Punjabis are known for their love for food, putting in all their love when cooking. The magic of the Punjabi flavors made its way through out North India, making a significant cuisine of India as a whole. The appealing taste comes from its spices and the use of oil and ghee. Exotic vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes can be dated back from history. Since the beginning of the ancient Harappan civilization, Punjab has been an agrarian society. The rich cultivating lands are ideal for growing wheat and rice, major contributions to the Punjabi cuisine. Dairy products are also common in the Punjabi diet, making cattle’s an essential for dairy farming. The local diet of Punjab is based on the staple foods grown in the region of Punjab. Living in New York, my parents have also made these dishes an essential portion of my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a common act of Punjabi parents living outside of India.
It was once usual for ghee, butter, clarifies butter, and sunflower oil to be used in households to cook various Punjabi dishes, but as health-conscious households raised, the use of cream and butter decreased, only mostly to be seen in restaurants. Households have switched to sunflower and other refined oils, in my house my mother uses olive oil when cooking The second staple ingredient needed for Punjabi dishes are different masalas, made by grounding spices in a kitchen utility in India called the Ghotna. In the process of cooking, the masalas are put in with the tadka thats usually made with onion, garlic, ginger, chilies, dries fenugreek leaves, cumin, and coriander. Tadka has a very strong smell, staying behind in your clothes when food is being made in the house. We can blame tadka for the common stereotype of Indians smelling like curry. Different houses, tend take this stereotypes in different ways. In my house as olive oil is used to make this tadka, my mother closes all bedroom doors and opens all windows along with turning on the stove vent, in effort to make the scent escape as quickly as possible. Others just open windows, thinking that they aren’t getting affected by the scent.
Tadka doesn’t stop us from having our delicious cuisines, no matter day or night. Breakfast for Punjabis vary with the different regions of Punjab, but usually breaksfast consists of parathas. Parathas are flat breads that are thicker than rotis and are fried with ghee or oil, and stuffed parathas are parathas stuffed with mashed and spiced potatoes or cauliflower. Another dish known to be eaten for breakfast is sholey bhatoora, which is chick peas prepared with tadka and to be eaten with fermented bread. To go along with these dishes, homemade plain yogurt seasoned with spices is given. Breakfast is incomplete without our tea, cha. Cha is tea made with cloves, cinnamon, green cardamom, and jaggery or sugar. Living in such a busy schedule, our family doesn’t have parathas or sholey bhatoora on a daily basis. It takes a lot of time and effort to make these dishes to the best we can, thus we may only have them once in a month. Something that’s daily for us is cha for breakfast. For most people in general coffee is the awaking agent, but for most Punjabis cha is what we need. With cha, my family may have omlettes, toasts, bagels, or cookies. We only eat cereal when we don’t have time to make anything else.
For lunch, Punjabis may make dal, beans or other vegetarian dishes to be eaten with different breads including roti, tandoori roti, naan, or rice. Dal is different types of lentils that is mixed with different spices and tadka. A common stereotype on dal is that Indians always eat dal, without knowing the fact that there are almost four different types of dals. Other than dhal and beans other popular Punjabi dishes include aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes), aloo matter (potatoes and green peas), baingan (eggplant), saag(spinach and mustard leaves), and different types of paneer (unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese or curd cheese) dishes.
At the end of the day, the dinner may be prepared with non vegetarian dishes because the men usually drink with the meat. Non-veg includes lamb, goat, chicken, fish, and eggs. I am often asked whether or not I am allowed to eat meat because they get confused between some aspects of the Sikh and Punjabi values. Amritari (baptized) Sikhs are prohibited from eating meat, they follow the Gurus sayings that there is god in all living things, thus it is not ok to kill and eat meat. There are also sikhs that are not amritari including me, we eat meat. As for the Punjabi culture, Muslim Punjabis aren’t allowed to eat beef, and Sikh Punjabis don’t eat beef or pork. The same question is asked regarding alcohol. Amritaris, Muslim Punjabis, and women in general are prohibited from drinking as well.
Punjabis are known for snacking on other foods between their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Popular snack items include toasted corn, samosas (vegetables wrapped in pastry), pakoras (fritters) along with different chutneys (sauces). Some desserts include different sweets such as kheer (rice pudding), barfi, kulfi, laddus (round sweets), and gajrela (carrot sweet). Different bevarages are taken along with these dishes, including lassi (buttermilk), carrot juice, and neembu paani(lemon juice).
I am less passionate about Punjabi food compared to others. There are so many dishes that I dislike and sometimes do not feel like eating at all, including dal, curry, sholey, rajma, aloo mattar, lamb and goat. I would love to replace these dishes with sandwiches, pastas, and pizzas. However, there are some dishes that are replaceable, I would prefer them be made the punjabi style than with the plain American flavors. For example, chicken, I would have my chickens nice and spicy with different flavors of masalas running through my mouth rather than have it dusted with salt and pepper. I definitely stay away from Punjabi snacks and desserts (other than samosas, kheer, and laddus) and would replace them with cheese sticks, bread sticks, garlic bread, cakes, and pastries.
Apart from the food and the tastes, different cultures have different ways of dining. In the Punjabi culture, the women are the ones to be cooking and the men are the ones to be served too. Being a Punjabi woman are to learn how to cook by their early adulthood. Everything to do with the kitchen is done by ladies only, including getting water for your spouse or elders. The men of the house are to be served before everyone else, but that’s mostly because the men are eating while the ladies are cooking. For the most part, my family does work like that. My mother will be cooking, and my dad will be eating. If my dad needs something while eating, I get up and get it for him. Most of the time, my dad serves himself food, but sometimes my mom or I serve him. But there are also times when my dad cooks. My mother cooks most of the time but when non-veg dishes are made my dad makes them himself, from cutting to stirring, he does it all by himself. As for I, my parents don’t mind me not knowing how to cook. By cook I mean not knowing how to make a whole meal for my family. I am able to make some basics like roti and cha. They say that I have a long time until I get married and I have to start cooking for my in-laws. I totally agree with them, I believe a girl should never be forced to learn how to cook until they feel like they have to. But I still feel like a Punjabi girl should know how to cook before getting married.