On Tuesday, self-styled fact-checker Mohammed Zubair took a dig at a tweet claiming the origins of Biryani in King Nala’s culinary treatise ‘Pakadarpanam’. Zubair quoted a tweet by the handle ‘Hindu Ecosystem’ saying, “So a Brahmin wearing Janeu was the first to introduce Biryani to the world. This story is as authentic as Unofficial Subramanian Swamy’s claims about Monali Shah (Mona Lisa) and Mai ka Lal Jaikishan (Michael Jackson).”
Zubair’s derisive tweet was meant to insinuate that biryani was not an Indian delicacy and it was introduced to India by foreigners, presumably Mughals and other Muslim rulers who invaded and plundered India in the medieval centuries. However, in doing so, Zubair did not flinch from peddling factually incorrect information about King Nala by referring to him as a ‘Brahmin with janeu’. But netizens were quick to expose Zubair and the prevalent narrative among the Left intelligentsia that biryani had its origins in the middle-east, and that it was brought to India by Mughals and other Muslim rulers.
Social media users call out Zubair for sharing factually incorrect information about King Nala
Monika Verma, an alumni of South Asian University, posted a tweet debunking the false assertions being bandied around by the Alt News co-founder. In her tweet, she noted that Nala was a Kshatriya and not a Brahmin, and the practice of wearing ‘Janeu’ was common among the Kshatriyas as well. Verma also added that Kshatriyas can eat and cook non-veg.
King Nala was a Kshatriya, not a Brahmin. Kshatriyas also wear janeu. Kshatriyas can eat and cook non-veg. #NotanAltNewsFactCheck
— Monica Verma (@TrulyMonica) March 29, 2022
Savitri Mumukshu, a writer and a cook herself, threw light on Pakadarpanam, a treatise that is believed to be authored by King Nala himself. She stated that King Nala’s culinary book describes recipes of rice including tamarind rice, lemon rice, biriyani from chicken, meat, quail and Tahari which were all eaten in India even before Mahabharata times. Mumukshu’s thread mentions the book containing recipes called Mamsodana which translates to Meat Pulao or Biryani, Kukkutmamsatailodana (chicken Biryani) and Labukmamsodana (Quail rice). The treatise mentions recipes with rice cooked by essenced spices inserted in a sachet and further enhanced with scents of musk, Kewra (essential oil distilled from screwpine) or camphor.
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— Savitri Mumukshu – सावित्री मुमुक्षु (@MumukshuSavitri) December 14, 2021
Tahari, made of of rice, & split Rajma, as well as varieties of Mamsodana (meat pulao or Biriyani) of chicken (Kukkutmamsatailodana) or quail (Labukmamsodana), with spices in a Potli (sachet), enhanced with Parpata (Papad) & scents of musk, Kewra, camphor, etc. are described. pic.twitter.com/IFMLLm5BYY
Savitri Mumukshu noted that while the Pakadarpanam dated back to pre 5561 BCE, “it is a stunning reminder of our cultural continuity & busts many myths about India’s culinary ingredients & recipes coming from foreign cultures.”
Despite being fact-checked by multiple people on Twitter, Zubair, who is normally quite active on social media, did not pull his tweet down or issue a clarification over the matter, at least at the time of writing of this article. His refusal to take down his tweet, which was laced with factual inaccuracies, points to the larger propaganda of the Left to undermine ancient Hindu texts and bastardise history to reinforce their narrative.
The implausibility of biryani’s origins in Central Asia and the Left’s tendency of attributing everything under the sun to the Mughals
Recently, it has become popular among historians from the left to credit ounces of Indian culture to Islamic invaders in the medieval centuries. The technique is simple – If something finds a mention in the medieval-era texts, it has to be invented by the Mughals – which sometimes even extends to burning firecrackers on Diwali. While it is true that biryani was popularised by Mughal cuisine and especially in the kitchens of Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad, it is hard to accept that the invading dynasties brought it with them from central Asia.
Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India came from the Ferghana valley in Central Asia, where practising agriculture was an extremely difficult occupation, chiefly because of extreme temperatures, barren land and lack of irrigation facilities. Rice, the primary ingredient of biryani, only grows in soil that retains a high amount of water and therefore, to suggest that biryani is indigenous to Central Asia is far-fetched and impossible to believe. In fact, one of the motivations among the nomadic tribes of Central Asia to invade India was its vast tracts of fertile land that offered bountiful grains, including rice and wheat, besides the legendary wealth that India was known for possessing then. The concerted attempt, however, to belittle Indian identity and negate Indic contributions is typical of leftist historiography in India, which tries to disseminate distorted narratives in order to sear it on the nation’s collective awareness.
Pakadarpanam by Nala
History has it that Indian King Nala, who is often associated with his wife Damayanti was bestowed with great culinary qualities. His treatise Pakadarpana, which he wrote as a chef in the royal kitchen of King Rituparna, mentions the preparation of ‘Mansodan’ (a delicacy made of meat) which is an early form of biryani. In its preparation, Nala starts with boiling rice and then adds meat, spices and other flavours for enhancing the taste. Prior to this, the rice is soaked in water, rinsed and drained while the meat is cut accordingly. Ghee and Coconut milk is poured into the pot while musk and camphor are added to achieve a smoky flavour.
The vessel is to be closed with a tight lid and mixed well until the rice is cooked under fire. The marination technique is one of the earliest references to the preparation of ‘dum’ biryani, a technique that is still used today. Pakadarpanam also mentions varieties of biryani including the chicken and the meat of quail bird.
Some historical accounts suggest that invading Muslim rulers and their armies were so mesmerised by Mansodan, the earliest form of biryani, that they started calling it Hindavi Laziz. This, in itself, is a testament to the fact that biryani was a known delicacy in India, long before the arrival of the central Asian invaders.
In fact, even propagandist Devdutt Pattanaik, who is often cited by the Left as an authoritative source on India’s history, wrote things about King Nala that surprisingly jibed with the historical accounts. He had penned an article describing how King Nala, who existed long before the Islamic rulers invaded India, cooked biryani and supposedly wrote a book detailing his various recipes.
In an article in the Mid-day, Pattanaik writes about Pakadarpanam, “Most interestingly, the book refers to indigenous biryani (Mansodana): rice cooked with meat. There are detailed descriptions of various preparations with the flesh of birds including chicken (kukkuta), animals, fish and eggs.”
