When it comes to comfort food, rajma chawal is the first dish that pops into every North Indian’s mind! Hot rice topped with rajma is basically comfort on a plate, and we can never get bored of it. While rajma chawal is a favourite of every North Indian, did you know it has its roots in South India? Thanks to the French, rajma first came to India via South India. Scroll down to know more about it.
Rajma Chawal Has Its Roots In South India
During an episode of podcast ‘A Century of Stories’ (acenturyofstories), host Kunal Vijayakar had a conversation with culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal, who revealed that rajma chawal first came to South India because of the French people. The host asked, “Rajma came into India from the South and then became famous in the North?” Responding to this, the culinary anthropologist said, “You go to the Himalayas in the middle of the 1800s, and you start seeing this very interesting new lunch, rice and rajma.” To this, Kunam Vijjayakar asked, “So, it comes from there?” Dr. Kurush Dalal said, “No, it comes from France.”
As the conversation flowed smoothly, the culinary anthropologist revealed that the famous dish came to India because of France. He added, “French went to Mexico to prop up the brother of the Australian King as the emperor of Mexico. There, they got their posteriors beaten and came back. Now, an army can’t march on empty stomach, and you need to carry your food with you, right?”
In the podcast, Kurush Dalal further revealed that that to fill their stomach army lived on beans. The French army came back with beans from Mexico and planted them. As the French were in Pondicherry as well, and had Indians with them, we can safelty say that rajma first had its roots in South India, and then spread across North India.
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Netizens’ Reactions To This Surprising Twist
It’s not a surprise that people across the world are fans of kidney beans, and enjoy them in various variants. As for Indian, rajma is best enjoyed with chawal. Reacting to the shocking revelation about rajma, one netizen wrote, “Ok, now that makes so much sense to me. Years ago, when I visited Puerto Rico, I found this dish, which felt like rajma with chicken and sausages. Now it all falls in place, finally.”
Another user added, “Interesting and sounds real.”
One user commented, “Does that mean before the 1800s, my forefathers had no idea what to eat on Sundays?”
Were you familiar with this history of rajma? While we’re still reeling under this new revelation, drop your reaction in the comment section.
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva Pro/Manaswi Patil