punjab cuisine

8/6/2019 Punjab Cuisine

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Punjabi people are robust people with robust appetites and their food is like the Punjabisthemselves, simple, sizeable and hearty with no unnecessary frills or exotic accompaniments.

The Punjabi tandoori cooking is celebrated as one of the most popular cuisines throughout theworld. Huge earthen ovens are half buried in the ground and heated with a coal fire lit below it.

Marinated meat, chicken, fish, paneer, rotis and naans of many types are cooked in this novel

oven and the results are absolutely scrumptious!

Punjab has imbibed some aspects of its cuisine from external influences. Connoisseurs of the

cuisine say that the gravy component of Punjabi cuisine came from the Mughals. The mostpopular example is the murg makhani. It served the state well to combine this influence in its

cooking since it had a lot of pure ghee and butter.Murg makhani also provided a balance totandoori chicken, which was dry because it was charcoal cooked. Nans and parathas, rotis made

of maize flour are typical Punjabi breads. Of course, over the years the roti has been modified toadd more variety, so there is the rumali roti, the naan and the laccha parathas, all cooked in the

tandoor.

Winter, in Punjab, brings in the season of the famous makki ki roti(maize flour bread) and sarsonka saag(mustard leaf gravy). No meal is complete without a serving of lassi( sweet or salted

drink made with curd) or fresh curd and white butter which is consumed in large quantities. Theother popular dishes, which belong exclusively to Punjab, are ma ki dal, rajma (kidney beans)

and stuffed parathas.

In a vastly diverse country like India, every region has something typical to offer whether it is inclothes or in food or in its music, dance and art.

Punjab, the land of milk and honey, boasts of a robust climate where the agricultural revolution

has reaped rich dividends. The land of plenty has a cuisine, which caters to the characteristic

needs of the people.Punjabi cuisine is not subtle in its flavor. There are no intricate marinades or exotic sauces but ithas full-bodied masalas (spices) cooked with liberal amount of desi ghee (clarified butter) always

served with a liberal helping of butter or cream. Milk and its products are an essential part ofevery day cookery, curd and buttermilk are also an essential concomitant with every Punjabi

meal.

A predominantly wheat eating people, the Punjabis cook rice only on special occasions. Its

never eaten plain or steamed, for steamed rice implies that somebody is sick. Rice is eatenalways with a Bagar (flavoring) of cumin or fried onions with Rajma or Kadhi, Rajma with rice

or rice with Kadhi is eaten or holidays or on festive days. In winter rice is cooked with Gur orwith peas called matarwale chawal or as a delicacy called Rao Ki Kheer which is rice cooked on

very slow fire for hours together with sugar cane juice.

In Punjab itself, there are differences in flavors and style. For example, people around Amritsarprefer well-fried stuffed paraunthas and milk sweets. The people of Doaba region eat more of

them; in the Malwa region Bajra (ground maize) khitchadi (kedgeree) is a delicacy. There are acourse certain dishes, which are part and parcel of Punjab, and their very mention conjures up the

rich flavor of the state. Mah ki Dal, Sarson Ka Saag and Makkee Ki Roti, meat curry like


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Roghan Josh and stuffed paraunthas can be found in no other state except Punjab. The food issuitable for these who burn up a lot of calories while working in the fields and tilling their small

acres. For the urban folk, however, eating even one dish is enough because life in the cities is sosedentary. The main masala in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic, ginger and a lot of

tomatoes fried in pure ghee

An average days meal would generally comprise :

BREAKFASTStuffed Alloo Mattar (potatoes and peas) Paraunthas and a glass of butter milk.

LUNCHSarson Ka Saag and Makki Ki Roti with onion Chutney.

DINNERMah Ki Dal, Bhunna Gosht, Tandoori Roti and Dahi Raita.

History of the Punjab

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested thatPre-Ghaznavid History Of Punjab be merged into this articleor section. (Discuss)Proposed since April 2011.

The first known use of the word Punjab is in the bookTarikh-e-Sher Shah Suri (1580), which

mentions the construction of a fort by "Sher Khan of Punjab". The first mentioning of theSanskrit equivalent of 'Punjab', however, occurs in the great epic, the Mahabharata (pancha-nada

'country of five rivers'). The name is mentioned again inAin-e-Akbari (part 1), written by AbulFazal, who also mentions that the territory of Punjab was divided into two provinces, Lahore and

Multan. Similarly in the second volume ofAin-e-Akbari, the title of a chapter includes the word

Panjnadin it.[1]

The Mughal King Jahangiralso mentions the wordPanjab in Tuzk-i-Janhageeri.

