Bihari cuisine has a history that can be traced to the cultures that flourished and waned in this part of the globe. Rice- Main Course of Food
References to rice abound in a variety of sources. During the days of the Buddha, rice was the staple food. The elite consumed the superior quality of rice while the inferior quality fell to the lot of the poor. At Nalanda, Hiuen Tsang was given mahasali rice to eat. Each grain was as large as a bean, and when cooked, was aromatic, and shining like no other rice.
Centuries later, presenting an account of the different varieties of rice around the Gangetic basin, Abul Fazal said that if a single grain of each kind of rice was collected, they would fill a large vase. The Mughal chronicler described the rice cultivated in Patna as being ‘rare and unequalled in quality’.
The shali rice was popular and much in demand in Europe, while Indians preferred the shahpasand and basmati variety of Patna rice. The Gangetic plain proved to be a fertile ground for litchis – a relatively new plant that arrived in India only during the end of the 17th century. Originally from China, Buddhist pilgrims brought the first saplings of this plant from China as a hommage to the land of the Buddha.
Rice- Main Course of Food
References to rice abound in a variety of sources. During the days of the Buddha, rice was the staple food. The elite consumed the superior quality of rice while the inferior quality fell to the lot of the poor. At Nalanda, Hiuen Tsang was given mahasali rice to eat. Each grain was as large as a bean, and when cooked, was aromatic, and shining like no other rice.
Centuries later, presenting an account of the different varieties of rice around the Gangetic basin, Abul Fazal said that if a single grain of each kind of rice was collected, they would fill a large vase. The Mughal chronicler described the rice cultivated in Patna as being ‘rare and unequalled in quality’. The shali rice was popular and much in demand in Europe, while Indians preferred the shahpasand and basmati variety of Patna rice. The Gangetic plain proved to be a fertile ground for litchis – a relatively new plant that arrived in India only during the end of the 17th century. Originally from China, Buddhist pilgrims brought the first saplings of this plant from China as a hommage to the land of the Buddha.
Favourite Morning Meal
The people of northern Bihar rely heavily on the energy-giving sattu (powdered gram), and a number of preparations like litti, parantha (a sort of Indian bread) etc. are stuffed with sattu and spice. For breakfast in Bhagalpur and Patna, people often prepare drinks with sattu, salt, chopped onions and chilly. Litties come in a large variety and are often roasted on hot coals. Muslim's Delicacy--The Biryani
Some seventy years before the Muslim conquest of North India, the Turks had consolidated their hold in Maner (22 miles from Patna). Around this time, the region came under the sway of the Sufis (Muslim saints and mystics who came to India once the Turks had established themselves here. of the three chief orders of Sufism in India, Firdausi’s Sufism particularly influenced Bihar). The influx of the Afghans, Mughals, Persians, and much later, the Bengal Nawabs, and the Europeans followed this. Certainly there was a synthesis of the local culinary genius and the art of the newcomers. Possibly this is called Mughlai. Otherwise the term in its true sense sounds hollow, for the Mongol nomads, associated more with warfare, hardly ever cooked good food.
Bhat, dal, tarkari and achar (lentil, vegetable and pickle) have been part of Bihari cuisine since the days of yore. With the advent of Jainism and Buddhism, its followers took to a vegetarian diet, while others preferred goat, pig, deer, peacock, etc. In fact offering meat to a guest was as meritorious as performing the dvadasah (twelfth day) sacrifice. Thus slaughterhouses thrived alongside the Jain and Buddhist philosophies of ahimsa (non-violence). A variety of meat was openly sold in the market, and lavishly consumed during festivals. After inviting the Buddha for breakfast (this was also the Buddha’s last breakfast), Chunda, a blacksmith, served him a dish called Sukaramaddava, that translates to tender pork. Unlike Mahavira, the Buddha sanctioned fish and flesh as lawful though with some restrictions. Mahayana Buddhism rejected this altogether. The followers of this denomination believed that the sukaramaddava was some aromatic mushroom. Speculations abound about the unusual breakfast that none of the Buddha’s disciples were allowed to consume, and the remains of which were buried.
