Prakash's friends

View all>>

The Mogul classification of food....and balti

posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 11:39 AM

Author: Sanjay Kumar, Brighton

Many of the dishes commonly eaten in India are based on the original recipes found in the culinary archives of the Moguls, in particular, Nimat Nama and the Ain-i-Akbari by Abu Fazl, who was the man of letters in the court of Emperor Akbar. Besides the numerous subjects contained in the books, which go into many volumes, there is a detailed description of the three classes of cooked dishes traditionally eaten by Muslim population. The first is called Safiyuna which is meatless. The ingredients are rice, khuska, khichra or khichri, the heavily seasoned gluten from wheat, dal, leafy vegetables, halwa and sherbet. The second class included polau and biriayani (meat cooked with rice) or harisa, halim and qutub (meat cooked with wheat). The third class comprised yakhni, kebab, kalia and dopiaza (meat cooked in ghee with twice the quantity of onions).

Muslim foods in India are domesticated al fresco cuisine. The ingredients and methods of cooking depend largely on local conditions and availability. Spices were dealt out with a heavy hand for wet grinding, dry pounding or chopping. They roasted, grilled, baked, fried or stewed their meats always doused in highly seasoned massala marinades. Muslim cooking methods in India still suggest an impromptu stove often fashioned out of a bucket or balti. There are no elaborate preambles to the preparation of the ingredients. A dry fry or braising on the tasst (griddle) is preferred. Gravy is optional, which is understandable in a diet where bread is the staple food. The Moguls did not include vegetables in their diet until much later. Fruit, fresh and dried, was and still is the preferred option in Muslim dominated parts of India. The preparation and cooking of kebabs is done in many ways on an open fire. Cubes of meat and game are skewered into boti kebabs. In the classic passinda kebab the meat is ground, seasoned and rolled round an iron skewer. Cakes of spiced mince are turned on the tasst (griddle) into tikkia kebabs. The ghoti kebab is stirred in a pot to a paste. Handi kebab takes its name from the vessel in which it is traditionally cooked. Another all time favourite during Indian an Indian knee up is the yoghurt based dish, rezala.

Comments

Add your comment

(you must be logged in)