Tuesday 7 February 2012

Bohras - The Muslim Cuisine of Gujarat

If there’s a community in Muslim which truly lives by the maxim of ‘Live To Eat Rather Than Eat To Live’ it is Bohras !
The Bohras believe that any occasion is an occasion to break bread together and this in essence is both their joie de vivre and the raison d’etre of their existence. Depending on the occasion, the food can be minimalist.
Contemporary to popular perception, bohra cuisine encompasses both vegetarian and non vegetarian specialities though which is the later that is more popular. In fact it is a well guarded secret that one of the premier bohra speciality is a pure vegetarian dish;  DAL CHAWAL PALIDA.
This vegetarian delicacy is almost standard for any occasion for celebration in most traditional bohra homes. The only enduring characteristic about any bohra meal is the principle of ‘FAMILY THAT EATS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER’
Sunni bohras are a sunni muslim community found in province of sind in Pakistan and the state of gujarat in India. Daudi bohra sunni and overwhelming majority of the gujarati speaking bohra community of Pakistan lives in a port city of Karachi in sind province.
Some of the mouth watering dishes of bohra cuisine are; HARA MASALA GOSHT, BOHRA FISH CURRY, AB MURGH, BOHRA BOTI KEBAB, BOHARA BITIN KEBAB, BOHARAS MUTTON BIRYANI, DAHI KI KADI, PHOOL VATANA, BATATA KA SALAN,  SEER KHURMA, BOHRA ZARDA.
Bohra cuisine is quite distinct from the more well known and popular mughlai food.it is mainly non vegetarian but has some interesting gujarati influence, however there are some clear differences. For instance, asafoetida is an integral part of gujarati cuisine while bohra food is totally devoid of this ingredient. It is the HARA MASALA which is an important part of almost every bohra dish, including even an omelette !
Bohras table manners  are :
  • EATING IS IBADAT
  • BEFORE EATING AND AFTER EATING WASH HANDS
  • BEFORE START EATING SAY BISMILLAH
  • AFTER FINISH EATING SAY ALHAMADLILLAH
  • NEVER EAT WITH LEFT HAND
  • EAT WITH ALL FIVE FINGERS


                                                                      Aab Murgh

By : Devraj Halder

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