Posting today, a feature about traditional kitchens from around India appeared in the Sep 23 , 20113 issue of India Today Home.
At
the heart of every Indian house lies its kitchen. Although the traditional Indian
hearth is a far cry from the gleaming counter tops of its city counterpart, it
is not hard to find homes that still retain their age-old
sanctums, with due modifications that occur over time.
The
traditional kitchen evokes strong images – that of basic, utilitarian spaces, wood
fired stoves and ovens, gleaming brass or stainless steel storage boxes,
ceramic containers used to store pickles and preserves, charred patina of thick
terracotta, meticulously scrubbed brass and steel pots.
Depending
on the region the kitchen, there is also the odd implement and tool used for
specific purposes of steaming, molding, grating and cutting etc.
Even
as one routinely chances upon quirky coconut graters from down south and brass
moulds to set kulfi in from the north in flea markets of Mumbai or Delhi, and
ubiquitous gas cylinders and shiny stoves come to replace the traditional
chullha, one questions the need to reminisce and observe age old practices. Is
it an exercise merely driven by nostalgia? Or is there more to the traditional
kitchen, the recipes it gives birth to and the traditions it represents?
A close look into the mores that thrive in the Indian kitchen tells how this humble space is a receptacle of culture and a
way of life that shapes an entire civilization.
The
smell of wood smoke is enough to trigger journeys back into time and into
spaces that one way or the other form a strong part of childhood memories for
many. May be from a long lost a home back in a village, or that of an odd
relative or friend that one visited or that of a grandparent.
Usually when one thinks back to a home
from the past, it is not surprising that most stories and associations one has
are from long lost kitchens. This more than any other part of the home brims with sights sounds and smells of all kind. However prosaic the range of
activities that surround such a space, it seems to feed a lifetime of memories and imagination of entire civilisations.
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| A guests cup of Khante, or salt butter tea always brims on a visit to a Ladakhi home |
Where
the modern kitchen is best suited to meet the needs of increasingly convenience
driven households, the traditional kitchen addresses more than just
functionality. It is a sacred
space, treated as such, perpetuating tradition and lessons that speak of a way
of life.
Probably
why, owners of a Raibnder home in Goa refused to cut the coconut trees that
came in the way of their home while it was being constructed. So, very
creatively two robust coconut trees serve as a pillar around which the kitchen
is constructed. “Trees are sacred,
we did not want to cut those on the plot while making room for the house,’’ I
was told by the owners. Speaks volumes about the sensitivity to the natural
environment. A lot of the practices that surround old kitchens are considered sacred
almost mystical than the purely scientific or functional. Not
surprisingly the sight is unlike anything that a urban household can ever
conceive of as possible.
With
time, much has changed in rural as well as semi-urban and urban kitchens across
the country. The tradition of cooking on a newly raised platform in a Rajashtani
Haveli situated in the old quarter of Jaipur for example. ``We used to have a large kitchen where
the cooking was done on a hand made chullha’’, explains Aarti Devi, the matriarch
of the family. However since the fragmentation of the joint family, the kitchen
was reorganized into a much smaller corner she said. Their new kitchen- less
than five years old- is more efficient in meeting the needs of their smaller
household, yet retaining the essential character of the traditional haveli it
finds a place of pride within.
For
most part though kitchens like homes everywhere in traditional societies
straddle the past and present comfortably, evolving with time, and retaining
what remains functional and relevant from the past. Thick Tibetan carpets cover the wooden floor of a
traditional Ladhaki kitchen in Hunder in the Nubra Valley. `` We still use traditional implements
handed down to us by our parents since they suit our needs so well ‘’ says
home-owner Tashi Dorjey, speaking off the `Lungto’ a traditional Stone urn that
is used to cook rice in. The dense walls of the vessel keeps its contents warm
for a long time even in below freezing conditions.
Perhaps
revisiting a traditional kitchen is just more than an exercise in nostalgia
then. For this space with its
symbols and rituals, above all spaces in the domestic domain not only upholds a
way of life but also shapes the mind and body of entire civilizations.
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| A peek into kitchen's around Goa. |