[2]Punjab in Persian literally means "five" (panj) "waters" (b), i.e., the Land of Five

Rivers, referring to the five rivers which go through it. It was because of this that it was made the

granary of British India. Today, three of the rivers run exclusively in Pakistani Panjab with thetributaries of the other two eventually draining there as well. Indian Punjab has the headwaters of

the remaining two rivers which eventually drain over into Pakistan.

Pre-Aryan civilization

Main articles: Mehrgarh and Indus valley civilization

Archaeological discoveries at Mehrgarh in present-day Baluchistan show humans inhabited

villages in the region as early as 7000 BCE. By about 3000 BCE the small communities in and

around the Indus Riverbasin had evolved and expanded giving rise to the Indus valleycivilization, one of the earliest in human history. At its height, it boasted large cities like Harrapa


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(nearSahiwal in West Punjab) and Mohenjo Daro (nearSindh).The civilization declined rapidlyafter the 19th century BCE, for reasons that are still largely unknown.

[edit] Indo-Aryans

Main articles: Out of India theory and Vedic civilization

Mature Harappan So-called "Priest King" statue, Mohenjo-daro,Wearing what is now the Sindhi

Ajrak, late Mature Harappan period, National Museum, Karachi, Pakistan

Factors in the Indus valley civilization's decline possibly included a change in weather patterns

and unsustainable urbanization. This coincided with the drying up of the lower Sarasvati River.[3]The Out of India theory suggests that this drying up caused the movement of the Indo-Aryans

towards the Gangetic basin.[4]

The next one thousand years of the history of the Punjab (c.1500-500 BCE) is dominated by the Aryans and the population and culture that emerged from their

cultural development in the Asian subcontinent.

[edit] Vedic Punjab

The Rig-Veda, one of the older texts in South Asia, is generally thought to have been composedin the Greater Punjab. It embodies a literary record of the socio-cultural development of ancient

Punjab (known as Sapta Sindhu) and affords us a glimpse of the life of its people. Vedic societywas tribal in character. A number of families constituted agrama, a number ofgramas a vis

(clan) and a number of clans aJana (tribe). TheJanas, led byRajans, were in constant inter-tribal warfare. From this warfare arose larger groupings of peoples ruled by great chieftains and

kings. As a result, a new politicalphilosophy of conquest and empire grew, which traced theorigin of the state to the exigencies of war.

An important event of the Rigvedic era was the "Battle of Ten Kings" which was fought on the

banks of the river Parusni (identified with the present-day riverRavi) between king Sudas of theTrtsu lineage of the Bharata clan on the one hand and a confederation of ten tribes on the other.[5]

The ten tribes pitted against Sudas comprised five major the Purus, the Druhyus, the Anus, theTurvasas and the Yadus---and five minor ones, origin from the north-western and western

frontiers of present-day Punjab---the Pakthas, the Alinas, the Bhalanas, the Visanins and the


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Sivas. King Sudas was supported by the VedicRishiVasishtha, while his former Purohita theRishi Viswamitra sided with the confederation of ten tribes.

[6]

Out of such conflicts, struggles, conquests and movements of the Vedic of the Middle and Later

Vedic age emerged the heroic society of Punjab, a society that laid special stress on the value of

action as depicted by their ideals and standards in the Hindu Epics, notably the Mahabharata.

[edit] Epic Punjab

The philosophy ofheroism of the Epic Age is excellently expounded in the Bhagavatagita

section of the Mahabharata. That great work is a synthesis of many doctrines and creeds, but itsoldest core is arguably the enunciation of a martial and heroic cult. The Bhagavatagita

comprehensively expounds a philosophy of heroism probably current in the then Punjab. It seeksto provide a philosophical foundation to the profession of arms and invests the Kshatriya or

warrior with respectable position and noble status. It canonizes his professional integrity andinjects an intensity of purpose into it. This philosophy was professed by the warrior communities

of ancient Punjab and countless generation of Punjabi soldiers have derived their strength andinspiration from it. The Punjabis, represented by ethnic groups such as the Gandharas, the

Kambojas, the Trigartas, the Madras, the Malavas, the Pauravas, the Bahlikas and the Yaudheyasare stated to have sided with the Kauravas and displayed exemplary courage, power and prowess

in the 18-day battle. The glorious exploits of these warlike communities can be seen in theaccounts of the charges of the Kauravas against the Pandavas. The great epic makes copious

attestation of the fact that the contingents of Gandharas, Kambojas, Sauviras, Madras andTrigartas occupied key positions in the Kaurava arrays throughout the epic war.

[7]

For the roles of Punjabis at Kurukshetra, see Kurukshetra war and the Kambojas

Another important epic event which involved the Punjabis was the conflict between the Indo-Aryan Rishi Vishwamitra of the Kurukshetra area and Sage Vasishtha from the north-western

parts of greater Punjab (i.e., the region extending from Swat/Kabul in the west to Delhi in theeast).

