The art of cooking cannot be regarded as old as man himself because the earliest savage man of the stoneage period did not cook food as he had no knowledge of the use of fire. They ate the raw meat of the animals they hunted or ate the raw roots and leaves of plants.

They began roasting meat only after they became familiar with the use of fire. However, Vedic Aryans elevated fire to the status of a God, Agni. The ancient Indians wrote books not only on religion and philosophy but also on the art of cookery, called Supasastra. There are many works on cookery in Sanskrit and Kannada.

Of the many Kannada works on cookery, one written by Mangarasa (1508 AD) is important. He states that his work is in accordance with the tradition of ancient Indian celebrated cooks like Nala and Bhima. It is of interest to note that generally women have been doing cooking at homes but tradition remembers men Nala and Bhima as great cooks. But in ancient Karnataka there were male and female cooks (banasiga and banasigithi).

Royal Kitchen:
Female cooks were employed along with male cooks in Karnataka temples for preparing food items to Gods and serve the prasada to the devotees on regular remuneration. Among the high officials of the Palace was included Banasavergade, an officer who was in-charge of royal kitchen. He was of the status of a Minister. Thus coo-king was given due importance in ancient Karnataka.

Another Kannada work dealing with cookery was written by Chavundaraya in 1025 AD. His work, Lokopakara, contains a full chapter on the art of cookery. It includes preparation of many delicacies also. Some of them may be referred to here. As rice was the staple food of Karnataka, the author has referred to the preparation of rice first (anna).

Gandhasali rice when cooked gives sweet smelling cooked rice. He states that de-husked rice should be washed thrice in pure water and should be cooked and after sometime it should be passed through stainer. By mistake if it became sticky, water mixed with ambili should be added to get good cooked rice. He has also described various methods of preparing sweet smelling anna (rice) by adding various herbs and leaves like tulasi, lamancha, clove, cinnamon etc.

Idli was another popular dish in Karnataka. It was referred to as Iddalika and Kadubu. Spongy and smooth idlis are prepared by making a paste of rice and black - gram and adding buttermilk mixed with asafotaeda, coriander, pepper and ginger. Obviously Chavundaraya was referring to what we call masala idli today. However, it is disappointing that he does not refer to dosa.

Lokopakara refers to many types of sweet dishes. The sweet dish made of cream of wheat which is referred to as Kesaribhath, is called by the local name sajjige. Even today sajjige is prepared in traditional homes using jaggery but without saffron. Generally this is used as an offering (naivedya) to the deities in temples.

Another sweet to which a reference has been made is laddu. A special type of laddu was called Khanda Laddu, which was prepared out of noodle (sevige) to which dates, raisins, cardamom and cinnamon were generously added. Cashew is not referred to in Lokopakara because it was a later addition. Chavundaraya also refers to another sweet, palunde or milk ball. Buffalo milk should be boiled and made into semi liquid to which was added jaggery, clove, cinnamon, cardamom and made into the shape of small balls. This is not only tasty but also highly nutritious.

Nutrition of meat:
It is curious to note that Chavundaraya mentions some dishes which give the nutrition of the meat. If somebody wants to get the nutrition and strength of eating fish by a vegetarian dish the author prescribes a process. Wheat floor should be mixed with ghee and made into a paste and then made into the shape of a fish. This should be deep - fried in hot mustard oil. This will have the strength and nutrition of the fish. Thus the vegetarians can have the satisfaction and advantages of eating a fish without actually eating it. This idea coming from a vegetarian brahmin is really intriguing.

Without using the word Sambar, he refers to various types of Sambar using different vegetables and leaves. Actually he uses the word Huli. In early Kannada literature and inscriptions, the word Sambar is used to refer to spices and not to the gravy which is familiar to us. Perhaps Sambar in this sense was used in Tamil and came to Karnataka and all over the world to stay. Today whether it is Delhi or Denver, London or Los Angelese, people know what Sambar is. Sambar prepared from Neem and Kalli (thorny plant) as described by Chavundaraya is interesting.

Tasty dish:
Neem leaves are used by us only on the day of Yugadi along with jaggery; but Kalli is never used as a vegetable. He describes the tasty dish Majjige Huli in which the ingredients are cummin seeds, mustard, pepper, clove, coriander and chik pea. All these are made into a paste and mixed with sour curds. He specially mentions not to forget oggarane for this dish. Sandige is another side-dish and the author describes it in detail. He has not forgotten to mention pickles.

Chavundaraya describes in detail the preparation of curds and buttermilk. He has specially described the preparation of curds of different colours and tastes. This is particularly popular in United States as scented yogurt, though Indians love plain curds. He has also described methods of preparing fresh fruit juice from pomogranate, myrobelan, madala, tamarind etc. Many inscriptions refer to the preparation of puliyogare (crudely translated as tamarind rice), as it was an important food item offered to the God in the temples.

Huggi or pongal is another item frequently mentioned in ancient Karnataka inscriptions. While a 12th century inscription refers to mandige, a delicacy, a 16th century inscription refers to vade. Obbattu or holige for which Karnataka is famous finds a mention in the Kannada work Vaddaradhane (920 AD).

The present day popular sweets like Mysore Paak, Jamoon, Jangir etc., are not found in ancient Karnataka sources. They are of recent origin and are influences from other areas. Unfortunately, some of these ancient dishes are slowly being forgotten.

Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy,
Former Head,
Department of Ancient History & Archaeology,
University of Mysore.
Courtesy: Star of Mysore