Till then, it was either royalty or the soldiers at war who were privy to food from across the borders.
It was the first time that the common man (the middle class) had the opportunity to get a taste of what real Brit food was. The Great Bengal Famine (which history says was man-made) brought the first lot of commercially packaged food into India in large quantities. Interestingly, the change in the way dining tables at home look today began during the reign of the British - and the result of famines. The pork sorpotel and vindaloo and the mutta mala are excellent examples. Result - the dish was more Indian that Portuguese or Arabian. Of course, the change was less noticeable because every dish that made an appearance on the table using the above techniques or ingredients had local produce in it. Thanks to the coming in of new-world vegetables like potatoes, chilli, tomatoes and such - and also techniques like steaming, bread making and marinating. In fact, many anthropologists believe that the phase between 7-13th centuries completely changed the way food tables would be laid across India. Like the Armenian community that brought the tonir (tandoor) with them, which led to the invention of the rotis and breads that we know today and the UP Pathan, whose zeal to having their own empire not only gave us states like Bhopal, but added culinary gems like nihari, paya, kheema ghotala, daulat ki chaat among others, to the Indian table. The difference was, while the invaders left a technique like the open-fire roasting in North, that is said to be the gift by Genghis Khan to the world, that was incorporated - some say that the Andhra-style Chicken Fry and Chicken 65 were influences by the Bahmani Empire and the sailors - migrants made a more lasting impression and inclusion. While most believe that the change in the dining table today - where Indian food has taken a backseat to the more appealing West - is a recent cult, truth is that the local-only dining table has changed since the beginning of Middle Ages when India came under a host of rulers, invaders and traders like the Greek, Dravidian, Bahmani, Delhi Sultanate and Dutch.
The rest of the half needs a look back at the 7th century. While both the arguments are accurate and reason out well, the dining table trends of today, where pancakes are breakfast, dimsum lunch and pasta dinner, it is only half the story told. There is an urgent need to be well-versed with popular food cultures like Italian, French, Pan Asian and the like, courtesy MasterChefs. The other argument is of course food becoming a lifestyle, where knowing your own dal-chawal ain’t enough.
So cultures are no more bound to use local produce when they have access to all kinds of vegetables, recipes, techniques and even the equipments necessary. Some would say, and rightfully too, that this is the result of glocalisation that has fused the boundary, at least foodwise. Fascinatingly, the humble food table at home hasn’t been the ‘muse’ for Gorai only, but for culinary legends like Chef Manjit Gill (corporate chef ITC Hotels) whose ambitious project Royal Vega is based on the ancient, ayurveda-based food habits - and among the few restaurants capable of walking you back in time, morsel-by-morsel.īut ever wondered what influences the culture-driven dining table to change? You know from being laden with the stars (read: popular dishes) of a certain region (rajma chawal on Punjabi tables and pakhala-bhaja in Oriya homes) to becoming the magical caldron of world cuisine, when dinner could be a Burmese khau suey or Persian berry palav? Lavaash by Saby, one of the chef’s recent ventures based on the disappearing Armenian cuisine, being one of them. I look for what is going out of fashion from the dining table” - This was what culinary wizard chef-owner Sabyasachi Gorai (of Lavaash by Saby) said when asked where he finds the inspiration for his unique restaurants.