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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi: Pasta la vista, Italy
What do you think of the Indian pasta tradition? The version of Spaghetti Bolognese served around the world was not invented in Italy (ADOBE STOCK) If your response is one of bewilderment, then join the club. That's what I would have said too — at least until a week ago. 'What rubbish! There is no such thing as an Indian pasta tradition,' I would have confidently asserted. Then, I caught the writer and food historian Kurush Dalal on Kunal Vijaykar's podcast. Kunal looked as befuddled as you and me when Kurush went on about Indian pastas and how our tradition dates back centuries. I was startled enough to call Kurush. Did he really believe all this stuff about ancient Indian pasta dishes? It turned out he did and he regaled me with examples from nearly every part of India. But before we go much further, here's a little historical perspective. All of us think of pasta as being Italian, and we are not entirely wrong. Except that the Italian pastas we know today do not have deep historical roots. There has been some outrage in Italy recently over a book published by the food historian Luca Cesari (The English translation is called A Brief History of Pasta), which argues persuasively that Italians only started eating the pasta dishes that Italy is famous for during the modern period. Luca Cesari's book argues that Italians largely started eating pasta during the modern period. On the other hand, it is clear that while the dishes may be of recent origin, macaroni or some form of dried pasta did exist in medieval Italy. There is a reference to macaroni dating back to Genoa in 1279. This is important if only to dispose of the myth that Marco Polo introduced Italians to Chinese noodles, which they appropriated and called pasta. The early references to macaroni predate Polo's return from China, and in any case, the story about Polo was invented in 20th century America as part of an ad campaign by a US pasta company. There is no doubt that they ate noodles in the Far East long before the Italians ate macaroni. But, even there, it's possible to overstate the antiquity. Ramen only caught on in Japan after the Second World War. Pad Thai was only invented in Thailand in the 1930s and took over a decade to catch on. So, what unites the Far Eastern noodle tradition with Italian pasta? If you look at the map the answer is obvious: The Middle East. Idiappam in the South is proof that India has been making noodles for centuries. Though Italians don't like talking about it, it isn't just pasta, many of today's most famous Italian dishes originated in the Middle East. Pizza is a corruption of the word pita. Calzone has the same Middle Eastern origins as our samosa. Risotto developed because Arabs introduced rice to Italy. Which brings us back to India and to Kurush Dalal's claims for our pasta/noodle tradition. One of his most convincing examples of Indian pasta is idiappam. It is, he argues, a good example of how Indians have been making noodles/pasta for centuries. We even exported the dish to Sri Lanka, where it is usually described as string hoppers. I asked Shri Bala, the chef and food historian from Tamil Nadu, how old the dish was. She said that there is a reference to something that translates as 'shredded appam' in Sangam literature, which could be the ancestor of the modern idiappam. The equipment used to make the idiappam (called sevvai nazhi) probably has Arab origins: There was a black pepper trade between South India and Arabia in the Sangam period. Another example of an Indian pasta offered by Kurush is the noodle biryani made in Bhatkal on the Karnataka coast. Shri Bala said that it is called Shayya Biryani and was created through contacts with Yemen centuries ago. The falooda we eat in North India came from Persia. (ADOBE STOCK) Naren Thimmaiah, the great South Indian chef, took Kurush's claims further. He argued that you find pulaos made with noodles all over Karnataka. He said that the most common name was shaavige pulao because shaavige referred to vermicelli. The Bhatkal version was called a biryani because it was associated with a local Muslim community, but Hindus all over Mangaluru cooked with noodles. So, in South India at least, they have eaten pasta for centuries. And in the North, we have falooda. We think of it as being entirely Indian but it is actually a Persian dish. The Mughals brought the Persian vermicelli used in falooda to India and we called it sevian, adopted it and made it our own. We don't think of the region that now includes modern Iran as being noodle-friendly, but, in fact, they were cooking pasta there long before the Italians had heard of it. For instance, a popular Persian dish in the tenth century was lakhshah which consisted of strips cut from a thin sheet of dough: What the Italians would later call tagliatelle. Radical historians argue that all noodles originated in the Middle East and were introduced to China by Persian traders in the second century BC. Perhaps they are right, but what we do know for certain is that lakhshah came to India from Persia and that Indian merchants (from South India) took these noodles to the Far East, adding our own spices to make them tastier. The dish is still massively popular in Indonesia and other South East Asian countries where it