Indian cookbooks

Left: Ayurvedic texts classifies rice varieties into 14 types of Śāli and different ways to cook them. Right: Yusha (lentil- dish) in ancient Ayurvedic texts was staple Dal dish.[4]

Examples of dishes that finds mentioned in ancient and medieval period cookbooks and are part of modern Indian tradition; clockwise from top left: Kachori, Mithai (confectioneries), Dhokla, Modak, Chakli, Sevai. [5]

The 12th-century Manasollasa describes foods that continue to be part of modern Indian tradition. Above clockwise from top left in Sanskrit: Dosaka (Dosa), Iddarika and Vataka (Idli and vada), Parika (pakoda) and Kshiravata (Dahi vada).[6][7]

Ayurvedic texts classifies food into three categories, namely; Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic foods. Tastes (rasa) is classified into six types known as Shadrasa according to their qualities for ideal meal. These six tastes include; sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent. Traditional meal presentation often includes all six of these flavors.[8][9] Several Samhitas from Ayurveda texts describes and discusses methods to cook food, it mentions recipes for cooking rice in different ways, Tāpaharī (seasoned-rice dish), Khichadi (rice-lentil dish), Takra (curd dish), Yusha (lentil dish), Vesavara (minced meat dish), different methods to cook grains, pulses, meats, milk products, vegetables, fruits, leafy greens, roots, oils, sugarcane products to prepare foods.[10] It describes varieties of meat recipes such as; the Ullupta (minced meat dish), Bharjita (fried), Pishta (made into balls or pattie), Pratapta (roasted with clarified butter over a charcoal fire), Kandupachita (dipped in mustard oil and powdered aromatic condiments and roasted and done to a honey colour over a charcoal fire), Parishushka and Pradigdha go by the general name of Shulya (meat cooked over charcoal fire), among others.[11]

Among spice blends, it lists "Trikatu"; mixture of long pepper, black pepper, dried ginger. "Trijataka"; mixture of cinnamomum tamala, cardamoms, cinnamon. "Pancakola"; long pepper, long-pepper roots, piper chaba, plumbago zeylanica, dry ginger. These spice blends are mentioned alongside turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried mango, mustard seeds, and edible champor. [12] These spice blends also appear in medieval cookbooks by the same name.[13]

A chapter in Sushruta Samhita is dedicated to dining etiquette, method of serving food and proper placement of each dish before the diner.[14] This dining and serving etiquette is also adopted in medieval cookbooks with some variations.[15]

Sangam literature offers references to food and recipes during Sangam era, whether it's a feast at king's palace, meals in towns and countryside, at hamlets in forests and the rest-houses during travels. It describes the cuisine of various landscapes and people who reside there, how they prepared food, and what they served their guests in details. Poet Avvaiyar for example describes her hearty summer lunch as "steamed rice, smoked and mashed aubergine and tangy frothy buttermilk", while poet named Mudathama Kanniyar describes “Skewered goat meat, crispy fried vegetables, rice and over 16 varieties of dishes" as part of the royal lunch he was treated to in the palace of the Chola king.[16]

Written by Chavundaraya, this cookbook is compilation of vegetarian recipes. It deals with methods of cooking rice, lentils, pulses, barely, wheat, vegetables, leafy greens, shoots, roots, and flowers. Different methods of using spices and making blends for recipes. Cookwares and different uses for them for different recipes. Preservation of food and fruits to make pickles and papad. Methods of making butter, ghee and different ways to season them. Ingredient substitutions. A chapter is also dedicated to making flavored yogurts and coagulated buffalo milk cheese for sweets. Sweets made from rice flour. Last chapter is dedicated to refreshments made from different types of fruits and ways to season them. [17]

Women having traditional meal from Thali, ca. 1712

Men having traditional meal from Pattal, ca. 1712

This notable text was compiled during the rule of Chalukya king Someshvara III in the 1130CE, and contains recipes of vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines. It also contains a range of cuisines based on fermentation of cereals and flours.[6][18] Among meat dishes, the text describes cuisines based on pork, venison, goat meat, wild fowls and fish among others.[19] It has been suggested that Vaddaradhane, the Kannada text of Jain Acharya Sivakoti written in 920 CE, the mention of iddalige may be the earliest mention of Idali, followed by Manasollasa.[20] This text also has a chapter dedicated to brewing various types of liquor beverages.[21]

This recipe book deals with culinary art, this text is also known as Pākadarpaṇam, Pākaśāstra, Pākakalā, Nalapāka — It consists of 11 chapters known as Prakaraṇas. It lists both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food preparation. It provides details about several methods of cooking rice, meat, legumes, pulses, vegetables, fruits, refreshments, beverages and milk products. Among non-vegetarian rice preparations it includes several different kinds of Maṁsodana/Maṁsānna (meat rice), lāvaka maṁsodana (sparrow meat rice), and kukkuṭa maṁsodana (chicken rice) etc. Methods of preparing food according to seasons, seasoning food with spices according to season. Various vegetables prepared using different parts of the plants have been explained in the text. The method of sūpa (dehusked legumes cooked) preparation has been explained, horse gram (dolichos biflorus), black gram (vigna mungo), cow peas (vigna unguiculata), and chickpea (vicer arietinum) etc. Several Pānaka (refreshment) preparations made from mango, lemon, kokum, flowers and berries. Sweets made from milk products such as various types of flavored milk, flavored butter milk, pasyasam and flavored yogurts etc.[22]