[8][9]The story emerges in the Rigveda and more clearly later Vedic texts and is portrayed in

the Bala-Kanda section of the ValmikiRamayana. The epic conflict is said to have been sparkedover the re-possession of Kamadhenu, also known as Savala, a divine cow by Vishwamitra from

a Brahmana sage of the Vasishtha lineage. Rsi Vasishtha skillfully solicited the military supportof the frontier Punjabi warriors consisting of eastern Iraniansthe Shakas, Kambojas, Pahlavas,

etc., aided by Kirata, Harita and the Mlechcha soldiers from the Himalayas. This composite armyof fierce warriors from frontier Punjab utterly ruined oneAkshauni army of the illustrious

Vishwamitra, along with all of his 100 his sons except one.[10] The Kamdhenu war seems to

allegorically symbolise a struggle for supremacy between the Kshatriya forces and the priestlyclass of the epic era. On the other hand, indologists like Dr H. C. Raychadhury, Dr B. C. Law, DrSatya Shrava and others see in these verses the glimpses of the struggles of the Aryans with the

mixed invading hordes of thebarbaric Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas etc. from the north-west.

[11][12][13][14]The time frame for these struggles is said to be 2nd century BCE downwards.

Dr Raychadhury fixes the date of the present version of the ValmikiRamayana around/after 2ndcentury CE.[15]


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[edit] Punjab during Buddhist times

The Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya[16]

mentions Gandhara and Kamboja among the sixteen

great countries (SolasMahajanapadas) which had evolved in/and around Jambudvipa prior toBuddha's times. Pali literature further endorses that only Kamboja and Gandhara of the sixteen

ancient political powers belonged to the Uttarapatha or northern division of Jambudvipa but noprecise boundaries for each have been explicitly specified. Gandhara and Kamboja are believedto have comprised the upper Indus regions and included Kashmir, eastern Afghanistan and most

of the western Punjab which now forms part of Pakistan.[17]

At times, the limits of BuddhistGandhara had extended as far as Multan while those of Buddhist Kamboja comprised

Rajauri/Poonch, Abhisara and Hazara as well as eastern Afghanistan including valleys of Swatand Kunar and Kapisa etc. Michael Witzel terms this region as forming parts of the Greater

Punjab. Buddhist texts also mention that this northern region especially the Kamboja wasrenowned for its quality horses & horsemen and has been regularly mentioned as the home of

horses.[18]

However, Chulla-Niddesa, another ancient text of the Buddhist canon substitutes Yonafor Gandhara and thus lists the Kamboja and the Yona as the only Mahajanapadas from

Uttarapatha

[19]

This shows that Kamboja had included Gandhara at the time the Chulla-Niddesalist was written by Buddhists.

[edit] Pinian and Kautiliyan Punjab

Pini was a famous ancient Sanskrit grammarian born in Shaltura, identified with modern

Lahur near Attock in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. One may infer from his work,the Ashtadhyayi, that the people of Greater Punjab lived prominently by the profession of arms.

That text terms numerous clans as being "Ayudhajivin Samghas"or "Republics (oligarchies) thatlive by force of arms". Those living in the plains were called Vahika Samghas,

[20]while those in

the mountainous regions (including the north-east of present-day Afghanistan) were termed as

Parvatiya Samghas (mountaineer republics).[21]

According to an older opinion the VahikaSanghas included prominently the Vrikas (possibly modern VirkJatts),Damanis, confederationof six states known as Trigarta-shashthas, Yaudheyas (modern Joiya orJohiyaRajputs and some

Kamboj),Parsus,Kekayas, Usinaras, Sibis[22]

(possibly modern Sibia Jatts?),Kshudrakas,Malavas, Bhartas, and theMadraka clans,[23] while the other class, styled asParvatiya

Ayudhajivins, comprised among others partially the Trigartas,Darvas, the Gandharan clan ofHastayanas,

[24]Niharas,Hamsamaragas, and the Kambojan clans ofAshvayanas

[25]&

Ashvakayanas,[26]Dharteyas (of the Dyrta town of theAshvakayans),Apritas,Madhuwantas (all

known as Rohitgiris), as well as theDaradas of the Chitral, Gilgit, etc. In addition, Pini also

refers to the Kshatriyamonarchies of the Kuru, Gandhara and Kamboja.[27]

These Kshatriyas or

warrior communities followed different forms ofrepublican or oligarchic constitutions, as is

attested to by Pini'sAshtadhyayi.

