Maamsodna - a story of not so “Mughal” Biryani :-

Maamsodna - a story of not so “Mughal” Biryani :-

[Story telling episode-1]

What comes to your mind when I say Biryani?

This ?

Or,

Kinda look too similar isn't it !

If your mouth waters after hearing the word Biryani then this story is for you for sure !

So story is…!

There were two friends heading towards thier 50s , fond of food , so much fond that whenever they used to meet , they discuss about food and different cuisines around world.

It was Sunday , a fresh morning , the naturalness of air that Sanjay inhaled , enchanted him with a beautiful idea.

He ran to his verandah where his age old telephone was sleeping like an undisturbed snake.

Keeping his empty mug aside , he tapped out some numeral figures.

“Akshay, Kaisa hai ?” , The youthful voice inquired the receiver.

Translation:- How are you Akshay?

“Tu kaisa hai bae , rembered after months…huh?”

Translation :- “How are you ,…”( remaining is history)

A nagging cum youthful voice from other side came as reply.

“Arey nhi yaar , Bahut muskil se chutti mili hai” - Sanjay replied.

Translation :- “No dear , nothing like that , the fact is , I got holiday after months “.

“I called you because I have an amazing idea Duggu ”, Sanjay unbreakingly continued.
“Let's have a Meetup at my home , what say?” His frequency level gustofied.
“Sure!!!” , and It resonanted.

Two friends were immensely happy that they gonna meet each other after months.

Akshay was making up a plan, which was nothing but a reordering of his chronicle ideas chronologically. He was happy indeed. A beautiful inner happiness was exhibiting from his chaste smile.

Wearing a blue shirt , he Crossed the threshold of Sanjay's house.

Duggu was welcomed by Sanjay with a side hug .”What's this chintu ?”- Akshay exclaimed.

“Nothing just a fracture by which I was enough fortunate to have this meet after months”.

Sanjay was having an arm fracture , Duggu rebuked him and laughed when he got to know the reason behind it .

The talks which were started as inquiry of each other's health , got accelerated with the spices of world cuisines with desert being Indian subcontinent.

“Indian cuisines are marvellous , no match!”- Sanjay remarked.

“Definitely!” - Akshay concurred with a prideful smile.

Everything was going well with co-ordinating laughs and sometimes , resonating agreements.

Until the topic hit - “ The Biryani”.

It seemed as a burning stick split into two fiercely flaring torches.

After all , What was in Biryani so much that two friends meeting after months ended with puffed faces.

Sanjay had a disagreement with his old bosom making point that Biryani was indigenous and Invaders just flourished and popularized this ancient Indian cuisine.

Chintu denied by saying ,”the biryani is of South Indian origin, derived from pilaf varieties brought to the Indian subcontinent by the Arab traders.”

Well ! Who was right or wrong? I don't know but I will quote you what Akshay further gone with , he narrated a story like this .

“ Long long time ago , There was a Nishad King , named as Nala , He was great chef , good with chariots but game of dice was his weakness, he lost his kingdom to his brother because of this weakness but later on , he devoted his life as a cook. He wrote a cook book too on his culinary skills.
In first chapter of that book , we can undoubtedly notice he has mentioned about a dish known as “Maamsodna” kinda way similar to present Biryani. In the book he highlights rice cooked with meat. There are detailed descriptions of various preparations with flesh of birds including chicken (kukkuta), animals, fish and eggs. …”

And the talk went like this but what was interesting to note here was that Sanjay later on developed a benefit of doubt for it atleast , from complete ridiculing , atleast having a benefit of doubt was progressive…isn't it !

DISCUSSION :-

Going through the story , what you observed?What you think about the Biryani matter?

Let's discuss !

In Mahabharata there comes a tale of Nishadraj Nala(husband of Damyanti) narrated by a sage called Vrihadashwa as Nalopakyana, or the tale of Nala, to the Pandavas, during their exile in the forest, in the epic Mahabharata. This makes it a story within a story. Nala loses his fortune due to his own foolishness and is so ashamed of himself that he runs away from his wife, and lives in hiding, until she finds him, and restores his faith in himself through her love.

Nala exceptionally grows as an only male chef other than bhim in Mahabharata ( don't bring Krishna in it bcoz he was not exclusively a cook)

It is rumoured that Nala wrote a book which is more than 800 years old. It's not sure that if it's his original book but it's for sure , it is way before Invaders invaded India , it's called Paka-Darpana .

In Paka- Darpana , you cannot find mentions of red pepper , which was a Portuguese thing to India.

The text comprises of 11 chapters, having 751 verses (as in Dr. Indradev Tripati's Hindi translation version; and 760 as per Meulenbeld). Interestingly, the very first chapter contains 499 verses, i.e. about two thirds of the entire text. Eighth and eleventh chapters are the smallest ones having nine verses each. The verses have been composed as a dialogue between King Ṛtuparṇa and King Nala. The King Nala renames himself as Bāhuka after having lost his kingdom and worked as a cook under King Ṛtuparṇa.

We can notice one thing that since , King Nala worked as a cook under King Rtuparna , we can observe the initial traces of Maharaj as cook culture from Gujarat and Rajasthan , isn't it ?

The first chapter is titled as granthopakrama which deals with the qualities of ideal cook and waiter (pariveṣaka) and elaborately explains different origin. It lists a total both vegetarian and nonvegetarian food preparations of of 16 kinds of dishes viz. odana (cooked rice), sūpa(preparation of de-husked legumes), sarpis(ghee), vyañjaka (side dish), māṁsa (meat) and śāka (vegetables), bhakṣya (munchable eatable), pāyasa (milk pudding), rasāyana(rejuvenative), pāna (drinks), yūṣa(preparation popularly known as khichḍi), different rice preparations such as curd rice, ghee rice etc., lehya (lickables), pānīya(water), kṣīra (milk) and takra (butter milk).

The chapter claims that anna (cooked rice) has 63 tastes and eight defects.

In the same chapter , the author explains the method of preparation of nonvegetarian biriyani.

METHOD:-

For this,

three parts of water and one part of rice should be taken and should boiled.
When the rice begins boiling, boiled or unboiled meat that are cut into small pieces to the size of rice, should be added along with little rock salt.
It should be mixed well and little quantity of ghee should be added. When water is dried up, it should be taken out of the fire.
The preparation is seasoned with coconut-milk and freshly prepared ghee along with attractive flowers of ketakī (Pandanus fascicularis).
Pieces of parpaṭa are added and the preparation is given its unique fragrance using camphor and musk etc.
Later the vessel should be closed with the upper lid and it should be kept on fire and mixed well.
When the dish becomes soft, it should be served for eating.

Benefits :-

This maṁsodana (meat biriani) is tasty, aphrodiasic, wholesome, light for digestion. It gives strength to the body and nourishes all the tissues and heals wounds.

There are both vegetarian and nonveg

nonvegetarian rice preparations include mudga taṇdula maṁsānna (green gram rice biriani), lāvaka maṁsodana(sparrow meat biriyani), and kukkuṭa maṁsodana (chicken biriani) etc.

Casual Analysis and some myth break-ing :-

Did you observe one thing ?

In the preparation process of rice , it resonates with the present preparation of Pulao .

The popular theory behind Pulao invention is that it was brought from middleeast by the Arab traders to the southern India. Hence , Middle eastern people invented it , so it's false isn't it !

When we go through Indic perspective :-

We find that

the word is usually traced back to the Sanskrit pulaka , which would have become pulao in some later Indian languages.

it comes from the Sanskrit verb that means “to stand on end” (as in “my hair stood on end”), so conceivably it could have been applied to a dish where rice cooked up in distinctly separate grains.

Those who think pilaf originated in Iran can’t point to a Persian ancestry for the word.

The oldest Persian cookbooks only go back as far as the 16th Century.

But yes ! We do find Pilaf in Arabic cook books speaking about Iranian flavours but only from 13th century.

In the 10th century cook book of Arab, we don't find any mention of Pilaf.

But we find Mentions of Pilaf in Pre medival Indian scriptures.

So strong probablities are that the Pilaf could have been gone from India to other countries while trade but it was never a staple diet, hence , no striking documents.

Quoting K.T.Acharaya :-

“The word is ascribed to the Persian and Arabic pilav, pulao and pallao, yet it would appear to have found its way long ago into both Sanskrit and early Tamil literature of the third to sixth centuries.”

In ancient Sangam literature, there were references to a dish that involved the cooking of rice in meat stock. The dish was called Onnu Soru. That's what tradintonal pilaf is.

And of course ,

Much earlier, around 327 BC Greek invader Alexander reached Markanda, i.e. today’s Samarkand, in the Achaemenid Empire’s Sogdiana province, forced into the royal fortress and is said to have fallen in love with King Oxyartes’ daughter Roxanna on first sight. During the royal banquet that followed, Alexander found the next stunning surprise—the taste of plov. It is believed that soldiers from Alexander's army brought the recipe of plov back to Macedonia, after which it spread throughout Greece.

Anissa Helou in her definitive Feast: Food of the Islamic World, offers a possibility that “They (Arabs) could have learned about rice in the Sind Province of India, which they conquered in 711 AD.”

Now coming back to ,

Did Mughals brought Biryani and it was foreign for native India?

No ! Babar( Turk - Mongol) didn't taste Biryani in his whole life atleast the present one .

And there are different accounts and theories regarding in the Mughal documents itself. Mughals themselves hailed from Mongol , where there is no documentation of rice itself natively due to thier harsh weather conditioning.

And above all , the descriptions by Al-Biruni shows that Biryani was prevelant in Delhi Sultanate before Mughal Invasion.

Saying Arabs developed Pilaf.

Neither Arabs had rice. They grew it up in Spain.

The earliest remains of the grain in the Indian subcontinent have been found in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and date from 7000–6000 BC though the earliest widely accepted date for cultivated rice is placed at around 3000–2500 BC with findings in regions belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization.

Rice needs some suitable conditions like: $-$

Temperature : Rice is a tropical crop and grown where the average temperature during the growing season is between 20°C and 27°C.
Rainfall: Paddy requires more water than any other crop. As a result, paddy cultivation is done only in those areas where minimum rainfall is 115 cm. Although the regions are having average annual rainfall between 175—300 cm are the most suitable.
Soil : Fertile riverine alluvial soil is best for rice cultivation.
Surface: Unlike other crops, paddy needs a level surface to enable the fields to be flooded at least during the growing period. It’s ideal habitat is therefore in the great alluvial deltas and river basins of the world: the Ganges and Yangtzekiang , where there is practically no gradient.

And some others which perfectly fits with dominantly SouthEast Asia.

So it's totally illogical to say Mughals brought thier native Food Biryani to India.

Even If you believe in that FAMOUS Mumtaz Mahal Folklore which says,after seeing her drastic view of her military she ordered chef to cook something which could benefit them so the cooks there invented Biryani , so don't forget that the cooks were Indigenous people only.

A Quick Short Analogy :-

This is what she said :-

She asked the chef to prepare a special dish which provided balanced nutrition, and thus the biryani was created.

This is the description of mamsodna.:-

This maṁsodana (meat biriani) is tasty,. aphrodiasic, wholesome, light for digestion. It gives strength to the body and nourishes all the tissues and heals wounds.

Mind you the cooks were indigenous Indians and not imported from Mongol or Turkey.

Even the species used in Traditional Biryani is way more similar to What was used in Mamsodna.

$A I M P E R U M K A P P I Y A M$ :-

Around 200 AD, however, we find reference to a food in what is today’s Tamil Nadu, which certainly had the same recipe. Aimperumkappiyam, i.e. the great five epics of Tamil literature, are estimated to have been written between 100 AD and 1000 AD. These epics mention a food named Oon Soru. As I mentioned above.

We can find the food strikingly similar to today’s Dindigul Thalakapatti biryani. Fine rice, mutton, ghee, ginger, cinnamon, coriander leaf and coconut milk are standard ingredients of Oon Soru.

Let's do a comparison:-

This is of 10th century in India speaking about Biryani and in 10th century cookbooks of Arab , there is no mention of this.

Hence , we set out a strong probability that Biryani recipe travelled from India to West.

Coming back to point :-

The word “biryani” comes from the Persian word “birian” which means “fried before cooking.” the root of Birian is birij , where scholars argue that this word birij has come from word “ $v r i h i$ ” which is a Sanskrit word for rice.

But I will not go into yet to prove probablities or assumptions.

The reason to disagree with this is , that Birij is a Persian word it was the court language those days and even if a dish was invented in old Delhi, it would still be given a Farsi name.

So , documentation of it with this particular name doesn't mean that it originated then only.

Let me go with some historical Chronicles:-

Texts : The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad has reference to meat cooked with rice.
Tribal cultures : Rice and chicken mixed in spices stuffed into a piece of raw bamboo log that goes on natural fire till outer later becomes charcoal, is Bamboo Chicken Biryani as made by the tribes of India.( Mostly dominating godavari belt , encompassing Orissa and Andhra).

Malabar tribe :- One of the country’s best biryanis is made on the Malabar It's a prevelant hypothesis that Biryani travelled from Delhi to South but if you ask any local here , they will to the straight ridicule it saying that their ancestors are cooking biryani , from ages back , before Delhi Sultanate had any hair on ground. Well ! This can be true because Kerala was not so connected or influenced by Delhi.but more to Middleeast , to which I have already busted some points, it can be a possibility that the recipe travelled from Coast to Central Asia.

CONCLUSION :-

Hence , we can conclude that Biryani was an indigenous cuisine which could have been liked by Invaders, hence , they popularized the food and did kinda marketing of it.

But saying , Biryani is a Mughal invented stuff is totally baseless and irrelevant.

Biryani was not a staple diet of Indians and hence , we find the fading image of it. Because non veg Biryani has meat and meat eating was there in anceint or pre medival India but occasional whereas , Biryani stands out as a staple diet for Mughals and Sultans.

$N o w$ coming back to story :-

Moral of the story :- “You can be Sanjay at times but you can't be Sanjay all time if you are rational”

So be rational not radical.

Hope so , it would have been a good read for you.

Note:- I'm not here to spew hate or divide but to burst myth and bridge gap. Or prove biryani Hindu which has been traditionally considered a origin of Islamic world , I'm rather here to burst all these misconceptions and give it a wide spectrum to it. We as Indian, know it quite soundly that how food has been politicsed in this nation , nearly everything, so it's our own responsibility to shun this off and create a better society.

Food is food , it's for nutrition and pleasure of your tounge, can we take it like that ?

Saying Biryani is Muslim and Kheer is Hindu , is too blatant & immature argument. Trying to drive out a narrative of guilty in non Muslim Indians for a petty food is too inhumane.

Some statements like this is ridiculous:-