CHENNAI : In Shalin Maria Lawrence’s book ‘Sandaikaarigal’, the women in north Chennai begin their day at 4 am, haggling over and purchasing goat, beef, and parts like boti (intestine), tonjal (stomach), or clotted blood at the 100-year-old Aduthotti in Pulianthope. After a trip to the Pattalam fish market inside a colonial battalion building, they head back to their homes with varieties of fish and meat to prepare nashta (breakfast in north Chennai slang). In this chapter of the book currently being translated into English, titled ‘The Great Indian Dalit Kitchen’, where Shalin documents her life in north Chennai, the activist and author learns from the markets, “There is this thing about fish. The smaller and smellier, the tastier they are.”
Along with memories of the now demolished Pattalam, the mouth-watering taste of special beef lentil curry — solely found in these lanes of north Chennai — and nashta, simmers and lingers in her memories. This curry filled with lentils, tender meat, and vegetables, “attracts even the smallest and youngest members of the community to the huts.”
From offals, shrimp heads or ragi balls with mutton, Dalit and Bahujan recipes are predominantly meat dishes, says Shalin, adding that Madras style of cooking was also a mix of colonial cooking with Anglo-Indian styles. A few of the community’s common dishes include milk rice pulao and beef ball curry, she says. “We cook beef with vinegar or do dry roasting. In north Madras, pork is a staple. Karaikal is a popular street food. Tallow, from pork, the liquid which solidifies like ghee is a delicacy and a big thing in Western, American cuisine. I have never seen Karaikal anywhere else other than Madras,” she notes.
While the breakfast of Chennai is often synonymous with sambar, idli, vada, and cups of steaming coffee, the plates in most Dalit households would tell a different, rich tale. Shalin recalls cups of black coffee with jaggery, tea, and critically, beef. “Beef is precious to us. It nourishes us and sustains us. It is our soul food...Madras slum food is the most inclusive and the most versatile food one can find. We have a perfect balance of protein, iron, and vitamins…We also share common culinary delicacies with the British like their famous breakfast “black pudding”, made from goat blood. The irony is that those who travel abroad and relish European cuisine sing praises for that but despise and shame the working class, Dalits in their own country for having a diverse palette,” she says.
Missing from the mainstream
When there is a wide range of food from the community, recipes like Shalin’s beef lentil curry rarely find a place in mainstream cookbooks or the menus of hotels. Hannah Dhanraj, writer and activist, mentions that the community’s food choices were dictated by the oppressive caste order. “It’s a food traditionally consumed because of the lack of certain resources.”
Bengaluru-based Dr Sylvia Karpagam, public health professional and researcher, says, “Different communities use different organs to make dishes. Everywhere such types of foods are being looked down upon. There is shame associated with it. Children cannot bring those to schools, especially kids from a certain community. From anganwadis to higher education, it is unwelcoming (spaces).” Even though nutrition research is important, policy reinforces that India is predominantly opting for vegetarian food. She says, “In Indian research, there are benefits of eating animal parts whether it is for proteins, vitamins, minerals. But policy says the opposite and recommends vegetarian food. There is also a greater sentiment based on religion rather than nutrition.”
As the lacuna in data and policy continues, Hannah believes the community’s dishes will make it to a restaurant in the future. “It will be enjoyed by people and not be looked down upon as it is not a food that has to be thrown out, not because it is tasty or because suddenly the world has woken up to it, but because it is nutritious and good for health. This is the right food to consume and it has to be made better. Instead of being cooked from the carcass, it should be made from fresh meat,” she signs off.
CE talks to members of the community about food passed through generations, who also share a few recipes.
Karaikal
Recipe from Shalin Maria Lawrence
Karaikal, the fat of the cow, is first put in a pot and fried.
As it renders, a layer of liquid tallow separates. Remove tallow.
For the remaining fat, add 1 tablespoon of garam masala, and 2 tablespoons of chilli powder. Dry fry it.
Note: The tallow can be used for butter biscuits or soap.
Dried shrimp roast
Recipe from Shalin Maria Lawrence
Wash 100g of dried shrimp to properly get rid of the sand.
