If you have ever tasted a Vietnamese cà ri, you must have felt a slight tinge of French and Indian flavours wriggling in your mouth. This melting of flavours is not by accident but by design that has a curious back story. A thread. #travellingsOftheIndianCurry 1/n
Phan Xich Long in the Phu Nhuan District is one of Ho Chi Minh City's (formerly Saigon) most bustling streets redolent of street food. The shops lined up on the streets offer up a variety of Vietnamese cuisine, one particularly interesting item being the cà ri. 2/n
The Vietnamese cà ri is, however, not considered on the same plane as other street food like phở, bún bò Huế or hủ tiếu. It’s a dish mostly eaten in the comfort of a home and has strong connections with the sub-continent. 3/n
To understand this, we need to delve into a bit of history of the spice trade and the intertwining fates of the French colonies. 4/n
In the 19th century, the French-controlled portions of South Vietnam which being coastal, was convenient as a trading spot. Here spices from India and the Americas were bought and traded. 5/n
Back then, the port city of Pondicherry in Southern India was also under French control. Now it is believed that the French didn’t quite like the Vietnamese locals, so they used to bring in people from India to man their spice depots. 6/n
More than 6000 people, mostly Tamilians are supposed to have migrated from Pondicherry and settled in parts of Saigon, Cho Lon, and the Mekong Delta. Though there were tensions between these migrants and the local Vietnamese, a culinary amalgamation flourished. 7/n
Later on, the curry spices would move around with the ethnic Cham people, who had dealings with the Indian migrants in the spice trade. 8/n
At the dawn of the 20th-century, curry powder became the rage in Vietnam, from being a French-Tamil culinary expose, these spices become an integral part of the middle-class Vietnamese kitchen. The Indian curry became cà ri and literally, everyone was making it. 9/n
These days it is easy to get a powdered mix like the Ca Ri Ni An Do which is also labeled as the Madras curry powder. Shops will also readily give you a blended mix if you tell them what kind of curry you are cooking. 10/n
The spices are then used in portions that go into the marinade and the sauce which is a combination of coconut milk, potatoes, taro, sweet potatoes, and carrots. The curry can be served either with chicken (cà ri gà) or shrimps (cà ri tôm) and is often eaten with noodles. 11/n
Most of the Indian diaspora left with the French after 1954, but it left behind a beautiful and delicious mix of cultural and culinary legacy. 12/n
Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal, a trailblazer of Indian parallel cinema, passed away yesterday, at the age of 90. His meteoric rise to fame following his debut feature film often eclipses the arduous journey and extensive training he underwent prior to this success. 1/14
Let us reflect on the period before he could bring Ankur (The Seeding) to the screen. Born in Hyderabad, he was one of ten siblings, which probably contributed to his ability to maintain focus amidst noise and crowds. 2/14
His father, a professional photographer, maintained an open-door policy and delighted in hosting a steady stream of visitors who engaged in lively debates and discussions about the pressing social and political issues of that time. 3/14
In January of 1913, a mathematician at Trinity College, Cambridge G. H. Hardy, received a parcel from Madras, India. Inside was a letter that would go on to change the course of mathematics.
The man introduces himself as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust Office at Madras on a salary of only £20 per annum. He went on to explain his investigation regarding divergent series in general.
Hardy consulted a colleague John Edensor Littlewood. what they saw in the letter was quite remarkable. Bertrand Russell wrote the next day that Hardy and Littlewood were "In a state of wild excitement because they believe they have found a second Newton".
About 70 years ago, the whims of India’s first Minister of Information & Broadcasting led to the birth of the most iconic radio program for Indian listeners. 1/16
In 1952, in the first general elections, the Congress Party led by Pt. Nehru was elected to power with an overwhelming majority. Balakrishna Vishwanath Keskar was chosen by Nehru to take charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 2/16
Keskar was a man with strong opinions on certain subjects. His tenure is noted for several controversial decisions – including a short-lived ban on cricket commentary on radio, as well as a similar ban on the use of harmonium in All India Radio (AIR) programs. 3/17
OTD, 2 years ago, millions of Indians erupted in joy when Lionel Messi led Argentina to World Cup glory, as if their own team had won. But long before Messi and Diego, a century ago, another bond linked India and Argentina in the most extraordinary way. Thread. 1/19
It’s easy to see why millions of Indians celebrated alongside Lionel Messi when Argentina became world champions two years ago. Messi, adored by many, felt like one of our own. A hundred years ago, Argentina also embraced one Indian as one of their own. Love knows no bounds. 2/19
It’s a story that begins in 1924, with a twist of fate, severe influenza, a villa in Buenos Aires, and a muse who sold her jewelry to care for a Nobel laureate. This story is fairly well-known in Bengali circles but remains largely unfamiliar across India. 3/19
It’s a lazy Sunday evening on Park Street, Calcutta. You sit down at your favorite spot, and there it is—Chicken à la Kiev. Your favorite dish. But did you know this iconic dish owes its place in India’s culinary scene to one of the most fascinating men in history? A thread 1/16
Meet Boris Lisanevich: Ukrainian ballet dancer, aviator, tiger hunter, hotelier, and, oh, keeper of a pet python.
Boris was born in 1905 in Odessa, Ukraine, to a wealthy family. His path seemed set for the Russian military—until history intervened. 2/16
In 1917, the Russian Revolution turned everything upside down.
To shield 12-year-old Boris from the new communist regime, his family made a daring decision: they enrolled him in a ballet school. Ballet became his disguise, but destiny had other plans. 3/16
At the onset of WWI, 1.3M Indians served across battlefronts, but only one ruled the skies over Europe—Indralal Roy, the first and the only Indian flying 'Ace' in the British Army. On his birthday, let’s revisit his remarkable story. 1/19
About 8 kms north of Barisal District in Bangladesh, the ‘Lakutia Zamindar Bari’ is a massive, abandoned house that still stands tall with its 400 odd years of history – a sight to behold for the history buffs as well as the spooky fiction lovers. 2/19
If you look closer through the pages of history, it will tell you that a legacy of mavericks ran through the veins of the zamindar family of Rajchandra Roy. 3/19