An un-explored food culture~ Bihar!
Like any typical foodie, my exploration of a new region is never complete without getting deep into the food history of that region. One such opportunity opened doors for me into the food culture of Bihar, one of India’s popular northern states.
Bihar has unquestionably been legendary for Lalooji and Bihari immigrant rickshaw and taxiwalas in Mumbai…but never for its cuisine. I pondered and wondered why the cuisine of Bihar is not as famous as that of Punjab or even Gujarat?? Over the century, Biharis have spread across many foreign lands during the British rule, as far as Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago and some parts of Northern Africa….but sadly, the conditions in which they had to immigrate to these countries, made them lose traditional cuisines somewhere down the line and adapt to a new-age cross-cultured cuisine. Probably this is could be a reason why Bihari cuisine has never risen amongst top favorites. Probably this is also the reason why a Litti Chokha could never become a Chola Batura.
And to my surprise the localities I encountered, weren’t enthusiastic to talk about their cuisine either. I found this quite astonishing, coz I have grown up around food enthusiasts in Mumbai, our very own gujju-bhais and bens…Punju veers and veernis….Maharashtrian mamas and maushis….who could go on and on…would give me an ingredient-to-ingredient detail description about each and every delicacy. I never had to try too hard with them, unless it was a “secret” recipe!
But here in Bihar, for starters, speaking to a woman is still a taboo, and not socially welcome. I had to probe hard and give them some photo opportunities and a promise to showcase them in my article…which is when finally I got them to speak (a little)! The rest of coz was my own research, analysis, RnD, scouting and sniffing around that I had to do, to come up with the following piece. Nonetheless, my experience with Bihari cuisine is an eye opener to many facts, the most obvious one being, India can be diverse, yet so similar, our food culture as assorted as it may seem, still binds us strong by the ingredients we use and methods of cooking throughout the country.
I say this because, I discovered Litti Chokha in Bihar, much similar to what the Rajasthani’s (from a western state of India) call Daal Baati. The striking surface resemblance of Litti and Baati is what catches your attention to India’s similarity in diversity. Obviously when you dig deeper, you realize that Baati is made only with wheat flour and eaten with loads of ghee, whereas Litti is made with a covering of wheat flour and stuffed with gram flour (sattu) mixture, and rarely eaten with ghee. Baati is served with Daal, made from Tuvar dal, and Litti is served with Chokha, which is made with smoked Brinjal/Potatoes and Tomatoes mashed together into gravy. Similar to Litti and Baati, the Vidharba region of Maharashtra serves a delicacy called Rodga, roasted wheat flour balls served with Brinjal and Potato rassa (broth).
I ate Daal Makhni in Bihar! Mind you…it’s not the same Daal Makhani that our Punju brothers make (loaded with ghee and guilt) but Daal with Makhana (Fox Nut, or also called lotus seeds). Makhana is very commonly and traditionally used in Bihari cuisine, added to daal, vegetables and even used as a stuffing in Parathas or served as a sweet. I have always watched wedding caterers in Mumbai using Makhana to accentuate their quality of food, as though they have used a rare ingredient, adding Makhana makes their weak dish suddenly very exotic…now I realize how I have been fooled. Bihar uses Makhana so wildly and freely…and ayurveda lists a whole bunch of positive and healthy properties for this ingredient including its uses in anemia!
Bihari cuisine like most other regions of India is dependent on seasonal influencers. Since I visited the region during winter months, Mustard Leaves (Sarson) had taken dominance in their cooking. Sarson ka Saag was last eaten by me at a local Punjabi Dhaba in Mumbai, laden with butter, absolutely no essence of Mustard leaves. The moment I broke into a makkai ke aate ki roti (flat bread made with corn meal), dipped into the sarson ka saag preparation at a Bihari roadside inn, I knew I had bit into authenticity. The light pungent flavors, the tender-sweet bitterness of Sarson, the precision of spices used and lushness of the greens…which also seemed to come from fresh fields nearby, was an indescribable experience, surely to be locked away in memory.
When I was told I’m being served Chiwra for breakfast, I must admit, I was quite disappointed, given that my last memory of Chiwra was the one I had in Mumbai – made with puffed rice or cornflakes, some peanuts, turmeric and chili powders and tempered with mustard seeds, hing and maybe some dry fruits. That ain’t breakfast! That’s a tea-time snack, past-time as we Mumbaikars like to call it! Bihari Chiwra made with beaten rice (poha), served with creamy curd or jaggery, much like porridge, and a warm salted version made with onion and peas especially for cold winter months, turned out to be quite a surprise.
Like much of other parts of India, Kadhi Kichadi seems to be a regular affair for people in Bihar too. Especially they love their Kadhi Bari (soft fried dumplings of gram flour, cooked in a spicy yogurt gravy), with steaming hot Kichadi (made with rice and dal and some seasonal vegetables, topped with a dollop of ghee). Ghugni, a preparation of soaked gram (overnight), then sautéed in mustard oil, Dhuska, a deep fried preparation of powdered rice and ghee and Sattu ka Paratha (parathas made with a filling of baked gram powder) made a very heavy lunch!
I was most certainly a happy explorer in Bihar, given that Bihar is pre-dominantly a vegetarian state. Hindu and Buddhist cultures have ruled the roost, but Moghul influences did bring about some non-vegetarian delicacies into their cuisine, typically kebabs made from chicken and mutton. Biharis do enjoy a seafood diet of fish, prawns and crab especially.
A friend of mine, who travels quite a bit, lived with me for a while during Ganesh Utsav in Mumbai. She had tried steamed modaks made by me during the festival and enlightened me that once during her travels, she had the opportunity to taste something very similar in Bihar called Pittha. Pittha is made with rice flour dough as covering, filled with lentil paste, poppy seeds and jaggery, given a semi-circular shape and steamed, very similar to modak, minus the coconut. She obviously compared Pittha to Momos, a closer relative. I searched high and low for this food item during my visit, but couldn’t find it commercially. I probably needed to visit a local home to have it made to order ;)…that’s for the next time.
But I did have the opportunity to taste some very unique deserts, one such I bring back with me as a fond memory - Parwal ka Meetha – where pointed gourd, is scrapped to remove the skin, sliced longitudinally, deseeded and boiled to make it tender and then filled with Khoyya (made of condensed milk) and dry fruits. It is then immersed in warm sugar syrup for a glaze. Silver foil may be added after it cools off. Meetha Khaja or what we commonly call in Mumbai as Khari biscuit, only that this was a sweeter version of the same….Tilkut or what is also known as Chikki in other parts of India had similar taste and preparation technique (crushed sesame seeds, sugar or jaggery used to make a flat hardened candy, sometimes chewy, other times hard). Kala Jamun that came in size of a tennis ball… was quite entertaining actually! Kesaria Peda (saffron flavored milk solids), Chena Murkhi (a smoked Rassgolla… quite dry compared to the Bengali version)…warm Malpuas with cold Rabdi, are just what you need when you go soul searching….if I describe it in any other way…I would be encouraging foodporn!
Mustard oil preparation in Mumbai always gives me a bad stomach, but everything I had in Bihar was made in Mustard oil, and never did me any harm. Reminds me of an old saying “when in Rome do what the Romans do”….i guess climatic conditions matter a lot and does affect your metabolizing capabilities!
I’m not done yet….there is still a lot of food to explore in Bihar…many traditional recipes that have been locked and reserved to that region….but I leave that for my subsequent expedition…until then scouting for my next destination!
For some interesting recipes from Bihar, do check out the following website~
Happy cooking J
