtl"orrcrtonci from thclr flr$ contactr In rh6ir new homeland, Goan from thclr cookr rnd Erltl3h trom thclr bu. rlnclr rnd polltlcrl conncctlonr. The Brltlrh rnd Portuguqc lclt thelr lmprer on Indhn cookcry In thc Chrlstlanculrlno of tl19' Wgt Corct Errt Indlrn rnd Gorn. Thc Sundeyfolnt lr r Brltlrh ligrcy, whllc thc Portuguege havc undoubtedly hld thclr hand ln thc mrny 'Bolr' ol cr*ol thrt Indo.Portuguesc cookoy rxfflr ln. 8ut lf thcy 8.rc, they dfp took Thc Srltlsh idopted ths South Indlan peppcr watcr, toncd down l$ pungencyand added meat.and vegetablcrto make thP famour Anglo-lndlanmulligatrrdhy rcup. To the kedgeree(en rdaP. rdlon of the kltchrl) and curry the EastIndlamrn took back {llh hlm, the modcm Erltlshcrhas at. qulted a tr3tG for the chaPitl, purl, samo$t rnd trndoorl chlc' f"n.' inal"n *ljlna ls rldlng.dn the crest of a ncw wave of Po' pularity In the Wcst. Indla, honrever, stuck largQiY lo hcr own culslne,tlll after lh' dependence. In recent Years, however, with the shrlnklng 9f distancesand forelgn travel, food festlvalsand women's magazlnbs, forelgn.influences,both Aslil ind European;have made themselves felt ln local tast$. Modern gad' ge{s and methods of food Pre' paratlon and changlng llfestYles have also had thelr lmpact on changing lood habits In this country. However though the urban housenrife may substltute the blender for the grlndinS-stone, shehas notlost slghtofthe rich, nomantictradltlon, or of the superb artlstry that has gone Into the evolutlon of Indlan culslne In iG many avatars of reglonal cookery. Food ls God, say the Sanskrlt rcrlptutca, implying that lt should be treated n:lth rarercncc - an Infunctlon rirrctc never ncglccted though 3omctlma3lt mlght veer of towards the cxccaE maklng ow stomachsour God.