Unraveling The Unfamous Story Behind These Famous Dishes
Nothing makes me happy like good food. Seriously, the only reason I look forward to coming to the office is to eat everyone's dabba and post that I’m in a food coma; that’s when I think about how all these yum dishes came into existence (Yeah, taking food for thought quite literally). After all the thinking, I decided to Google about it. You know, just to be sure and boast about fun facts in front of people. So here are 5 stories that I found interesting.
1. Biryani
There are so many theories on this one, but I’m going to list out the top three for you.
The word ‘biryani’ comes from the word ‘birian’ which means ‘fried before cooking’. Legend has it that Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s queen, once visited army barracks and thought that the soldiers weren’t healthy. So, she asked the chef to prepare a special dish, which provided balanced nutrition. And that’s how we got our favourite dish! So, the next time you visit the Taj Mahal, for the love of biryani, thank her on my behalf.
Another theory suggests that it originated in Tamil Nadu. A rice dish known as “Oon Soru '' was discovered in 2 A.D. Oon Soru was made with rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and bay leaves, and was used to feed military warriors. Other theories involve Timor The Lame bringing biriyani down from Kazakhstan via Afghanistan to Northern India and nomads burying an earthen pot full of meat, rice and spices in a pit, which was then eventually dug up to become biriyani. So, the moral of the story is that everyone wants to claim that biryani belongs to them, because biryani is love.
2. Butter Chicken
This buttery, creamy, wholesome dish originated in Old Delhi. The story goes something like this: after the restaurant shut down late at night, the restaurant was visited by a VIP guest who asked for ‘something chicken’ to be prepared for him. The chef looked into his supplies and discovered that he only had half of a tandoori chicken to cook with. So, hastily, he improvised and tossed it with liberal amounts of butter, tomato, and garam masalas and prepared an unknown dish. What he didn’t know was that the dish he had made was for the ruler of Mareelun – who loved it. So, if someone tells you that butter chicken is a ‘complicated’ dish, remind them that it was made due to lack of ingredients, and not because of an abundance of them, as the legend goes. I love my butter chicken, preferably with rice. What about you?
3. Pav Bhaji
Pav Bhaji as a dish originated in the city of Mumbai, legend has it. Every day, numerous mill workers would have lunch breaks that were too short for a full meal. Observing this, a local vendor created the dish using leftover ingredients of other dishes available on the menu. Roti or rice, which would be saved for other dishes, was replaced with pav. Curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy mixture, the ‘bhaji’. This tasty, spicy dish was an instant hit with these mill workers, and eventually found its way into restaurants only to become one of the most loved dishes all over the city. Okay, I’m going to grab a bite as soon as I’m done with work.
4. Vada Pav
Just like the pav bhaji, the vada pav originated in Bombay. As various food history documentations claim, this dish is credited to Ashok Vaidya, a snack vendor who ran a street stall just outside Dadar station. Most of us have crossed Dadar station, so, we know why we needed this “fast food”. Since Dadar was an important station, it was constantly spilling over with hordes of commuters. In a moment of culinary invention, Vaidya reportedly came up with this recipe in 1971 to satisfy the hunger of the hustling crowd in desperate need of a snack that could be consumed on-the-go. In a way, it was like his own version of fast food. He served it up with fiery red chutney that included coconut, peanuts, chillies, garlic and tamarind pulp. Safe to say, the rest is history.
5. Chicken Tandoori
Remember I told you about how butter chicken came into existence? Turns out, the same restaurant gave us our fave tandoori chicken too! I have to visit this place now. So innovative, right? It is said that the dish originated in Moti Mahal Delux, of which Kundan Lal Gujaral was the head chef and owner. The chef was known to dabble around with his ingredients and loved his tandoor. So one day, as an experiment, he skewered some chicken, applied the spices, and left it in the tandoor. The result was so marvellous that it even impressed the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. He then made sure that Moti Mahal turned into his official banquet, as records claim. The subsequent fame of Tandoori chicken led to many variations. Eventually, boneless chicken started being used, and thus Chicken Tikka came into existence.
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So, now that you know all these fun facts about food, share it with your friends over a glass of Black and White.
*Drink Responsibly
