Bengal has always been described as the land of abundance. Each and every traveler whoever
crossed this lush green land has always described it as the land of bounty and
abundance. But the history and destiny of this land changed forever under the
British rule especially in the 18th and 19th century when
many famines devastated this land. Chiattorer monontor or the famine of 1770
wiped out almost one-third of the population so as the famine of 1943 which
estimated to have killed around 3 million Bengalis.
Economists and
historians argue that these famines were man-made, occurred mostly due to exploitative
Colonial policies. The effect of these famines was so deep-rooted that for generations
to come Bengalis suffered from a sense of insecurity around food availability.
So much so that it changed Bengal’s culinary repertoire and philosophy around
food. Otherwise, it is very difficult to explain the vast array of recipes that
involve discards and offals in a land of such abundance.
As a little girl, I
often disliked when the women in our house would not discard even the
insect-infested veggies. They will simply cut that part away and use the rest
in cooking. I fought with them especially with dida and maa asking why they
need to be so miser when we had plenty of it. It took me years to understand
the reason.
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| Khosa charchari or Bengali style curry made with various vegetable peels |
Though Dida talked
about the famines of 1943 as a passing remark here and there but she never did
emphasised on how difficult it had been for them. She had a hard life before
she got married to Dadu. Her father died when her mother was pregnant with her.
Though the food was never scarce but life was difficult for them and then the
famine of 1943 hit hard. When I grew up a little she told me many stories that
sent a chill down my spine. She told us stories of how they found themselves fortunate
if they could even eat once a day and how very few people were that lucky. They
mostly cooked around midnight to avoid hungry people flocking around their
house. Yet people would find out and come begging for the rice cooking water or
phyan. The story that made me cry was how most infants during that time had
grown up on pituli gola jol or watery rice powder broth instead of milk. People died
of starvation, of malnutrition, and from eating toxic inedible greens and
fruits. Dead bodies were littered everywhere as nobody had the energy or the
resources to do a proper funeral.
Life was difficult and
those who survived lived with an unbearable trauma that changed their
behavioural pattern for life. I found dida and the women from her generation being
obsessed with saving all the edible parts of vegetables and protein. She was an
amazing cook and often she prepared elaborate meals for the family gathering
but would save the off cuts and scraps for a delicious meal the next day. Fish
oil and bones even from smaller fishes like Mourola (Indian anchovies) and puti
were made into fritters. Rice cooking water would be used to make Phyan er jhol,
a warming broth in winter and a cooling drink called Amani in summer. Used
lemon peels were rubbed on coarse surfaces to get rid of the bitterness and made
into delicious pickles. Jackfruit seeds were saved in earthen pots on a
bed of sand to make delicious chop (croquettes). Tamarind seeds were sundried
and dry roasted to be had as between-meal snacks.
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| Macher Matha die dal, Bengali style lentil with fish head a great example of nose to tail dining |
Maa Learnt from her
and she also had her share of hardship during the food crisis of the 60's. She
was very particular about food not being wasted by us. She would sit with us
during mealtime and told us stories of how they had to live on a meagre supply
of ration during the 60's food crisis. Though Dadu had an wellpaid Govt. job but
the fact that they had to feed many of their relatives during that difficult
time made things worse for them.
the trauma of
the famines collectively changed the behavioural consumption pattern in
most of rural Bengal, especially in women who had the responsibility to feed
their families. My mother for example constantly lived with a deep rooted fear
of having to go through such crisis again. Everytime there was a forecast of bad
weather or cyclone she would call up everyone in that area and asked them to
stock as much food and water as possible. My husband laughed at me when just
after our marriage I bought a huge container to stock rice for the whole year.
But that is how I grew up, with measures to minimise the possibility of food shortage
and hunger. We learnt to be resourceful around waste, always preserved the
excess for future and found a nack to devise ways to make faux recipes at a fraction of the original cost.
And now as a person
deeply immersed in food and food history I try to find the background stories.
I do not take them for granted and firmly believe that recipes like these are
here for a reason. And when I say that I must confess that it would be wrong to
attribute these ingenious recipes or methods to those hard times alone. There
definitely are other factors that I would like to explore in my coming posts.
Today let me share
this simple dal made of Kathal beej or jackfruit seed. This is not the real deal and falls under the nakol or faux recipe category. Jackfruit seeds are
available in summer in plenty and cost nothing. This is an ingenious way to
use something so cheap to substitute expensive legume and make the platter
complete. Maa cooked this every summer and nobody
could find out that this did not actually contain any lentil. Reason enough for
this being a recipe suited for hard times.
This faux dal is perfect in this time of
lockdown when prices of food staples are skyrocketing.
More Kathal bichi or Jackfruit seeds recipe
Kathal bichir bhorta
Kathal bichir Daal
(Bengali style lentil soup
with Jackfruit seeds)
Ingredients:
Jackfruit seeds (preferably
fresh): 1 cup
Ginger: ½” piece
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Dry red chilies: 2
pieces
Oil: 2 tsp
Salt
Turmeric
Method:
First, prepare the
jackfruit seeds by removing the white plastic-like cover from the top. Cut the
brown seeds inside it in halves. Wash them under running water.
Put them in a pressure
cooker with a cup of water, salt, and turmeric and cook on medium for 3
whistles. Let the steam dissipate in itself then open the lid and mash the dal
with a potato masher or with the back of your spoon. You will see the brown
thin skin will come off in big pieces. Discard those and make the mixture as
smooth as possible. I prefer a few tiny bites here and there for texture.
While the dal is
boiling peel and make a coarse paste of the ginger. Mix it in the boiled
mixture. Add ½ to 1 cup of warm water to it. Mix and adjust the salt.
Heat the oil in a
heavy bottom kadhai or pan. I prefer mustard oil. Add the cumin seeds and torn
red chilies. Let it splutter and then carefully pour in the boiled mixture from
one side. Mix and let it come to a boil. Do a final taste test and then serve
it hot with boiled rice or Roti.
A Homemaker’s note:
- Alternatively, you can temper the dal with nigella seeds (kalonji or kalo jeere) and garlic.
- You can also use a tadka pan to temper the dal.
- You can also make this dal with Alu or potato. Though I have never tried that recipe but following this same method you can do this.
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