Mithila Cuisine

                                                            Mithila Cuisine

India is a vast country, geographically division of the republic is done in five parts, but gastronomically the same could not be possible as each part are further divided in subparts and they have a great diversity in their food habits, culinary style and quality & quantity of ingredients.

One of the sub regions of India is Mithilanchal also known as Mithila. The region is dominated by a clan of Maithil Brahmins, who take a great pride in their Vedic culture and consider their Customs to be guided by Shastras (Religious books). In fact in ancient and medieval history the region was known as “Videh” and it had its spread in erstwhile south Nepal and Bihar as it’s boundary defined in Brihat Vishnu Puran, “River Gandaki in West, Kaushiki (Koshi) in East, Himalayas in North and Ganga in south.

People are like most rice in lunch and roti in dinner as well as peoples are lovers of fresh ponds fish, which has great taste. In India has lot of cuisine but Maithili cuisine have own influence, which gives greatness to the cuisine. Maithils, like Kashmiri Pundits, though non-vegetarian, did not take onions, garlic and poultry products. Since this site is to present the Maithil culture and tradition, only the traditional form of cooking is presented.

The region is already much popular for its art, literature, culture , and now cuisine. In fact Maithili cuisine is such a practice that serves all kind of need of all groups of people for different kind of consumptions. The service style of the cuisine has little similarity with that of “Tabal d’ hote” of French, yet different being all preparations served together in a platter and consumed at once . Since there is no course wise meal practice therefore there is any well-defined Gastronomies practice too, and hence people give equal importance to all kind of preparations and take pleasure in enjoying each n every delicacies to the fullest. Unlike others Maithili enjoy both the quality and quantity of the food and this is the characteristics that differentiate the cuisine and people from others. The best manifestation of this seen in any Traditional Maithili wedding (considered to be a very classical marriage ceremony ever in any culture.) The rituals of the marriage continue for four consecutive days and small- big family activities happening for an year almost. The hospitality offered and marriage ceremony is an untold story in its own. The dinning activity continues for 3-4 hrs with a group of domestic women performing their folk songs.

The staple food is bhat (boiled rice), dal, roti, tarkari and achar. It is prepared from rice, lentils, wheat flour, vegetables, and pickle. The traditional cooking medium is mustard oil. Khichdi, a broth of rice and lentils seasoned with spices and served with several accompanying items, constitutes the mid-day meal for most Hindu Maithil on Saturdays. The favourite dish among Maithil is Machh-Bhat (fish curry and steamed rice). Machhak Jhor is all day famous except in few religious festivals. No any function is consider complete without this. In some part of Mithila during funeral ceremony, on 13^th day of death of person, it is compulsory to have Fish curry or mutton (but not Hallal) otherwise they are not allowed to have it for a consecutive year. Vegetarian food like saag ke jhor (leafy vegetable having very thin greavy), bhujia (dry cooked vegetable with very less spices) of Sajmain, Kadima, Jhumini, Ghera, Bhata etc. beside these vegetables Bitter gourd, lady-finger and other vegetables are also eaten. Because of large amount of production of root vegetables like potato, yam and a unique vegetable called “Khamarua” they use them in various preparation like SANNA (smashed vegetable specially root vegetables), BHUJIA(Sallow fried vegetable in mustered oil with salt, turmeric powder and green chillies or chilli powder), TARUA(Marinated or coated deep fried vegetable) etc. Jhor is a term that reflect thin mustard, coriander based gravy. Chilli is used in all the forms. Dried mango strip (not powdered) is widely used to give tartness in various gravies Bari (sound like baaaareeee) (fried soft dumplings made of besan (gram flour) that are cooked in spicy gravy) is famous among them.

