Of mattu vaal soup, blood gravy and other dalit delicacies

Vinegar beef curry with bread, pork curry with rice or ragi kali, bone broth mixed in rasam, oxtail soup — these are just some of the dishes of dalit tribes from across India: adi dravidars and adivasis. But the origins of these dishes also tell the post-colonial history of Madras and India through food — how certain ingredients became ‘impure’ only because they were being used by the dalit tribes, says Shalin Maria Lawrence, dalit activist and author of the book ‘The Great Indian Dalit Kitchen: Madras Table’ who is conducting a workshop on the subject next month.

“Dalit dishes are rich in texture, taste, spices, medicinal properties, and ingredients, says Shalin. The adi dravidars were permitted to consume only dead cattle and so they made most of it when one died, she says. “The skin, meat, blood, organs, bones, and even the bone tallow are used in dishes,” says Shalin. This paved the way for unique dishes such as mattu vaal kozhambu (oxtail soup), gravy with cow hooves, kudal kozhambu and dried fish gravy. “Adi dravidars and adivasis are among the only communities which still eat meat from skin to bone.”

Maharashtra-based Shahu Patole, author of ‘The Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada’, says lakuti/lakushi or blood gravy, is a sought-after dish in dalit households in the state. “The blood is cooked until it turns a dark chocolate brown. The chunks are broken by hand, spices added and brought to a boil.”

Some dishes started out as a means to preserve meat. For example, a savoury beef gravy is made by adding raw mango, chillies, onion and other spices to smoked beef, made by cutting the meat into pieces and hanging them on a thread above the kitchen stove. The heat generated slowly ages the meat, drying it and giving it a smoky flavour.

Adi dravidars were also world-famous innovators. A B Rajsekaran, an advocate and dalit history enthusiast, says it was the butlers and cooks from Black Town who created the mulligatawny soup for the British, using boiled rice water, pepper and bone broth, he says. “It is now popular in the UK and different parts of the world. Another contribution is the Madras curry powder, a condiment made by P Vencatachellum, a dalit from Madras during the colonial era,” he says.

During the 1972 drought of Marathwada, the dalits in rural areas were forced to eat sorghum rotis with chilli powder, ground nut oil, smashed green chillies, and onions. “Soon, this became a food which upper-caste labourers shunned,” says Shahu.

But each household has its own way of handling meat, and one should not put down the dishes of dalits under one cuisine, says Rajasekaran.

Vinegar beef curry with bread, pork curry with rice or ragi kali, bone broth mixed in rasam, oxtail soup — these are just some of the dishes of dalit tribes from across India: adi dravidars and adivasis. But the origins of these dishes also tell the post-colonial history of Madras and India through food — how certain ingredients became ‘impure’ only because they were being used by the dalit tribes, says Shalin Maria Lawrence, dalit activist and author of the book ‘The Great Indian Dalit Kitchen: Madras Table’ who is conducting a workshop on the subject next month.

“Dalit dishes are rich in texture, taste, spices, medicinal properties, and ingredients, says Shalin. The adi dravidars were permitted to consume only dead cattle and so they made most of it when one died, she says. “The skin, meat, blood, organs, bones, and even the bone tallow are used in dishes,” says Shalin. This paved the way for unique dishes such as mattu vaal kozhambu (oxtail soup), gravy with cow hooves, kudal kozhambu and dried fish gravy. “Adi dravidars and adivasis are among the only communities which still eat meat from skin to bone.”

Maharashtra-based Shahu Patole, author of ‘The Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada’, says lakuti/lakushi or blood gravy, is a sought-after dish in dalit households in the state. “The blood is cooked until it turns a dark chocolate brown. The chunks are broken by hand, spices added and brought to a boil.”

Some dishes started out as a means to preserve meat. For example, a savoury beef gravy is made by adding raw mango, chillies, onion and other spices to smoked beef, made by cutting the meat into pieces and hanging them on a thread above the kitchen stove. The heat generated slowly ages the meat, drying it and giving it a smoky flavour.

Adi dravidars were also world-famous innovators. A B Rajsekaran, an advocate and dalit history enthusiast, says it was the butlers and cooks from Black Town who created the mulligatawny soup for the British, using boiled rice water, pepper and bone broth, he says. “It is now popular in the UK and different parts of the world. Another contribution is the Madras curry powder, a condiment made by P Vencatachellum, a dalit from Madras during the colonial era,” he says.

During the 1972 drought of Marathwada, the dalits in rural areas were forced to eat sorghum rotis with chilli powder, ground nut oil, smashed green chillies, and onions. “Soon, this became a food which upper-caste labourers shunned,” says Shahu.

But each household has its own way of handling meat, and one should not put down the dishes of dalits under one cuisine, says Rajasekaran.

Courtesy : TOI

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