Edwin Lee Gibson as ‘Ebraheim’ in the sensational Hulu series ‘The Bear’ once said, “One bite of a doughnut brings much joy. Two bites bring sadness.” Food is very near and dear to every one of us. It brings families together, is a form of language often used to express love towards a partner, helps bring comfort to us in the toughest times of our lives, and even brings unity among communities and countries. Food is a significant part of our lives, and of course, it has had a long history as well.
Apart from addressing the unity of communities and countries in modern times, it has historically been used as a strategy by many empires to colonise other countries, changing their eating habits and cuisine drastically. This cultural invasion has numerous consequences today. In this article, I will try to explain how Indian cuisine and its eating habits have been affected by colonial rule and India’s capture by different empires throughout its history.
One of the best pieces of history to explain such a globalised nature of our cuisine is the Mughal Era. When the Mughals came to India, they brought much of their art, architecture, language, and culture, and of course, their cuisine. The Afghans, before the Mughals, had brought much of their food to India, which got mixed with the Mughal cuisine, such as Afghan flatbreads, popularly known as ‘naan’. Although these breads have some Egyptian and Mesopotamian roots, they were popularised and widely used in the Afghan and Mughal Eras. Around the same time, a new food was made predominantly using beef, but later on, it was supplanted by a fish-based, curry-based dish called ‘Koftas’. Even today we eat such koftas in restaurants, both meat-based and vegetable-based. The vegetarian counterpart of this dish is made with cottage cheese, which we famously call ‘Shahi Paneer’.
The idea behind eating such spice-filled dishes was that when the Mughals invaded India and settled in Delhi, the river Yamuna was polluted at such a level that it was impossible to fix the contaminated water. Due to this contamination, there was a high risk of catching diseases, so the head chef during the Mughal Era (during Akbar’s reign) suggested eating ‘chaats’ and dishes filled with spices and clarified butter, our very own ‘ghee’, to combat the water-borne diseases that one might catch from the filthy water. This minor contamination of water caused such an impact on our cuisine that even today people are used to eating such spicy dishes. Desserts are also something people all around India like to devour. The idea of ‘Jalebis,’ ‘Phirni,’ and even ‘Khoya’ was brought by the Afghans and popularised by the Mughals in India, so it became a decadent and even a traditional and religious course of meal to be eaten on festivals with families, friends and all loved ones.
The Mughlai cuisine, as we know it today, with spices, chillies, vegetables such as the symptomatic tomatoes and potatoes, and even the usage of meat, was prevalent and was made famous during the Mughal era. Historical accounts of Akbar and Babur (in Akbarnama and Baburnama respectively) contain sections of the eating habits of the Mughals. Pork was something that was not eaten by the Mughals and was banned since it was (and still is) considered a sin in Islam. Similarly, in the aforementioned lines, we get to know that beef consumption stopped since it hurt the sentiments of the majority of the people in the country, as cows were considered sacred even back then. To eat such dishes, alternatives had to be found, and thus fowl meat, chicken, goat, fish, and shrimp were used as substitutes for pork and beef to get the same taste, which developed and evolved within the cuisine with grace. Many famous foods brought and made by the Mughals include biryanis of many kinds, naans of many varieties, spicy dishes such as korma, chicken stew, koftas, khichri, yakhni pulao, pickles, khandvi, phirni, jalebi, and faluda, and rice was incorporated into meals through several vibrant and innovative dishes.
Towards the end of the Mughal Empire, the empire broke into smaller fragments of smaller regional kingdoms, which brought a lot of contribution to Indian cuisine as well. How the Nawabs of Awadh refined Mughal culinary traditions, which are today famously known as Awadhi cuisine, which includes delicacies such as kebabs, biryanis, and kormas as well. In the Deccan region, the Nizams of Hyderabad blended the Mughal cuisine and their local cuisine and made it into something iconic, such as Hyderabadi Biryani. Other dishes, such as the use of millets, lentils, and local spices, shown in the Western part of India in the Maratha region, showcase the needs of a balanced diet of a warrior based on society. These regional adaptations and changes due to the end of the Mughal Empire have changed the culinary ethos of Indian cuisine drastically as well. This transitional period of our cuisine also laid the groundwork for many dishes that are now a symbol of India’s culinary heritage.
Following the zenith of the influence of the cuisine of the Mughals, came an era of invasions by a very culturally foreign entity after several centuries. The Portuguese and the English started trade in the Indian subcontinent. It was in search of spices such as cinnamon and black pepper that the Europeans came to India to trade and eventually settled here with the incentive to earn profits from spices and other food as well as textiles.