There is a custom of eating Boiled Rice based lunch and Roti based dinner and breakfast. The food culture is both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. People from Mithilanchal enjoy both veg as well as non-veg dishes and cuisine of Mithilanchal area is unique in its own way. Machchak Jhor is a special fish curry made in mustard paste and is a preparation from Mithila. Maus is generally mutton or chicken(but not Hen or cock) or squails (tittar/battair) (A Small game bird, and sometimes Gaming animal in spicy gravy and is generally enjoyed with malpuas, sohari(chapatti) puri, or steamed rice etc. Kankorak Chokha is a Mashed preparation of Crab (Kankor) after roasting the crab. Dokak Jhor generally is Oysters stew cooked with Onion gravy. Arikanchanak Tarkari is a preparation of Marinated sun dried Colocasia leaves, steamed and cooked in mustard gravy and is a famous maithil dish,Daail-Jhinguni (Fried Ribbed Gourd cooked with Lentil and cereals), Ramruch is a besan based dish unique to Mithila region,Goidila (a sauce prepared from green peas & flavourings) and is generally had with rice or rotis. Thadia Saagak Teeman is a very easy preparation which could be taken well with chapati and rice both and equally rich in nutritius value as Red spinach is the great source of Iron and Lentil has high Protien content. The dish could be compare with French Puree with the only difference that Purees are liquidised while Teeman is Ghontod (a way of manual churning). One can also bring the variation in the dish by adding Paneer (cottage cheese) or some other non-veg items like Shrimps/Prawns etc which will make the dish very palatble.

Chitba and Pitthow which are prepared basically from rice, are special foods of the Anga region. Tilba and Chewda of Katarni rice are also special preparations of Anga. Kadhi bari is a popular favorite and consists of fried soft dumplings made of besan (gram flour) that are cooked in a spicy gravy of yogurt. This dish goes very well with plain rice.

Maithils always give immense priority to milk products in their food which could perfectly be measured with this old saying “Aadi Ghee aur Ant Dahi, oyi Bhojan k Bhojan kahi” ( A meal is the Meal that starts with Ghee and ends with Yogurt). Panchforan is a combination of raw spices Jeer, Ajwain, mangrail, sounf and methi, and is different from panchforan of Bengal.

The meal practice in mithilanchal is as common as the normal food habit of people which is Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. People also like enjoying some tit bits during evening with a cup of tea. The best breakfast time favorite is “Chura – Dahi” (beaten rice with a thick coating of creamy curd) the table condiments used is salt, green chillies and homemade pickles , a spicy mixed vegetable item could also be served along with this item as a side dish. During summer the same Chura is consumed with best quality mango pulp, and the dish is called “Chura Aam”. “Poori – Aloo dum” is another breakfast item that people like having along with a sweet dish “Jilebi” (also known Jalewi roundels of deep fried fermented flour batter dipped in sugar syrup). Apart from that there are several other items like Chini wala Roti, Pua, Pachhua pu ( pan cake made out of flour batter), Suzi ke halwa ( porridge prepared from semolina), etc which is preferred for the breakfast. Hindu people do not eat beef at any cost. The people of Mithila do not take even the meat of buffalo. However, they drink its milk. The people do not prefer the meat of pig. However they take meat of wild bear. Sometimes, chicken is not a delicacy for many people. One should not sit facing south while taking their meals and study.

For evening snacks a range of Bhujas are consumed like Chura ke Bhujja ( beaten rice shallow fried with sliced onion , chopped green chillies and green peas), Makai ke Lawa ( Pop corns), Masalgar Murhi ( Rice pops mixed with chopped green chillies, Onion, coriander leaf, salt and few drops of mustard oil) Jhilli (jalebi like salted thing made of Besan flour), kachari, Shinghara(Samosa) etc. are all time famous.

Maithils are also big time sweet lovers. Verities of Kheer and other sweet item are prepared as a dessert course. One of the famous among them is Makhank Kheer (a sweet dish prepared with Lotus seed, Milk and Dry nuts). Malpua is another popular sweet item, which is much different from the malpua prepared in north India, both are prepared from the flour batter only but in north India after deep frying malpua are dipped in sugar syrup while in Mithilanchal the batter itself is sweetened and it is a dry preparation which could be stored for 2-3 days. There are also sweet preservatives made out of fruit pulps like Ammath (layered mango pulp sundried and cut into small chunks), Kumhar ke murabba, Papita ke murabba, Dhatrikak murabba etc. Laddoo, Khaja, chandrakala, rasgulla(same as Rasogulla of Bengal) etc. are also famous.

