Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada: Read an exclusive excerpt from Shahu Patole’s book

Even before the advent of Islam in Maharashtra in the thirteenth century with Alauddin Khilji’s conquest of Deogiri, non-vegetarianism was an integral part of the religious and festive way of life in Hindu culture.

The focus and intention of this chapter is not to elaborate on this but to write about the food culture that has survived as an insignificant fraction at the bottom of the social hierarchy. From pre-Buddhist times to the time of Emperor Ashoka, animals like bullocks, buffaloes, horses, sheep, goats and chicken were sacrificed for various reasons and rituals. Although pigs and buffaloes were not sacrificed as per the Vedic tradition, non-Vedic communities (Dalit, nomadic, tribals) continued to sacrifice these animals. This tradition continues even today.
Sacrifices and sacred feasts
In Vedic culture, it was a custom to sacrifice domesticated or other easily available animals. It is said that chicken, goats and sheep originated in Central Asia and Afghanistan… The people of the yajna culture used mainly goats, sheep, bulls, castrated bullocks, horses, infertile cows and occasionally birds for sacrifice. They also used nutritious foods such as toop (clarified butter or ghee), curd made from cow’s milk and the milk itself as essential ingredients for the ritual of yajna.
In the Mahabharata, according to the story of the rakshasa brothers Vatapi and Ilwal, sheep were slaughtered at their annual memorial feast for the dead and this feast was prepared by Brahmins. According to another story, Satyavrata hunted wild animals to feed the rishi Vishwamitra’s family during famine. When the animals were not available, Satyavrata stole a cow belonging to Vashishta (another rishi) and it was eaten by Vishwamitra’s family. Vashishta was infuriated by the fact that they stole a useful, lactating cow and did not even perform a ritual which was usually done before sacrificing a lactating cow. But Vishwamitra was pleased with Satyavrata because he saved his family from starvation.
In another story, Vishwamitra had gone to a Dalit locality (of the Chandal community) during a severe famine and tried to steal a haunch of meat (the leg) from the fresh meat of dogs hanging there. One of the Dalits said that stealing and eating dog meat was blasphemy for a Brahmin. Vishwamitra argued with him about religion and philosophy and finally offered yajna and only ate the dog meat afterwards.
In a story narrating the generosity of the King Shibi, he offered rice and beef to Indra, the king of gods (who was disguised as an eagle), to save Agni, the god of fire (who was disguised as a dove).
According to another incident cited in the Mahabharata, Dharmavyadha, who knew the profoundest secrets of dharma (righteousness and religion), was making ends meet by selling the meat of pigs and buffaloes in the city of Mithila. Brahmins would often go to him there for religious lessons. The list of such examples is endless.
The movement that started from Emperor Ashoka’s time to push society into vegetarianism is still actively going on. At the same time, in one way or the other, symbolically or in real terms, killing animals as a sacrifice is popular even today. All the meat is consumed after offering a small portion of the animal to please the deity. If we look at the local context, we find references to buffalo sacrifice in the Gaathasaptshati. There are also references to butchers in the pre-Islamic era. This book, also known as Hal Saatvaahanaachi Gaathasaptshati, is important as it chronicles the food culture of this region, that is, the present-day Marathwada.
If we analyse the current or past few generations of non-vegetarian people, it is clear that mainly herbivorous animals are used as food. Animals used as sacrifice to gods during festivals are also grass-eaters. These include goats, sheep, buffaloes and, in rare cases, even pregnant goats and sheep for some fierce deities. The chicken is a common bird used for sacrificial rites. Over time, some animals were dropped from this list.
Kshatriyas were not forbidden to eat meat other than beef. Although there are five distinct varnas in Maharashtra, it is found that the same gods and goddesses are worshipped by all five varnas as their family deities. Brahmins offer vegetarian, sweet food (without salt) to their deities but Kshatriyas, Bahujans and Dalits offer non-vegetarian food to the same deities.
Palms are drenched in the hot blood of the sacrificed animal and imprinted on the clothes of the host on his chest. (Nowadays, it has been replaced by kumkum.) If this sacrifice is done at home, then it is customary to imprint blood-soaked palms on and around the main door of the house. Perhaps the motive was to make children of warrior communities accustomed to seeing blood early on.
Sacrifices of goats and buffaloes are still performed at the shakti pithas (significant shrines and temples in the goddess-focused Hindu tradition). The goddesses killed the demons to save society from their menace. This is why these goddesses are often named after the demons, such as Mahishasuramardini (the One who killed Mahishasura).
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A recipe from the Chapter 4: What does ‘non-vegetarian’ mean for us?
Fashi (epiglottis)
The fashi begins where the tongue ends. It is also called tilli or tilvan. Epiglottis is the anatomical term for it. It is a thin, dark and elongated piece of flesh, with a purple or bluish tinge and is a few centimetres thick. It has a coating that looks like a plastic glazing and looks like a thin chocolate cake. The surface flesh looks like jelly. Underneath is dark, chocolatey flesh. Although the method of making fashi is similar to that of mutton, fashi has to be cooked separately. It is delicate and cooks faster than normal meat because it releases its own juices while cooking.
Recipe
Ingredients for marinating
1.Fashi
2.Salt
3.Turmeric
4.Ginger-garlic paste (optional, but greatly improves taste)
Ingredients for cooking
1.Oil or animal fat (used when there is no oil to be had)
2.Onions, chopped (finely or roughly)
3.Red or green chillies, roughly chopped (optional, but an improvement)
4.Green coriander leaves, chopped
Method
1.Cut and wash fashi. Mix with marinade and let it rest for 10–30 minutes.
2.Heat fat in a pan.
3.Add onions and fry till a nice brown.
4.Add marinated fashi and cook a bit.
5.Fry chillies in a little oil and add. Or add chillies directly without frying.
6.Cook till done. Fashi is a delicate meat and cooks quickly, releasing a lot of liquid.
7.Taste for salt and chilli flavour. Add more if needed.
8.Add very little water to make a thick gravy or none to make a dry version. Expert cooks say excess water spoils the dish.
9.Throw in a small fistful of chopped coriander leaves, if available.
Fashi tastes delicious with bhakri. Fashi is delicate, and has no bones and no fat, so children relish it very much. In some regions, fashi cooked without chillies was given to lactating mothers to help produce more milk.
A side note: Tamasha is a popular art form of Maharashtra which has skits, plays, music, songs and dance. Villagers come and watch these shows during festivals, annual fairs or other occasions. Since the majority of tamasha performers belonged to this food culture, the pun on the word ‘fashi’ was popular in tamasha. Here is a popular story enacted in the tamasha.
The story: A minister produces a thief in front of the king. When he reads out the list of his crimes, the king declares, ‘Give fashi to this man [hang him] right away!’
The thief, extremely surprised, says in a happy voice, licking his lips in anticipation: ‘Wah! You are going to serve me fashi? In this royal place? Serve it, please. It’s my favourite!’
The funny thing was only the Mahars and Mangs in the audience could get this joke. Fashi, in Marathi, means to hang someone to death. The epiglottis is not consumed by the upper castes, hence the culinary meaning of the word is often not known to them.
(Excerpted with permission from Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada by Shahu Patole, translated by Bhushan Korgaonkar, published by HarperCollins India; 2024)