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THE PEOPLE
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FOOD
The dietary and food habits of the people of Kolaba have their
regional peculiarities pertaining to Konkan distinguishing them from the general pattern of Maharastra. However, there are variations in the pattern set by different communities and caste-groups, the main distinction being made on the ground of inclusion of animal food by some which by religious custom may be eschewed by others. And even where the chief food ingredients are the same the taste and flavour of a dish varies considerably between different castes and communities because of the traditional manner of cooking and the administration of minor ingredients such as oil, ghee, tamarind, jaggery, onion, garlic, spices, etc., and the type of phodani, i.e., the peculiar manner of seasoning or adding of spices heated in oil.
Meals
Hindus generally take two meals a day. Among the well-to-do the morning tea with a light breakfast is followed by two meals,
one between ten and twelve in the morning and the other between
seven and nine in the evening. There may be an afternoon tea
for the elderlies, hut some snack for lunch is considered essential for
children. For the morning meal a family in good circumstances has bhat, rice of fine quality, served with ghee, varan
(boiled split pulse), amti or ambat varan, curry of split pulse, spices,
onions and tamarind or kokam dressing and bhaji, vegetables
cooked or fried in sweet oil, spiced and preferably added with some
fresh coconut scrapping. Taka, buttermilk or curds is so indispensable with Brahmans that almost every house, except the poorest
keeps a cow or buffalo. Pickles, and other preparations such as lonace, catanis, kosimbir rayate, morambe, sandage, pheni
kuradya, mirbonde, are the usual savoury adjuncts to a meal of
the well-to-do. The meal is generally served in two courses of rice
(if the third one of poli, capati or bhakri is not served in between
the two), the first of bhat, varan, a spoonful or two of ghee and the
amti and vegetables, the second of boiled rice with curds, milk or
buttermilk and vegetables. The evening meal is practically the
same as the morning one except that varan and kosimbirs are ' omitted, bhakri instead of capati, usal, cooked sprouted pulses, instead of suki bhaji and fruity vegetables instead of leafy ones are served. Kadhi (spiced buttermilk) instead of taka may be preferred in the evening meal.
Rice is the principal cereal of the district and bhat (boiled rice) and bhakri (unleavened bread) of rice flour is the staple food of the people. Besides rice, van sava, nacani, harik and such hill millets have a significant place in the dietary of the poor. Wheat, jowar and bajri are in use more because of rationing than by inclination.
Generality Brahmans, Jains and Lingayats abstain from meat of anykind. The non-Brahmins and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes do not observe the restriction. Besides the usual cereals, pulses, Vegetables and oils, the vegetarian usually includes in his diet dairy products on a liberal scale.
Artisans, town-workmen and field labourers eat three times a day: breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon and dinner in the evening. The agriculturist of the kharepat begins his day with a cup of tea, without which he will not apply himself to any work. After putting in work for an hour or so, at about eight-thirty in the morning he enjoys his breakfast-bhakri (bread) of rice flour, a little ball of chutney
or some, roasted dried fish brought to him tied in a bundle by one of his
children. Working for two hours more he returns home, bathes and sits to his
noon-day meal consisting of rice, some pungent fish curry which serves his purpose of kalvan and suki bhaji. In addition he may have an onion or chilli or some pickle as a relish. After a short siesta he puts in some more manual labour at the farm, may or may not have his tea and returns home at about seven. His evening meal is more or less a repetition of the noon-day
meal, rice and bread supplementing each other as conditions allow. For days and months
together his menu remains the same, except on occasions like holidays when he may go in for a few chosen delicious items. At the tea-shop, next to a cup of tea, an Agri prefers to have shev, civda and bhajia. The poorer homes, especially during the monsoon, when the stock of paddy is exhausted, as a substitute to rice and bread they resort to kanji, rice gruel. Children when one or two years old start nibbling at a morsel of bread and begin to take rice. [Kale D. N., op. cit., p. 68.]
Animal Food.
Kunbis and others who take animal food on a few leading holidays, such as Holi and Gauri, and on marriages and other family festivals, cut the flesh in small pieces, fry it in oil or ghee with asafoetida, garlic, onions, and hot spices and eat it with rice bread, or pulse cakes, vadas.
For preparing a fish curry, an Agri housewife cuts the fish into small pieces,
mixes them with condiment powder, salt and tamarind and if occasion permits heats some sweet oil in an earthen pot and puts the whole mixture in it and allows it to simmer for some time. A few garlic bulbs may be added for flavour and taste. Fowl and mutton dishes are pre-pared in the same way as fish preparation except that pieces of potatoes or suran are added to the dish besides a special masala consisting of cinnamon, asafoetida, roasted rapra and onions all crushed to a fine paste on a curry stone[ Kale D. N., op. cit. p. 70.] The Mahadev Koli
adds to the spiced and liquid preparation of some pulse pieces of dried 'Bombay
duck' and whenever possible of small game, mutton, deer and wild boar. [Ghurye G. S., The Mahadeo Kolis, P. 55.] Flesh of a hare, which is cooked like other mutton preparations, is a popular dish among the Agris. After a hunt of a wild hog its flesh is roasted in pieces in a fire or cooked like mutton preparations by an Agri made far away from his residence, as an Agri wife usually refuses to co-operate in the work.
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