Food of Mithila/ Maithil cuisine

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Food has always been the epitome of any region. Food has always been the identification of any culture. And when we are talking about Mithila , it will be injustice if we will move forward without adding the flavours of food in our plate of talks about Mithila. Some food has similarities with Bengali food and North Indian food but preparation and taste is entirely different. The Maithil plate includes rice, wheat , fish and sweet dishes in which use of various spices , herbs and natural edibles are attention seekers. Here recipes are decided per the events.

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Talking about a common day in Mithila. The day starts with’ Dahi –Chura ‘ as the breakfast . It is basically curd with flattened rice. sugar and salt is also taken to add an additional flavour to it. Some people eat green chilli and mango pickle with this breakfast too. Dahi- Chura is considered as the most comfortable meal and one of the favourite of the people of Mithila . It is serve as a food of fest too , specially in ‘Brahman – bhojan’ . It is a group of people from Brahman community who are invited to attend the fest for any auspicious event.In Makar Sankranti Dahi- Chura has a different charm here, people must eat it . They consider it as a symbol of celebrating their culture.Dahi -Chura is their’s favourite and there is one more reason behind it. It is portable as people take it as a journey meal while travelling too.

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Moving forward to the lunch time, people of Mithila take rice, pulse, vegetables and other different local varities of food which I will talk later. There are various pulses and vegetables that they take and they have their own styles of cooking and serving. In evening time , people take spicy snacks which are made of nutritious ingredients with flavouring tastes. At the dinner time , chapati with any vegetable is very common in Mithila houses. Weather and climate influence food and eating habits and Mithila is also following the same rule. There are some foods which are realted to some specific festivals only, some foods specify for the specific people only and there are many more foods which have their special connection with the place.

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Going to the past, in 11th centuary Jyotirishwar Thakur wrote two books Varnaratnakar and Prakriti Paingalam in which he explained about the Maithil cuisine , specially talked about the love for Fish and Dahi. Vidyapati the great poet of Mithila of 13th centuatyalso mentioned different Maithil foods in his books. Mithila since time immemorial has remained isolated from external cultural influences and mass migration . So, Maithil cuisine is completely locally developed and has little impact of outside people and cultures. The Maithil cooking style is very traditional . It follows seasonal food cycle which is prescribed in Ayurveda. The Mithila region remain isolated during Mughal and British era too so there is no much interruption in the flavours and style. The food and cuisine is in its original form. That is the speciality of this region.

Mithila lies in foothils of Himalayas and fed by cris-cros of many rivers. Water of rivers add fertility in the soil which is very much good for plantation and cropping.The fertile alluvial soil brought by flooded rivers make the land perfect for agriculture amd fish farming. In every village multiple ponds can be seen, where fish farming is performed.It has its own natural adaptation of land and climate. People of Mithila has been following the culture of making Kitchen gardens from centuries, which they call ‘Bari‘ in their local language. Where they planted different vegetables and leafy plants which can be seen in their food’s plates .

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People of Mithila are very much fond of non– vegetarian foods. In which fish is something like the heart of foods of Mithila.Localites call it ‘Maachh‘. Not only its name, the cooking style of fish is also different here. It is cooked in mustured oil , Fried fish is prepared first then pury is prepared which is made up of mustard paste , garlic , onion and tomato in which fried fish has been dipped and at last the whole recipie is garnished with corriander leaves. The local spices add the different flavour in the fish.Fish is eaten as a curry with rice or chapati and as a fry too with fried spicy flattened rice(chura – bhuja) . The people are so much obsessed with the fish because it has its cultural importance. In some of their local festivals and marraige ceremony fish is regarded as an auspicious asset. Rohu fish fry is presented to guests just like someone serve sweets to people in other culture. There is a local poverb which is very famous here.”Maachh, Paan aur Makhaan , e teen ta aichh Mithila ke jaan”.(Fish, Bettel and water- lily seeds are the most special delicies of Mithila) . Other than fish , people also eat Mutton(goat), fowl like pigeons, ducks and quails. Aquatic creatures have also been in their plates and they are snails, turtles, crabs, shrimps and oyesters. All are cooked in local styles. Chicken and eggs are not part of Maithili culture and people have started eating these in last 3-4 decades.

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Vegetables are the major part of the plates of People of Mithila. Baigan- adauri is one of them . It is prepared with brinjal and Urad daal dumplings. Adauri (Urad daal dumplings) is something exclusive to Mithila. Arikanchan Tarkari( colocasia leaves) is also the part of vegetables in Mithila . It is preapred as fish curry. Kadhi- Bari is prepared by gram flour,curd and spices is something like one of the special food of Mithila. In fest or community food this is served. This is cooked specially for the guests of the house.

