The Meat of the Matter

Shahu Patole's Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada offers a host of unique recipes as well as a critique of food culture and an analysis of Indian society

- Suraj Yengde

The ideal Indian plate is dal, vegetable curry, chapati or rice, curd, chutney, and a dessert. At least, that is what we are told and shown. Then, there's the classic debate of north Indian roti versus south Indian rice. However, in regions such as Marathwada, the majority of the working class of Mahars and Mangs eats dry rotis of jowar or bajra with meat, vegetables and pulses, with onion, garlic and crushed peanut. The belief there is that rice fattens you while chapati, with its glutenous fibre, caused stomach ache and bloating.

Shahu Patole's excellent and very engaging book for gourmands, Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada, presents the dietary history and culture of the dishes it lists. Social records and community memory is part of the gift that the author offers to readers as he communicates how this cuisine is both spicier and more experimental than others from the subcontinent. Indeed, once this food is tasted, it demands repetitions of the experience. It is unsurprising then that I could not write this review without trying some of the recipes mentioned.

Food habits are not solely about eating; they are about creating, nourishing, balancing, and celebrating the gifts of nature. A proud man from Marathwada, Patole speaks knowledgeably about the region and his heritage, which is also my own.