BIHARI CUISINE BIHAR KA SWAD

HISTORY: Bihar was called Magadha in ancient times. Its capital Patna, then known as Pataliputra, was the center of the first empire built in India, that was by Nanda Dynasty. Bihar was hotbed of Indian civilization, with its fertile land and able rulers like Chandragupta Maurya. Magadh was rich empire since the time of the Mahabharata. The land of Nalanda university, has sprouted great thinkers and philosophers, and most importantly, is the place of Lord Buddha.

GEOGRAPHY: Bihar is mainly a vast stretch of very fertile flat land. It has several rivers: Ganga, Son, Bagmati, Kosi, Budhi Gandak, and Falgu to name a few. Central parts of Bihar have some small hills, for example the Rajgir hills. The Himalayan mountains are to the north, in Nepal. To the south is the Chota Nagpur plateau, which was part of Bihar until 2000 but now is part of a separate state called Jharkhand.

CLIMATE: Bihar is mildly cold in the winter (the lowest temperatures being around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius). Winter months are December and January. It is hot in the summer (40 to 45 degrees Celsius). April to mid June are the hot months. The monsoon months of June, July, August, and September see good rainfall. October & November and February & March have pleasant climate

INTRODUCTION TO BIHARI CUISINE- When we think about Bihari food we think of littis and thekua, thanks to the Prasad of the famous Chhat puja performed by Biharis all over India. However the food of Bihar has more to it and bears the stamp of the phases of its rich history. The food of Bihar has remained ‘home cooked’ food, and has not been promoted as a cuisine.

FOOD HABITS: For people of Bihar, rice is the staple food, though they also consume wheat to a large extent. The fertile land of Bihar is conductive for the large variety of rice that is cultivated here. The popularity of baked items in Bihar (most popular being litti) can be traced way back the Greek invasion under Alexander the Great. Many Greek soldier stayed back and inter married with local women, and naturally their food habits left and influence. References that rice was staple food since a long time can be found in historical documents. Even during the time of Lord Buddha, the elite consumed the superior quality of fine grained rice, where as the poor people had the inferior quality of fat-grained rice. At Nalanda, the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang was given mahasali rice to eat. Each grain was as large as a bean, and when cooked, was aromatic and shining.. Centuries later, during the Mughal emperor akbar’s reign, Abul Fazl, when writing about the different varieties of rice found in the rich Gangetic basin of this place, said that if a single grain of each kind of rice was collected, they would fill a large vase.

The Shali rice was popular and much in demand in Europe, while the Indians preferred the shahpasand and basmati varieties of Patna rice. Bihari cuisine has innumerable rice- based dishes. The Buddha was offered - rice cooked with milk and mixed with honey. The Jatakas ( legends on Buddha’s previous lives) mention various items still popular today- pua( a variation of malpua ) prepared from the mixture of flour, milk, sugar, ghee, and honey, pitta rice cakes, khajjaka(now popular as khaja, a sweet prepared from wheat flour and sugar), palala (modern day tilkuta, made from til or sesame seeds). Sariputta, one of Buddha’s disciples was very fond of palala. Gaya is famous for tilkuta. Another delicacy from Gaya is lai- prepared with sugar and beaten rice. The peras (sweatmeat made with sugar and milk) of Gaya are also popular. The popularity of vegetarian items in the food can be traced with the long years of Buddhist influence. The advent of the Mughals brought in the influence of non-vegetarian items. Biryanis, pulao, chicken, and mutton items got introduced by the people of Bihar which is vegetarian. The staple food of the poor man is bhat (rice), dal (lentil), roti, tarkari (vegetables) and achar (pickles). Mustard oil is the traditional cooking medium. Khichdis- the broth of rice and lentils, seasoned with spices, and served with several accompanying items like curd, chutney, pickles, papad, ghee and chokha(boiled mashed potatoes, seasoned with finely cut onions, green chillies) are popular. Non vegetarian items like, chicken, mutton and fish are popular among Biharis. How can one think of food of Bihar without the sattu? Sattu- the flour of roasted gram is an inherent part of Bihari food. Nutritious and filling, sattu is consumed in various ways. Sattu ka ghol is a refreshing drink during summer, and mukni (sattu ki roti and paratha) are popular items for breakfast and dinner. Sattu is used as a filling for the popular litti. Among the poor, kneaded sattu consumed with salt, onions, chillies and pickles, is popular because it is filling, nutritious as well as cheap. The gangetic plain of Bihar was a fertile ground for a variety of fruits like mangoes, jamuns and litchis.(the litchis of Muzaffarpur are legendary). Originally from China, the Buddhist pilgrims brought the first saplings of litchi plant from china as homage to the land of Buddha.

IMPORTANT DISHES:

1. BHOJPURI MACHLI: Marinated, deep fried, Rohu fish cooked in a masala made of onion, pepper, cumin seeds, ginger and garlic and served with plain rice.

2. LITTI: A baked delicacy made of atta dough stuffed with ‘sattu’, roasted, grounded gram flour. And served with achar, baigan or aloo chokha.

Litti may also be deep fried. Litties are crunchier if made with maida.

3. DALSAGGA: A ‘pui’ saag preparation with chana dal tempered with dry red chillies and whole cumin seed, and served with plain rice.

4. PUA: A round shape sweet dish made of a batter of whole wheat flour, semolina (5:1), sugar and wheat, coconut and raisins and deep fried till golden brown.

5. THEKUA: A tear shape cookies made out of semi hard dough made of whole wheat flour, ghee, sugar, raisins, fennel, and cardamom powder and deep fried till golden brown.

6. MEETHA PARWAL: A sweet dish made of parwal( wax gourd), in which boiled, wax gourds dipped in sugar syrup and stuffed with a mixture made of grated khoya, pistachio raisins and cardamom powder.

7. PIDIKIA: A cookies made at the time of festival ‘Teej’. Maida dough is filled with a mixture of semolina, grated khoya, grated coconut, raisins, given a particular moon shape and deep fried.

8. CHIWRA: Beaten rice served with a coat of creamy curd and sugar or jaggery.

9. DHUSKA: A deep fried item prepared from a mixture of powdered rice and ghee but is salted