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Tarua (fritters) are the thiny sliced vegetables or vegetables’ leaves coated with rice batter and are deep fried. It is believed that it is impossible to welcome the guest without serving tarua. There are many varities of it , some of them are: Tilkor( leaf of a local climber), kadima(Pumpkin), Ol( Elephant foot yam), kumhar( ash gourd), Khamharua( Dioscorea Satiea). These are the special fritters apatt from them , any vegetable like potatao, cauliflower , brinjal is used in making Tarua.

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Talking about the pulses. There is something unique about the Daal preparation. They use to roast their daal on hot pan before cooking it. This process gives daal a unique smoky flavour. After cooking is done, it is seasoned with chaunka( tempering) of hing, ghee, dried red chilli,tezpatta and cumin seeds. Arhar, Moong , Masoor, khesari, Boot, kurthi, Urad are some of the pulses people use to eat . Badi/bad prepare by urad daal . These are the urad dumplings use to serve in fests in the fried form.Moong daal ki chutney is eaten as side dish in summers. Chana and moong daal are also cooked with ridge gourd ( Jhinguni and Ghera) in a soupy form. Grounded Flax seed (Teeshi) used as main ingredient in ver famous Teeshi-sajmain Teeman a local food. It has an immense health benefits. Teesiyauri which is preapred by this grounded flax seed is sun dried , badis of roasted flex seeds are added in any vegetable as a secondary part of the vegetable .

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Leafy vegetables(Saag) is one of the major food here. Bathua, Genhari, laal saag, lap saag, khesari saag, badam saag, sariso saag, karmi saag , patua are been planted in different seasons and then eaten with taste.

Sweets and Desserts

1. Anarsa – pastry like snack, eaten during Diwali, prepared with jaggery, rice, poppy seed, ghee(clarified butter)

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2. Thekua– biscuit like snack, prepared by wheat , sugar, dry fruits , ghee. A special food of Chhath puja.

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3. Pidikiya- kind of snack Prepared by maida, sugar, sooji . Prime food of festivals.

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4. Khaja, Balushahi, Laddoo, Malpua, pochuua pu , sakarapara, pantoa, makhana kheer, sakrauri . These are some more sweetdish enjoyed by the people of Mithila.

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5.Bagiya– It is known as the delicacy of the Maithil. It is steamed dumpling that consists of an external covering of rice flour and an inner content of sweet substances such like chaku( concentrated sugarcane juice + jaggery+ ghee+ nuts). Vegetables, pulses and other fried items are also filled . It is normally eaten in winters.

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6. Dahi-Cheeni (king of desserts)-A maithil can eat an elephant and still have some place in stomach for a plateful of dahi cheeni.

Snacks:

1. Ghugni- Black gram , dried yellow peas , dried white peas cooked with gravy serve with puffed rice(murhi/murmura).

2. Kachari(onion pakoda) – prepared by gram flour and rice powder.

3.Litti Chokha-One of the popular delicacy of Mithila which is very much famous world wide too.

Jhilli( besan murakku) Bhujiya( roasted or fried food grain, like chiwda, rice, chickpea),Kachdi( pakodas),chop(mashed potato pakoda), piyauji(blanched full onion pakodas), ghunghni, lai, tikri, til laddoos, besan puri are the snacks usually eaten by the people of Mithila.

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Breads and Chapatis:

Pooris– Sattu poori, daal poori, rice poori. These are some stuffed pooris eaten here.

Chawal roti( rice chapati) eaten with paste of salt and muaturd oil and green chilli and sometimes with aaloo chokha( mashed potato ) too in the time of winter season.

Paratha- Maithil paratha is different from rest of India is its shape. Plain paratha is triangular in shape and is layered inside.

Pickles: Aam ka achaar( shredded mango pickle, Aamil( raw mango pieces) , Ammat( ripe mango pulp is plastered onto white mussin cloth), Grand red chilli pickle, Gooseberry pickle, Amra pickle, Jackfruit pickle.

Sun dried and preserved vegetables:

Kumrauri(sun dried chunks of grated vegetables in urad besan paste, made of grated ash gourd). Murauri(made of grated whiye radish.Adauri, Biriya( made from different leafy vegetables like bathua, methi etc. dipped in urad, besan paste and sun dried). Sukhaunt( cauliflower are sundried )Teesiyauri.

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Tempering techniques:

Black musturd seeds( Rainchae)-and dried red chilli seared in musturd oil used in aaloo – chokha.carom seeds(jamain)along with black mustured seeds seared into musturd oilues in patua ka jhor ( a saag in liquid form) with Bathua ka chokha(mashed bathua saag)

Spices:

Panch forna(mixture of five spices), Hing(asfoetida)

Tomato chutney(smoky), Imli chuteny(khatmithi)

So these are the foods that Maithil people enjoyed and eat a lot. Talking about the eating style, people of Mithila still follows the conservative eating style . People sit on the ground while eating, it has a very good effect on health . In fests and Brahman-bhojan banana leaves are used as a plate. Food tells many things about the people, place and its culture. Mithila has its soul in its cuisine and delicacies.