dum pukht
a technique of cooking where the pot is sealed with dough and then cooked on a bed of ashes with smouldering coals placed on the lid
feni
a potent spirit made from the stem of the cashew plant
firman
Mughal imperial directive (often to regulate trading privileges)
fukujinzuke
Japanese pickled vegetables, eaten with curry
garam masala
mixture of black spices such as black pepper, cinnamon and cloves
ghee
clarified butter (the favoured cooking medium in India)
gobi
cauliflower
gochiso
Japanese culinary laws of purity and perfection
gram
pulses
gulab jaman
sweets made from milk and coated in a rose-water syrup
hookah
Indian hubble-bubble pipe
hookah-burdar
hookah servant
hurkarrah
messenger
idli
light doughnut-like bread made from a batter of ground rice and lentils
jaggery
coarse brown sugar made from palm-sap
jeera
cumin
jiyza
a tax imposed by Muslim rulers on non-Muslims
kacca
foods usually prepared afresh each day, using water, and susceptible to pollution
kava
intoxicating Polynesian drink made from the root of the kava plant
khansaman
head servant or butler
khichari
dish of boiled rice and lentils
khidmutgar
waiter
khir
sweet milk and rice dish
khud
broken grains of rice
khudkura
huskings and particles of rice, humble or poor food
laddu
sweet made from chickpea flour and sugar
lascar
Indian sailor
maidan
parade ground
masalchi
spice grinder and sometimes in Anglo-Indian households a dishwasher
maval
cockscomb plant, the flower of which is used as a flavouring in Kashmir and which gives the food a bright red colour
mofussil
remote countryside or the provinces
nanbai
bazaar cook
nautch girls
dancing girls
nimbu
lime
paan
betel leaf and areca nut mixed with lime and chewed as a digestive
pakka
foods usually prepared using ghee or oil and less susceptible to pollution than kacca foods
palanquin
an enclosed litter for travelling in, carried by four to six bearers by poles slung across their shoulders
pani
water
pukka
Anglo-Indian for proper
prasadum
the leftovers of the gods
qima
minced meat
rajasic
foods thought to stimulate the passions and induce anger
rakhi
protection charm
rasa
tastes (pungent, acidic, salty, sweet, astringent and bitter)
rasam
broth
ryot
peasant
sadhu
Indian holy man
sattvic
foods thought to promote good health and moderate behaviour
seer
a measure of weight equivalent to about 1 kilogram
sepoy
Indian soldier
shikar
hunting and shooting
syce
groom
toddy
alcohol made from palm-sap
tonjon
open carriage, carried by four to six bearers on long poles
tyre
curds or yogurt
zenana
part of the house reserved for the women of the family
Acknowledgements
I began the research for this book while I was a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge. I would like to thank the Master and Fellows for providing me with an environment conducive to research and writing, and for the warm welcome which I receive whenever I return.
I also spent a few months as a visiting fellow at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra. I am grateful to my colleagues there (especially Barry Higman and Tim Rowse) for making my stay such a pleasurable and productive one.
Many people (too numerous to mention by name) have taken the time to speak to me about Indian food or their lives in India; Natasha Eaton, Martin Jones, Peter Garnsey, Riho Isaka, Partha Mitter, Rana Mitter, Vijay Naidu, Ryoko Nakano, Kathy Prior, Michael Shapiro, Jo Sharma and Emma Spary provided me with useful references and information and Mike O’Brien read the manuscript with great patience and scrupulous care. I am extremely grateful to them all.
I would like to thank the staff of the Centre for South Asian Studies, Cambridge; the Oriental and India Office at the British Library; Cambridge University Library; the National Library of Australia, Canberra; the Mass Observation Archive, Sussex University Library and the Imperial War Museum, London.
I would also like to thank John Cornwell and my agent Clare Alexander who both encouraged me to write this book; Penelope Hoare, my editor; my sister, Sarah, for her enthusiastic enjoyment of my curries; the Gnanasundaram and Sivasubramanian families for introducing me to delicious Indian home cooking and Namita Panjabi for a helpful conversation and a delectable lunch at Veeraswamy’s.
My absurdly itinerant lifestyle while researching and writing this book has put me in the debt of a great many generous friends: Fiona, Andrew, Alistair and Sarah Blake, Claire and Keith Brewster, Jan, Frank and Jack Collins, Vic and Pam Gatrell, Sophie Gilmartin, Geoff and Joan Harcourt, Francine and Jacky Imbert, Mike and Tricia O’Brien, Megan and Jeff Thompson, Jeremy Riley, Lionel and Deidre Ward and my late mum, Mary.
Rebecca Earle collected titbits of information for me and provided constructive criticism each of the many times she read the manuscript; she, David, Gabriel and Isaac Mond, have provided me with a home whenever I needed one. I cannot thank them enough. Thomas Seidel, as usual, instigated many adventures in the name of research and kept my spirits up while writing.
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