Musing aloud

[Rushina]

Being of Gujerati - Kutchi extraction, having grown up in Bombay which is in Maharashtra and Married to a Pahari of Uttaanchal, I have found a common dish in all three. The basic method and presentation is the same though the ingrediants may very.

1. Arbi leaves slathered with a lentil paste and rolled up. These are then steamed before they are deep fried or stir fried.

The Gujeratis call this dish Patra, the Maharashtrans call it Aduvadi and the Paharis call it Patyud. ANyone else find it familiar??? I think the bengalis make a version of it too.

2. Similarly the Kadhi a yoghurt curry made by cooking a mixture of besan (chickpea flour) youghurt and tempered is made by the Punjabi, Gujerati, Kutchi, and Pahari (called Jholi) communities though the versions vary.

Any other dishes anyone know of???

Rushina

[Pan]

What are arbi leaves?

[Rushina]

Actually I just checked another thread that goes into detail of the Arbi plant. I am wrong on these being Arbi leaves. Monica can you help or maybe Vikram. What would Patra leaves be called in English?

Rushina

[Vikram]

1. Arbi leaves slathered with a lentil paste and rolled up. These are then steamed before they are deep fried or stir fried.

The Gujeratis call this dish Patra, the Maharashtrans call it Aduvadi and the Paharis call it Patyud. ANyone else find it familiar??? I think the bengalis make a version of it too.

Oddly enough I was talking about Garwhali food with a friend the other day and she mentioned the same thing. Some similarities could be explained simply because of having the same ingredients - besan and yoghurt are common across the country so I can see a kadhi like dish coming up, with local variants, in different places.

This patra/aduvadi/patyud similarity does suggest links of a different kind and her theory was this it was the Brahmins. Historically there were two reasons for travel within India - trade and religion, the latter being mostly pilgrimmages, but weren't there several cases of Brahmins travelling to other religious centres to officiate for particular ceremonies.

For example, isn't it the Badrinath temple in the north that's run by Namboodiri Brahmins from Kerala? And don't Saraswats - who cook the aduvadi dish Rushina mentions - claim that they came from the hills? I think there are many Brahmin links with Nepal too.

It all suggests ways in which these dishes could have travelled, especially since as Brahmins they would not have likely to eat the local food easily for fear of contamination, so they would stick on to their old recipes much as Orthodox Jews have. And while they might not have cooked local dishes, the locals would be likely to pick up dishes from the Brahmins.

Now that I think about it, there's also the phenomenon of Brahmin cooks. Does anyone else have thoughts on the role of Brahmins as vectors for recipes across India?

Vikram

[skchai]

Actually I just checked another thread that goes into detail of the Arbi plant. I am wrong on these being Arbi leaves. Monica can you help or maybe Vikram. What would Patra leaves be called in English?

Rushina

Arbi is Hindi, and Patra is Gujarati, for what is called Colocasia, Taro, or Cocoyam in English.

[BBhasin]

Being of Gujerati - Kutchi extraction, having grown up in Bombay which is in Maharashtra and Married to a Pahari of Uttaanchal, I have found a common dish in all three. The basic method and presentation is the same though the ingrediants may very.

1. Arbi leaves slathered with a lentil paste and rolled up. These are then steamed before they are deep fried or stir fried.

The Gujeratis call this dish Patra, the Maharashtrans call it Aduvadi and the Paharis call it Patyud. ANyone else find it familiar??? I think the bengalis make a version of it too.

2. Similarly the Kadhi a yoghurt curry made by cooking a mixture of besan (chickpea flour) youghurt and tempered is made by the Punjabi, Gujerati, Kutchi, and Pahari (called Jholi) communities though the versions vary.

Any other dishes anyone know of???

Rushina

Good old rice pudding. Found all over the world with some variations and switching a few flavorings here and there.