Written by Mangarasa III, a follower of Jainism, this book is exclusively vegetarian. The ingredients and cooking methods are given detail, and even the types of utensils and ovens needed are mentioned. King Mangarasa III belonged to the Chengalvu dynasty, and was under the suzerainty of Hoysala kings The first chapter describes thirty five breads, sweets and snacks, now mostly obsolete. The second chapter describes drinks, salty, sour and sweet in taste. Third chapter discusses nine types of payasa (kheer), eight types of cooked rice and 24 mixed rice dishes. The remaining three chapters include recipes for 20 dishes with eggplant, 16 dishes with jackfruit and 25 dishes made with raw bananas (plantains) and banana flowers. The last chapter contains recipes using bamboo shoots and myrobalan.[23] Even though it was composed during the rule of a Jain ruler, some of the vegetarian ingredients mentioned, such as onions, are regarded inappropriate for strict Jains.

In the chapter, Pishtakadhyaya, food items made with flour like rotti (Roti), mandige, garige, dose (Dosa), iddali (Idli) have been mentioned. Ancient Kannada poetry has used the term ‘rotika’ even earlier.[24]

Written by Ksemasarma, this cookbook deals with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes. Among non-vegetarian recipes it includes meat of boar, lamb, goat, venison, rabbit, wild and domesticated pigs, game birds, peacocks, fish and tortoise. It lists nine methods of cooking meat. Different methods of cooking rice, pulses and lentils. Spice mixtures and adding them at different points while cooking. Cookwares and their methods of use for different recipes. Milk products, their preparation and making sweets. Longest chapter is dedicated to edible vegetables, leafy greens, flowers, fruits, stalks, bulbs and roots and various methods of cooking them. Last chapter is dedicated to refreshments. [25]

Written by Raghunatha[26] between 1675 and 1700, Bhojana Kutuhala describes numerous ingredients and dishes then common in the Maharashtra region. The text compiles knowledge about food and cooking described in the Sanskrit texts from the ancient period (up to 5th cent. CE) and the medieval period (5th cent. CE to 17th cent. CE). The second chapter is a historical study of dietetics and culinary art. The treatises like Kṣemakutūhala of Kṣemaśarman and Pākadarpaṇa of Naḷa which discuss exclusively the topics dietetics and culinary art are introduced in the third chapter. The sixth chapter mainly discusses the preparations of various dishes as explained in the Siddhānnaprakaraṇa. The last chapter is a resume of the study comprising discussions and observations.

Bhojana Kutuhala records and credits many earlier culinary cookbooks like "Pākādhikāra of Vaidaksara", "Takravidhi of Rudrayāmala", "Bhimabhojanakutuhala of Vaidyadesika", "Rucivadhugalaratnamala of Paraparnava", "Tambulakapasamgraha of Narasimhabhatta", "Vyañjanavarga of Suṣeṇa", "Pakadhikarana", "Kriradiprakarana", "Vastugunahuna", "Sakaguna", "Annapanavidhi", "Takrapanavidhi", "Pakamartanda", "Vividha Pakabhasmatailadiniramana", "Yogacintamani", "Takrakalpa", "Tambulamanjari" and "Pakavali". Among important treatises it mentions "Paroygaparijata", "Kriyasara Vaidyakasabdasindhu", "Hrdayadipaand Vyanjanavarga". The majority of these have not been published in English, while those that have been published lack critical studies.[27]

This work by Basava Bhoopāla is an encyclopedic treatise in Sanskrit. The sixth chapter in this text is dedicated to culinary art, it is an extensive chapter containing twenty seven subdivisions known as tarangas. This chapter deals with kitchen and how it should be built, different types of stoves, organizing kitchen, kitchen implements and how to make them, cooking utensils and types of pots and pans and their benefits. Describes types of rice and different methods of cooking rice, mixed rice recipes, contains both vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes, confectioneries made from dairy products, and refreshments.[28]

The Ni'matnama is a collection of the recipes written during the rule of Malwa Sultanate, Ghiyath Shahi, and his son and successor, Nasir Shah. It contains recipes for cooking as well as providing remedies and aphrodisiacs.[30] It also includes a sections on the preparation of betel leaves.[31] Unique pickles made from edible flowers are also mentioned in Ni'matnama cookbook.[32] It includes recipes for preparation of minced meat (qīma), samosas, halva, sherbets. [33]

The first book of Ain-i-Akbari (the third volume of the Akbarnama), written in 1590, gives several recipes, mainly those prevailing among the Mughal elite.[34] Ain-i-Akbari divides recipes into three categories of Sufiyana; meat-free dishes, meat-and-rice dishes, and meats cooked with spices.[35]

A book of 101 recipes from the kitchen of Mughal emperor Jahangir.[36][37] A chapter in Alwan-e-Nemat cookbook is also dedicated to dining etiquette. It describes method to lay out Dastarkhan, with leather mat spread over the ornate carpet to protect it, and then cloth spread over the mat before arranging prepared foods at the center. They ate together from large common plates similar to their Central Asian custom.[38][39]

This work includes Pilaf (seasoned rice) recipes[40] from Shah Jahan's reign.[41]