is even called laksa. Pizza is a corruption of the word pita, and bears a similarity to the Turkish pide. So, I don't think there is much doubt that Kurush is right to talk about an Indian pasta-noodle tradition; it actually predates the use of pasta in Italy. Given the close trading relationship between the Middle East and India from ancient times it is easy to see how our own pasta dishes developed with influences from West Asia. But Kurush goes further. If the definition of pasta is something made of wheat (or another grain) and then cooked in a sauce, we have thousands of indigenous dishes that fit that definition. The Gujarati dal dhokli is just one example. What about the Indian tradition of making different kinds of vadi from grains, drying them and then cooking them in a gravy? That's pretty much the classic definition of a pasta dish. The South East Asian laksa may have come from Persia. (ADOBE STOCK) Of course, dishes keep evolving. Ask the Italians. Of their best-known pastas, the version of Spaghetti Bolognese served around the world was not invented in Italy. (They do make a ragu for pasta in Bologna but this is not it.) Spaghetti Carbonara was invented by a restaurant in Rome in 1946 to feed American soldiers. Fettuccine Alfredo was invented in the 20th century by an enterprising restaurateur and is still more easily available in America than in Italy. If you use those parameters, then we also have a more recent pasta-noodle tradition. Hakka noodles, the mainstay of Indian Chinese cuisine, are unknown in China. Momos came to India with Tibetan refugees in the 1960s but we have made them ours: the original version is very different. Instant noodles were invented in Japan in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, but we have annexed them with our masala Maggi. So, not only is there an ancient pasta-noodle tradition in India, but we are in the process of creating a new one. Kurush is right. We may not use the term pasta but we started eating it long before the Italians did. From HT Brunch, August 23, 2025 Follow us on
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
NilgiriScape-2025: Ecologist stresses importance of restoring grasslands in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
Udhagamandalam: Stressing the importance of grasslands in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), Prof Raman Sukumar said, "Grasslands in the NBR are naturally determined by the climate. We need to restore these grasslands and sensibly identify wildlife corridors." Speaking at the 'NilgiriScape-2025' conference in the town on Thursday, Sukumar suggested that rolling back tea gardens, starting from Tantea (which was developed over natural forests decades ago) in Gudalur, should be considered to revitalize the area. He highlighted the importance of critical corridor lands and the need to secure these areas. He also noted that montane grasslands in the Western Ghats serve as the only habitat for the Nilgiri tahr. Sukumar lamented the significant loss of biological diversity in the Nilgiris, particularly the destruction of mid-elevation rainforests in the Nilgiris, with a similar situation occurring in the Anaimalais. Sukumar stressed the importance of incorporating the voices of indigenous people in conservation efforts, which, unfortunately, has not happened. Indigenous knowledge systems possess valuable insights into protecting these areas. Sukumar proposed that reconciling conservation with development should be the new mantra for preserving biodiversity. Benno Boer from UNESCO emphasized the importance of establishing more Biosphere Reserves (BRs) in India. Boer said reducing biodiversity loss is essential in the fight against climate change. The first day of the conference also featured a discussion with academicians Siddhartha Krishna, Rama Pandey, and Tikender Singh, focusing on zoning, planning, and land use in the Nilgiris. In her speech via videoconference, anthropologist Jane Goodall emphasized the importance of involving local communities. She stated, "The inherited knowledge of the indigenous community could be utilized while planning for the future to ensure a healthy ecosystem." Additionally, the conference featured a talk on the Geological Makeup of the NBR by Pranay Lal, a natural history writer. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
News18
8 hours ago
- News18
Special Odisha Teachers Eligibility Test deferred again
Last Updated: Bhubaneswar, Aug 21 (PTI) The Special Odisha Teachers Eligibility Test (OTET), scheduled to be held on August 31, has been deferred again due to some unavoidable circumstances, officials said on Thursday. In a notification, the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), which organises the exam, said, 'It is for information of all concerned that Special OTET-2025 (Paper-I & Paper-II) scheduled to be held on August 31, 2025 is hereby deferred due to some unavoidable circumstances and will be held shortly." Earlier, the written examination for special OTET-2025 was scheduled for July 20. However, the test was postponed after a handwritten question paper with answers of the test, which were the actual replica of question sets prepared by BSE, went viral on Facebook and other social media platforms on July 19. view comments First Published: August 21, 2025, 21:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Loading comments...
