Indians have found a way to cook something delicious with everything. (File Photo)
Written by Manish Mehrotra
Here is a memory that encompasses all the Independence Day celebrations of my childhood: A break from the tedium of schoolwork, a flag-hoisting ceremony — either in our housing society or at school — and, inevitably, a food packet containing snacks and sweets, distributed among all the children. At that age, our understanding of what the day meant was limited: Happiness, for us, was having a holiday and eating the snacks in that food packet. Years later, after I had become a professional chef, and started travelling the world, I found that one of the things I was most keen to do was dispel the myth that the cheap, greasy takeaway found in Indian restaurants abroad was representative of our vast and vastly diverse cuisine. Food became tied to my identity as an Indian, bringing a deeper understanding of the responsibilities that come with it.
It’s been a long journey from the early 2000s, as I came to understand my country — its history, its place in the world and the forces that have shaped its uniqueness — more and more through the food that I encountered in every corner. Two things in particular struck me. The first is the ingenuity of the average Indian. Just look at how beautifully a street vendor in Banaras or Kolkata uses an angeethi and basic ingredients like bread and cream to make a dessert as simple and sublime as cheeni malai toast. Or consider the “nose-to-tail” concept, which is so trendy abroad, but which is a living tradition in many places in India. No part of an animal is allowed to go to waste, from brain to eyes, cheek to tongue, blood to heart — Indians have found a way to cook something delicious with everything.
The second, obviously, is the sheer diversity of our land, where every kind of geography, from mountains to plains and coast to river, and climatic condition, has produced a corresponding cultural richness. It is there in language, clothing and, of course, food. Which is why, when one is travelling abroad, it is exasperating to hear Indian food reduced to “naan bread”, mango lassi and chicken tikka masala because look at how much our food changes every few kilometres! Look at how different the food from each of the five southern states is, and look at the sheer diversity even within one state, like Kerala, which has about 10 different kinds of cuisine.
And yet, there are things that tie this diversity into a unified whole. It’s like the red chilli: From Kashmiri to Byadagi, Guntur to Sankeshwari, each variety has a unique flavour and level of heat, but they’re all red chillies, used across the country in different ways. I often say that in India, one can find food that will suit every single palate in the world. As we celebrate our 78th Independence Day, this is what I hope we always remember: That our diversity is our strength. It is an inheritance that enriches us.
The writer is a chef