The increased greed of the Europeans of that time caused the political and geographical capture of India to monopolistic competition for control over the country. When Vasco De Gama reached the Malabar Coast in the South, where the most trade of spices and cloth took place, Portuguese trade expanded dramatically, and spices were drastically grown to get better and cheaper goods faster. But this came at its own cost. The Portuguese started to question the idea of not eating beef and pork and challenged the usage of salt to make rice as well, which changed their eating habits. It was the Portuguese who brought the idea of cheese. ‘Bandel’ is a type of cheese made out of cow’s milk; later on, another type of cheese called ‘Chhana’ was popularised by the Portuguese, in which the process to make the cheese sweet was to curdle milk which changed the entire taste of it. This developed into something we eat as a dessert when sugar syrup is added to it, famously known as ‘Rasgulla,’ a famous Bengali dessert. The other eastern counterpart of this dessert is called ‘Rasagola’ from Odisha, which is deeply rooted in the religious temple traditions of Jagannath Temple. ‘Sandesh,’ another dish, was originally made with channa cheese, but in contemporary times, variations have been made in which this sweet dish is made without it. In some cases, the use of ‘Khejur Gur’ as a sweetener is mentioned in many texts.
The greatest gift of the Portuguese was the introduction of crops such as potatoes, okra, chillies, pineapples, papayas, cashews, peanuts, maize, guava, and custard apples, amongst several other fruits and vegetables. The Portuguese also brought many types of breads, such as ‘Pav’ (pronounced as Pau), used by street vendors in Bombay to make a famous side dish called Vada Pav, even Pav Bhaji, which is a famous dish in Bombay and North India. Goan cuisine has been most impacted due to the Portuguese invasion, and breads like ‘Bibinca’ have become a traditional dessert during the Christmas season.
It was after the Dutch started trading at the ports that the French and English started settling on the mainland. The idea of rum cake, which is also another dessert widely eaten during Christmas, is one of the many French-based desserts that was incorporated into the traditional Pondicherry cuisine. Around the same time, it was the British who started trading goods like silk, sugar, opium, spices like cinnamon, and black pepper, and other textiles as well. By 1757, the British had laid the foundations of their settlement in India, and it was after the Battle of Plassey that their domestic cuisine began to be mixed with Indian cuisine. The most impactful addition to the cuisine was brewing alcohol such as rum, beer, wine, gin, and many other native spirits which were brought by the British. The British also brought several vegetables during their time in India, such as carrots, cauliflower, spinach, and cabbage. Omelettes and the general overall use of eggs increased manifold during the British era. Dishes like rasam, vindaloo, dry frying, plum pudding, and roasted duck and turkey were also popularised by the British.
India is one of the most vast and diverse countries in the world, with a history so rich that people cannot even keep up with the amount of stories, empires, invasions, protests, and much more that she has stood witness to. It was through these invasions and colonisations that Indian cuisine changed throughout history in such a drastic and beautiful manner. This has today led to globalisation to an extent that people had never thought of. While visiting the streets of London, people expect fish and chips but find restaurants that also make butter chicken and mutton biryani. Tourists sightseeing through New York can witness dishes like dosas and sambar with rasam famously eaten by American natives as well. Even social media users, such as YouTuber chefs like Nick Digiovanni making chicken Biryani and competitive eaters Matt Stonie, have devoured snacks such as samosas and other Indian cuisine. Indian cuisine has taken the world by storm, and it has become so popular that you may find an Indian restaurant in each country you visit. This dynamic linkage at the global level throughout history shows how countries and their cultures along with their food and eating habits have brought communities closer and popularised unity among them. Although people have had tumultuous histories with certain communities, such as India's hurtful feelings towards the British, it is clear that the people who fought for freedom for nearly 200 years are now considered best friends through their cuisines and food. This level of incredible connectivity is uncommon between countries, demonstrating how even the most fundamental things, like people's cuisine, can affect a country's entire foreign policy towards another. Tourism has grown so rapidly that individuals are willing to go all around the world merely to find food. Diplomatic state dinners have been held, such as in the G20; the fusion of cultures and their food has occurred in such a drastic fashion that no one could have predicted it. Many countries now sell packaged Indian meals at their foreign counters. All of this shows how Indian cuisine's history has had an important influence on the world, as well as how it has encouraged globalisation in general.
By Yashowardhan Chaudhary Yashowardhan Chaudhary is a first-year student of B.A Program (English and Economics) at Hindu College, University of Delhi. He is interested in writing about Culture Studies, Politics and Intersecting Identities.
References:
Antani, V., Mahapatra, S. Evolution of Indian cuisine: a socio-historical review. J. Ethn. Food 9, 15 (2022). Article Link (Article)
Raja Rasoi aur Anya Kahaniya, EPIC Channel (Show / TV Series)
Kumar, Vikas. Colonial Culinarians continue to influence our eating habits, 14th August (2022) The Telegraph Online. Article Link (Article)
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