Sonal Ved: Indian food’s origin stories

Her book, ‘Whose Samosa is it Anyway?’, tracks down our cuisine’s early influencers

When author-journalist Sonal Ved gave us the award-winning Tiffin three years ago, it was a celebration of regional cuisine with recipes selected by local culinary experts, including wedding caterers. But with Whose Samosa is it Anyway? she traces the influences behind many of our modern Indian dishes. The Vogue India staffer begins by describing her highly-coveted lunchbox in school — th its paneer enchiladas and baby corn idlis — nd how the ‘tiffins’ from Sindhi, Bohri and Marwari friends were an early learning experience. With this book she aims to explore “the undercurrents that lay in all those school meals that differentiated Indian cuisine” from others. What are the origins of the chutney and samosa? How did Burmese Khow suey land up on Marwari wedding menus? These were some of the questions that dogged her as she went about her day job.

The book explores food references from Indian literature like the Jataka Tales. She has researched what was served to our royals as well as what personalities like Rabindranath Tagore experimented with in their kitchen —Tagore’s jackfruit yoghurt ‘fish’ curry, or cauliflower barfi, for the curious. It comes at a time when discussions on appropriation are at the forefront, including the never-ending curry debate. “I feel like authentic recipes and recipes that push the boundary of authenticity by experimenting and merging two cuisines and cultures together, both have their own place. The need is to credit and respect the source,” adds Ved. About curry, she says, “Wether one accepts it or not, Indians have been eating curries for centuries. The point to make here is that while Indian food ‘is’ curry, it is not ‘only’ curry”. See box on the curry debate. Edited excerpts from the interview: