Heard of Gujarat non vegetarian cuisine?
One of the enduring food myths, which may have something to do with Mahatma Gandhi, is that all of Gujarat is vegetarian paradise. The Mahatma, in fact, helped in propagating this myth through his earliest newspaper articles published in journal of the London Vegetarian Society, which he wrote after he had completed his law studies. He couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
Gujarat has had a healthy tradition of non-vegetarianism, nurtured by the Rajputs, Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis, and it is evident from the recipes that Bhanu Hajratwala offers in her cookbook, Gujarati Kitchen: Family Recipes for the Global Palate. Hajratwali is a Fijian of Gujarat origin who now lives in the US and her cookbook is the most comprehensive survey I have come across of the cuisine Gujarat.
Some time back, newspapers writing about the phenomenal success of the home-grown fried chicken chain, Bangs, in Gujarat, had reported Anthropological Survey of India data indicating that 70 per cent of the state was non-vegetarian. A couple of years back, when I was in Ahmedabad, I was struck by the quality of the nonvegetarian kebabs that were served to me. It was then that I learnt kebabs moved fast and that the neighbouring Pizza Hut did good business with its non- vegetarian offerings.
The recipes in Hajratwala’s cookbook are easily replicable at home, but the one that got my attention is a Surat favourite, Mamna (barbecued lamb kebabs), which apparently travelled to Fiji and acquired a cult following. The Kheema Phatka (minced mutton samosas) has also gone places, riding on the edible memory of itinerant Gujaratis. The nonvegetarian mains listed in the cookbook represent the best of home cooking. From Jinghlanu Shaak (shrimp curry) and Marghana Mamna (chicken kofta curry) to Tarande Saucende (fried fish in tomato sauce) and Boomla Batakanu Shaak (Bombay duck and potato curry), the dishes are as Gujarati as they sound – and as non-vegetarian as they can be.
Source:
http://www.indiatoday.in
This site is hosted by (click on the graphic for more information)
Return from gujarat to Home Page
If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors = check out these sites:
