CHOOSING KOFTAS OVER KADWAHAT
The cuisine of the Kayastha community is a beautiful showcase of our Ganga-jamuni tehzeeb
Food is a unifying force like no other. Since time immemorial, food has helped different communities eliminate apprehensions, mingle freely and form a strong bond. In these times of senseless strife, the heritage cuisine of the Kayastha community sets a beautiful example of India’s all-embracing culinary smorgasbord. The cuisine skillfully blends varied gastronomy traditions into a delectable mélange. “Indian food shows us that nothing is exclusivist. We can see Hindu and Muslim influences blend as well as few Colonial ones in Kayastha cuisine. As people, we are a mix of diverse traditions and our food is a mix of diverse influences too,” says author, critic and historian Anoothi Vishal, who recently did a Kayastha food pop up at the Indian Accent, The Lodhi, New Delhi, livened up with celebrity chef Manish Mehtora’s contemporary innovations.
Food historian Rana Safvi regards the Kayastha cuisine as a binding factor, a tradition that beautifully reflects the cultural and gastronomical inclusiveness of India. “I grew up with many Kayastha friends. Their food was delicious and very similar to
ours. When so many divides are being created, I’m glad that we talk of food which unites. Food heals and creates vibes to bond over. Give us koftas or even karelas over kadwahat ( bitterness) any day,” she says.
CELEBRATING INDIA’S COMPOSITE CULTURE
With surnames such as Saxena, Srivastava and Mathur, the Kayasthas were traditionally writers in the courts of the Mughals rulers. “The Kayasthas do not figure in the caste system in Manu Smriti. Nor are they members of the four classifications of Brahmin, Kshatriya ,Vaishya and Shudhra. They believe that they descended from Chitragupta, the scribe of Yama, the lord of death. Being the descendents of a scribe, it was important for a Kayastha to be well educated,” says heritage enthusiast Anil Chandra. “They first make an appearance in medieval India as scribes literate in Persian, the language of the court. They find a first mention in Ain-iAkbari as senior court officials,”says Vishal.
The Muslim dastarkhan stirred up their curiosity, and led to culinary innovations that created remarkable gems. Vishal explains what led to the development of a cuisine called the Kayastha in her book Mrs LC’s Table: Stories about Kayastha Food and Culture. The new rulers, who mostly came from Central Asia, were used to subtle flavouring of dishes, without any grounded spices or gravies. They used whole black pepper, black cardamom, nutmeg, and mace to impart flavours to their dishes, which became a characteristic of Kayastha cooking. Their specific dishes such as the kefteh or kibbeh were made with gravy by the Kayasthas.
Central Asian dishes were Indianised creatively. “Dishes such as Bharwan Karele can be traced to the dolmas (vegetables such as capsicum, vine leafs and tomatoes stuffed with mince) of Central Asia. Mughals used local vegetables such as karele and gourds and stuffed them with mince in the same way as dolomas. Kayasthas substituted the mince with browned onions and spices like fennel,” explains Vishal.
Many efficient scribes were promoted to senior positions and earned grants of land and titles. This brought more money to indulge in food fancies. “Dairy products such as yoghurt, ghee, khoya or mawa became part of the cuisine. Sweet and sour dried fruits and dry fruits such as almonds and pistachios were liberally used to season the curries and kababs,” says Chandra.
Women, mostly vegetarians, came up with innovative dishes. “Faux meat dishes were concocted by women who did not eat meat but cooked it for men. As they wanted to taste the same meatlike flavours and textures, dishes were made from dal and vegetables to resemble meats,” says Vishal.
NOT A REGIONAL CUISINE
For the Kayasthas, food was a revered craft and the only acceptable standard was perfection. Vegetables cooked to resemble in taste and texture (moong dal ki kaleji, or arvi cooked like fish), big meat dishes such as Badam Pasande (flat pieces of meat, topped with badam and pista, rolled and curried ) a courtly dish of the Delhi Mathurs, Yakhni Pulao (rice and lighter spices cooked in stock), the melt-inyour-mouth Shami Kebab (minced meat patty stuffed with mint, onions and green chillies) and Kachche Keeme ke kofte (minced meat poached in gravy) are some of the stars of the cuisine.
The Kayastha food is unique because it is not a regional cuisine. “The community is spread across India — from Delhi and UP to Bengal and Hyderabad. It is a pan Indian cuisine, in which Mughal influences and British influences and a few local regional touches have come together,” says Vishal.
NO FEAST WITHOUT MEAT
In a Kayastha household, there can be no feast without bakre ka gosht (mutton). Just like the Mughals, the Kayasthas turned mutton into a variety of delicacies. Chicken was not paid much importance and fish rarely featured in the cuisine.
Most of the Kayastha homes had two kitchen, one for vegetarian food and one slightly outside, for nonvegetarian food. Vishal recalls how her barima (grandmom) despite being a strict vegetarian herself, would come up with the most brilliant non-vegetarian food. “On Dussehra, kaliya (homesstyle meat) and poori was a must feast. Barima, who read the Sundara Kanda every day, would treat it as a symbol of auspiciousness and plenty,” she says. And adding tomatoes to meat was a sin, just like it was in Muslim households. “Kachri powder or yoghurt was used as the souring agent,” she says.
Chef Sugandha Saxena says the Kayasthas were often referred to as ‘Hinduon ke Muslims’, due to the similarity between their culture and that of the Muslims. Her grandmom, Gayatri Saxena was a Kayastha from Agra. “A strong Muslim influence in her cooking was the use of essence. Rose and kevada essence were used in certain curries, koftas and kebabs,” she recalls. During Holi, she would serve Gurde Kapure (goat’s kidneys and testicles) paired with Scotch. Her khade masala ghosht (mutton cooked with whole spices) and mutton chaaps were equally loved. Another Mughal influence was the Sultani Daal, urad ki daal, flavoured with milk and saffron. “Rich, creamy and fragrant, it was a true delight,” she recalls.
THE MAGIC OF GARAM MASALA
Chef Sugandha attributes the perfection in her grandmom’s cooking to the garam masala.There was no such thing as one standard garam masala in her kitchen. “Even today, we never buy garam masala from the market. It is the star that brings alive the flavours in so many Kayastha dishes. Every recipe requires different proportion of spices to create the garam malasa. It is roasted in the sun, or on the tawa, depending on the flavour you want,” she says.
SNACKS WERE NO PASTIME
Snacks were a celebrated genre in themselves, always meticulously prepared and served with joy. “Frying kachoris every day between 4pm to 5pm was like an important ritual in most households,” says the chef. Her grandmom, along with her entourage of newly married women from neighbourhood, keen to learn cooking from her, would get busy frying Aloo Pyaz ki Kachori and Daal ki Kachori, served with hari chutney (ginger garlic and green chilly chutney) every evening. During Diwali card parties, she would serve Bedmi Puri (lentil stuffed puris) with Aloo ki Sabzi and Methi Daane ki Chutney.
Chef Manish Mehrotra describes Kayastha cuisine as ‘family gathering food’, paired with unbridled chatter and some scotch. “Others may need an occasion to cook a spread of delicacies, such as a festival, or a wedding to cook delicacies, but the Kayastha don’t. It’s one of the most creatively crafted cuisines that give one plenty of leeway to experiment, innovate and modernise,” says the chef.