The introduction about Mithila Cuisine would remain incomplete without a reference on Paan (betel leaves). According to an old saying Paan , Maach and Makhan ( betel leaves, fish and lotus seed) is not found even in the paradise, so one should enjoy these things on earth only so not to regret later. A sweet betel leaf is flavoured with Sweet fennel, cardamom, clove, rose petals, sugar crystal etc. which is taken after completion of the meal in order to make it complete.

English names of ingredients:

Maithili	English
Aad	Ginger
Ajwain	Carom seed
Dhani	Coriander seed
Chhohara	Dry date
Narikel	Coconut
Haraid	Turmeric
Tetair	Tamarind
Mirchai	Chilli
Jeer	Cumin Seed
Marich	Black pepper
Til	Sesame seed
Sajmain	Bottle gourd
Kadima	Pumpkin
Kumhar	Bottle gourd (turn white when ripened and then use)
Jhumani	Snake gourd
Ghera	Snake gourd (another variety)
Bhata	Brinjal
Ram-jhumani	Lady finger
Ammath	layered mango pulp sundried
Dhatrik	Amla

Maara Sairso ke Jhor: A gravy preparation of Maara fish with mustard seed)

Maara is a small sweet water fish having a size of 4-5 cms. They belong to the same family of Pomfret, having no scales on their body and a very shiny silver skin. They are so easy to cook that no deep frying is required while preparing it.

Pua

The major difference between this recipe and the recipes of pua/malpua available elsewhere is that this Pua contains sugar & doesn't need to be dipped in sugar syrup.

Pirikia (Sweet patties stuffed with flavored Khoya and deep fried)

In mithilnchl Pirikia has got very vital significance. Like Khajas they are also widely used as “Sanesh” (present/gift). They have equal importance in many of the festivities as well in the region . They are as similar as patties with a small difference of not being laminated. The stuffing used for the dish is Khoya (Dry Ricott Cheese mde out of whole milk instead of whey). Khoyas are then flavored with Cardamom, Cinnamon and dry fruits. One can also use the filling of sweetened flavored semolina ( Suji) instead of Khoya. Pirikias being deep fried and having dry rich filling can be stored for up to 20 days. It can be consumed as a secondary meal may be breakfast or evening snacks.

Chaurak Kheer is a very common  dessert that i s prepared in evry maithil home almost in evry good occasion. Apart from this being a dessert, somtimes it also serves the purpose of a side dish for an example with Daaila wala Puri ( bread stuffed with boiled and seasoned cereals) or some other normal bread preparation. The dish could be compared with the similar Bengali preparation called "Payesh" with a few difference like in the quality of rice used and the addition of flavouring ( mostly Bay leaf). Maithil practice is to use "New Crop Basmati grains" that is longer in size and gives a very good consistancy to the final product, while bengalis prefer using smaller grains like GobindoBhog rice ( a rice quality majorly used for making Payesh only) which has a very sweet aroma. However, in this preparation, I've used a blend of both, and also added an additional flavour of rose water which is optional which you can definately avoid using.

Makhanak Kheer:

Makhana or Lotus Seed is one of the specialty of Mithila. It is obtained from the water source. According to an old saying it is one of among those three things which is not found even in paradise, the rest two are Fish and Betel leaf. The one and most popular dish prepared from Makhana is " Makhanak Kheer". This is a must eat preparation of Kumar Purnima (Kojagra) for newly wed couples. There is concept of preparing it and leaving it under the sky for sometime in the night and then enjoying the taste of it. This sweet preparation is much different from any other Kheer or Payesh preparation made in other parts of the country . In other words this a unique dish which is made in Mithilanchal and every maithil takes pride in exclusivity of this.