BUT FIRST...A
BRIEF HISTORY OF ANGLO-INDIAN
COOKING
(An extract from the
essay on Bridget's website)
The
Anglo-Indian Community can be traced
back to as early as the 16th century i.e. to
the advent
of the Europeans into India.
As
a result of the inter-mingling
and inter-marrying of
the various European races, a new multi-culturaland
multi-racial community evolved over many centuries,
which later came to be known as the Anglo-Indian
Community. The Anglo-Indians are a unique race
of people, who, by combining both European
and Indian Cultures have evolved a distinctive
culture of their own.
They have their own special taste in food,
which is a direct reflection of their multi-racial
and hybrid heritage. In Anglo-Indian Cuisine
the spicy “ Indian Curry” is
given as much importance as the bland “ English
Roasts”.
Anglo-Indian
Cuisine has taken the
best of both European and Indian Cuisine and
altered it by adding or substituting some of
the ingredients so that a completely different
cuisine evolved over hundreds of years. The very
popular Vindaloo, Beveca and Dodol are legacies
of the Portugese, while the Roasts, Bakes, Bacon
and Eggs are typically British.
Many of
the dishes have rhyming
alliterative names like
Dodol, Kal-Kal, Ding-
Ding, Pish-Pash etc.
The very nomenclature
of the dishes is unique
and synonymous with the
Anglo-Indian Community's
vocabulary. The normally
bland western cuisine
was given a dash of exotic
Indian flavour. Thus
a completely new contemporary
cuisine came into existence
making it truly “Anglo” and “Indian” in
nature, which
was neither too bland
nor too spicy, but with
a distinctive flavour
of its own. It became
a direct reflection of
the multi-cultural and
hybrid heritage of the
new colonial population.
Many of
the dishes have a unique
history. The
very popular and familiar
curry dish “ Vindaloo ” is
derived from the Portugese
word “Vinha
De Alhos” i.e. from the 2 main ingredients
in it, which were "Vinho", meaning wine or wine
vinegar, and "Alhos", meaning garlic. It was
originally a vinegar
and garlic based watery
stew made with pork or
meat in Portugal . However
after the Portugese introduced
it in India, it was completely
revamped with the addition
of spices and chilies,
and over the years it
has become one of the
spiciest and most popular
curry dishes all over
the world.
Grandma's
Country Captain Chicken was a very
popular dish during Colonial times since it
was very easy to prepare. In those days, the
poultry used in its preparation were authentic
well-fed, homegrown country chickens, which
would take at least 2 hours to cook over a
firewood oven, but the curry when done, would
be rich and delicious.
Mulligatawny
Soup was also very popular during
the Raj Era.
It was
the anglicized
version of the
Tamil “Melligu
-Thani”.
(“Melligu” meaning pepper and “Thani” meaning
water). As the
name suggests
it was originally
Pepper Water.
However in course
of time a lot
of other ingredients
such coconut,
meat and other
spices were added
to give it a
completely different
flavour. The
dish quickly
became popular
throughout the
colonies of the
Common Wealth.
The Mulligatawny
Soup of today
bears little
resemblance to
the original “Melligu-thani."
Bridget
White-Kumar was born
and brought up in Kolar Gold Fields, a small
mining town in the erstwhile Mysore State
now known as Karnataka, India. KGF had a sizable
Anglo-Indian population who had lived and
worked there for generations. It was well
known for its colonial ambience with elegant
bungalows with huge lawns and gardens and
many clubs with tennis and badminton courts,
golf courses etc.
Bridget has always been
fond of cooking and trying out all the old
forgotten recipes of the Community. Her mother
the late Doris White was an exceptional cook
and had a vast collection of recipes which
were all handwritten in old and torn note
books and pieces of paper. What started out
as a hobby and pastime slowly became a passion.
Through trial and error she arrived at the
exact amounts of ingredients etc. to be used,
besides substituting some of the ingredients
to suit present day availability and health
consciousness.
In a world fast turning
into a Global Village, with many Anglo-Indians
migrating away from India and marriages outside
the Community becoming common, Bridget felt
that it was imperative to preserve and record
for future generations the unique culture
and cuisine of our A.I. forebears.
Hence, in
order to ensure that
the Anglo-Indian Community lives on through
its culinary delights, Bridget has published
three recipe books on Anglo-Indian cuisine
in the hope that they will be a useful guide
to traditional Anglo-Indian cooking.
For more information on Bridget's cookbooks go to Bridget Kumar's Cookbooks |