The Arthashastra ofKautiliya, whose oldest layer may go back to the 4th century BCE also talks

of several martial republics and specifically refers to the [Kshatriya Srenis (warrior-bands) of theKambojas, Surastras and some other frontier tribes as belonging to varta-Shastr-opajivin class

(i.e., living by the profession of arms and varta), while the Madraka, Malla, the Kuru, etc., clansare calledRaja-shabd-opajivins class (i.e., using the title of Raja).

[28][29][30][31][32]Dr Arthur Coke

Burnell observes: "In the West, there were the Kambojas and the Katas (Kathas) with a high


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reputation for courage and skill in war, the Saubhuties, the Yaudheyas, and the two federatedpeoples, the Sibis, the Malavas and the Kshudrakas, the most numerous and warlike of the Indian

nations of the days".[33][34]

Thus, it is seen that the heroicraditions cultivated in Vedic and Epic

Age continued to the times of Pini and Kautaliya. In fact, the entire region of Greater Punjab

is known to have reeked with the martial people. History strongly witnesses that these

Ayudhajivin clans had offered stiff resistance to the Achaemenid rulers in the 6th century, andlater to the Macedonian invaders in the 4th century BC.

According toHistory of Punjab: "There is no doubt that the Kambojas, Daradas, Kaikayas,

Madras, Pauravas, Yaudheyas, Malavas, Saindhavas and Kurus had jointly contributed to theheroic tradition and composite culture of ancient Punjab".[35][36] comrade

ecipes of PunjabPunjabi people are robust people with robust appetites and their food is like the Punjabis

themselves, simple, sizeable and hearty with no unnecessary frills or exotic accompaniments.The Punjabi tandoori cooking is celebrated as one of the most popular cuisines throughout theworld. Huge earthen ovens are half buried in the ground and heated with a coal fire lit below it.

Marinated meat, chicken, fish, paneer, rotis and naans of many types are cooked in this noveloven and the results are absolutely scrumptious!

Punjab has imbibed some aspects of its cuisine from external influences. Connoisseurs of the

cuisine say that the gravy component of Punjabi cuisine came from the Mughals. The mostpopular example is the murg makhani. It served the state well to combine this influence in its

cooking since it had a lot of pure ghee and butter.Murg makhani also provided a balance totandoori chicken, which was dry because it was charcoal cooked. Nans and parathas, rotis made

of maize flour are typical Punjabi breads. Of course, over the years the roti has been modified toadd more variety, so there is the rumali roti, the naan and the laccha parathas, all cooked in the

tandoor.

Winter, in Punjab, brings in the season of the famous makki ki roti(maize flour bread) and sarson

ka saag(mustard leaf gravy). No meal is complete without a serving of lassi( sweet or salteddrink made with curd) or fresh curd and white butter which is consumed in large quantities. The

other popular dishes, which belong exclusively to Punjab, are ma ki dal, rajma (kidney beans)and stuffed parathas.

In a vastly diverse country like India, every region has something typical to offer whether it is in

clothes or in food or in its music, dance and art.

Punjab, the land of milk and honey, boasts of a robust climate where the agricultural revolutionhas reaped rich dividends. The land of plenty has a cuisine, which caters to the characteristic

needs of the people.Punjabi cuisine is not subtle in its flavor. There are no intricate marinades or exotic sauces but it

has full-bodied masalas (spices) cooked with liberal amount of desi ghee (clarified butter) alwaysserved with a liberal helping of butter or cream. Milk and its products are an essential part of


7/7

every day cookery, curd and buttermilk are also an essential concomitant with every Punjabi

meal.

A predominantly wheat eating people, the Punjabis cook rice only on special occasions. Itsnever eaten plain or steamed, for steamed rice implies that somebody is sick. Rice is eaten

always with a Bagar (flavoring) of cumin or fried onions with Rajma or Kadhi, Rajma with riceor rice with Kadhi is eaten or holidays or on festive days. In winter rice is cooked with Gur or

with peas called matarwale chawal or as a delicacy called Rao Ki Kheer which is rice cooked onvery slow fire for hours together with sugar cane juice.

In Punjab itself, there are differences in flavors and style. For example, people around Amritsarprefer well-fried stuffed paraunthas and milk sweets. The people of Doaba region eat more of

them; in the Malwa region Bajra (ground maize) khitchadi (kedgeree) is a delicacy. There are acourse certain dishes, which are part and parcel of Punjab, and their very mention conjures up the

rich flavor of the state. Mah ki Dal, Sarson Ka Saag and Makkee Ki Roti, meat curry likeRoghan Josh and stuffed paraunthas can be found in no other state except Punjab. The food is

suitable for these who burn up a lot of calories while working in the fields and tilling their smallacres. For the urban folk, however, eating even one dish is enough because life in the cities is so

sedentary. The main masala in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic, ginger and a lot oftomatoes fried in pure ghee.

punjab cuisine

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