Pour some oil into the pan. Add a sprig of curry leaves.
Slit and add 2 green chillies.
Add 1 chopped onion into the pan and saute it for some time.
Add a pinch of turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder. Sauté it until the raw smell goes away.
Add dried shrimp and sauté it with the mix. Once it starts to get cooked, towards the end, break open an egg and just mix it well with a bit of pepper. Pour it over this and leave it for two minutes. After the egg gets hardened, just scramble the whole thing.
Masoor Dal
Recipe from Susan
Fry 2 green chillies, 2 garlic pods, 1 chopped onion, a sprig each of coriander and curry leaves, and 1 teaspoon jeera and mustard each.
Boil masoor dal and add the fried ingredients and mix well.
Cow Kanippu
Recipe from Shalin Maria Lawrence
Mix 100 grams of dal, 1 kilo of cow’s stomach, a pinch of turmeric powder, 2 tablespoons of chilli powder, two big chopped onions, and 2 sliced tomatoes with water and put it in the cooker.
Into another pan, add oil and add Bengal gram dal. Add chopped onion and ginger-garlic paste.
After heating it, add this other mix to the cooker and cook for 20-30 mins.
Pork Rind Gravy
Recipe by Murugan Kanna, Tirunelveli
Slice the first layer of half pig fat and wash it.
Add turmeric and crushed ginger, garlic. Boil the hole mix in three-quarters of water.
Meanwhile, soak lemon-sized tamarind in water.
Dry roast the whole spices — jeera, cloves, cinnamon, dry chilli, and coriander seeds. Grind them without adding water. When the curry is half-boiled, mix the spices and add salt.
Wait for some time and allow it to boil. Crush coconut and a handful of small onion and add it to the boiling curry.
Towards the end, pour the tamarind extract into the curry. Let it boil for 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring from time to time.
Note: We don’t use oil as the pork rind itself has fat.
Boti paruppu kuzhambu
Recipe from Shalin
Maria Lawrence
Clean and cut 1 kg of boti and put it in a cooker.
Add a pinch of turmeric,
2 tablespoons of chilli powder
2 big chopped onions, 2 tomatoes, and 1 brinjal.
Add 100g of kadala parippu after it has been soaked for almost half an hour and mix.
Add a sprig each of curry leaves and coriander leaves.
Cook it in the cooker for 3-4 whistles.
Set up another pan and add oil.
Sauté 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds and some curry leaves. Pour this into the cooker mix
Add salt and cook it for 3-4 minutes.
Karuvadu kuzhambu (Dried fish curry)
Recipe from Shalin
Maria Lawrence
Wash three pieces of karuvadu and soak in warm water for 15 minutes to reduce saltiness. Soak tamarind in water
Slice a handful of yam, lima beans/butter beans, brinjal.
Place a pan on the stove and heat some oil. Add a teaspoon each of fenugreek and mustard seeds.
Add curry leaves. Sauté two chopped medium-sized onions.
Add a pinch of turmeric powder and two finely-chopped tomatoes.
Add 2 teaspoons of chilli powder and 1 tablespoon of coriander powder.
Sauté it until the raw smell goes away. Add the vegetables.
Once half-cooked, add tamarind extract and mix it well.
Add salt as per taste.
Add 1 cup of water and boil the mix. Add karuvadu to the mix and close the pan. Add some coriander and curry leaves.
Dry fish sambal
Recipe from Arul Antony
Soak 250 grams of dry fish in fresh cold water for 30 minutes.
Heat oil or butter on a pan till warm.
Add 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, 2 green chillies, and curry leaves.
Add 1 large chopped onion and fry.
Add 6 pods of chopped garlic and a small piece of ginger and fry till onions are golden brown.
Add 1 teaspoon of fresh jeera and fenugreek seeds. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add 2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped or hand-squeezed tomato purée.
Mix well and let all the ingredients to a low simmer.
Add the soaked dry fish (even size pieces). Mix well and cook on low heat till the dry fish is soft and malleable. Add salt to taste.
Switch off the heat. Garnish with fresh coriander and cover the utensil. Let the dish rest for 20 minutes.