A Middle ages inspired platter. Recreated using techniques listed in the Mangalkabyas.

( Will be a long post,kindly bear with me😁)

Bethua Shaak ( White goosefoot greens)
Kolaiyer Dal ( Roasted Urad dal)
Thowr Mangsho ( Chevon with Banana stem)
Served with Rice, Goyna Bori and Sweets.

While reading Padmapuran/ Manasamangal by Bijoya Gupta (15th century) came across this couplet:

"মাংসেতে দিবার জন্য ভাজে নারিকেল।
ছাল খসাইয়া রান্ধে বুড়া খাসির তেল।।
ছাগ মাংস কলার মূলে অতি অনুপম।
ডুমডুম করি রান্ধে গাড়রের চাম।।"

This mentions few chevon dishes. Such as with coconut, with Banana stem, a dish prepared with the skin of a lamb ( Garorer Cham) and an oily dish , cooked in the chevon fat using skin of the goat.

What piqued my interest was the third dish mentioned. The one using Banana Stem, called "Thowr" in Bangla.

Here's how I did it

The chevon ( mutton chops and assorted pieces) was marinated using turmeric paste , peepul ie long pepper paste, marich paste ie black peppercorn paste. Green chillies were not used at that time in Bengal, hence I avoided using it. Similarly avoided using onion or garlic. Then soaked in ginger water ( ginger ground and then squeezed ). And then using two pea sized Asafoetida bricks, roasted and ground, rubbed into the chevon. Asafoetida(Hing) is an excellent "Galawat" and can be used to tenderize the meat. Topped with one tablespoon of ghee.
Then grilled the chevon. The process for grilled or "Shulyapakka" meat can also be found in historical texts but I did use the modern electric grill.

Cut the Banana stem into matchsticks. Steam the stems and then cook in ghee, tempering with pulverized garam masala ( cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves) and asafoetida. Used a bit of cumin paste.

Finally mix the grilled chevon with the Thowr and then to finish off, add one teaspoon ghee, pulverized garam masala and pepper paste mentioned above.

Worked out great. I guess this is how our ancestors cooked and ate 500 years back!

Description of the other dishes in the following post.


From Bijoy Gupta's Manasamangal, 15th century,we find various recipes for making saag. One such couplet goes like this

"কোমল বাথুয়া শাক করিয়া কেচা কেচা।
লাড়িয়া চাড়িয়া রান্ধে দিয়া আদা ছেঁচা।।"

Bethua saag or White goosefoot greens, coarsely chopped and cooked with pulverized ginger. Stayed largely true to this description. Coarsely chopped saag, steamed and then tossed in ghee with grated ginger and tempered with a bit of methi seeds. Spiced with Piper chaba ( chui-jhaal) and peppercorn dust.

Since the Padma Vs Gangetic Ilish debate is in vogue. Here's what I know. Would be a longish thread 🧵 though

1. The Gangetic Ilish tastes better and has a different odour than the Ilish from Padma.
Kamalkumar Majumdar , out of jest, had mentioned ," গঙ্গার ইলিশ দুশো বছর ধরে কোম্পানির তেল খেয়েছে। এই ইলিশের সাথে অন্য ইলিশ পাল্লা দেবে কি করে? " But this is a wrong idea. Because Padma ilish has higher fat content compared to the Gangetic Ilish. One can check out for themselves. Now, how to differentiate or identify which one is which?
( Jatindramohan Dutta remarks " পুবদেশের মাছে তেল আর কলকাতার ইলিশের সুগন্ধ বেশি।" 2. The ilish from the Ganges is as good as the ones available in the Gomti river. Dhaleshwari and Diamond Harbour also have excellent Ilish. Kolaghat, as I have mentioned before, has good locations from where one can buy Ilish

Chorebagan Art Studio, which was located at 24 Bhoobun Banerjee lane of Kolkata , was one of the pioneering art studios, that specialized and popularized lithography. Indeed, the popularity of lithography did also lead to the decline of Kalighat Pat as an art form.

However,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Lithography was first used in India in the 1820s and Graham Shaw has argued that its impact was more significant than the introduction of typography in the 1550s.

The Chorebagan Art Studio was most probably started by one Amar Nath Shaha in early1880's.

They produced images… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The Dakshineswar Conspiracy case or Dakshineswar Bomb case was a sensational case which was also related to events in North India, Kakori to be precise, through the engagement of one central figure, Rajendra Nath Lahiri.

By 1925, Bengal had several armed revolutionary outfits.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… It was in Bachaspatipara of Dakshineswar that the revolutionaries used to meet. And it was from this hideout, that Ananta Hari Mitra along with others was picked up from, either on a tip off or due to sheer luck of the colonial police. Among those who were captured were Anant… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

A cartoon from Basantak Magazine ( বসন্তক পত্রিকা) titled ," India's latest Gift, may she enjoy the Gifting". ( ইংলন্ডকে"ভারত মাতার" উপঢৌকন প্রদান)

Wow. This is the earliest cartoon/art that I have seen referring to "Bharat Mata."

Dated, 1873 or 1874. The image was drawn, in all probability by Girindrakumar Dutta for the Basantak magazine/Patrika. Basantak Patrika was a satirical magazine which ran briefly during this period. Along with Harabola Bhand, these were the first magazines to carry political cartoons.

Since I am missing home, and this cookie can't even figure out what to cook, here's me trying to compensate by just staring at Fish recipes and photos and remembering the wise words of Kobi Ishwar Gupta.

1. Topshe

"কষিত কনককান্তি কমনীয় কায় ।
গালভরা গোঁপ দাড়ি তপস্বীর প্রায়।।… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2. Golda Chingri

জলের ভিতরে মাছ কত রস ভরা।
দাড়ী গোঁপ জটাধারী জামাযোড়া পরা ॥

বিশেষত শীতকালে অমৃতের খনি ।
আমিষের সভাপতি মীন শিরোমণি ॥
গলদা চিংড়ী মাছ নাম যার মোচা ।
পড়েছে চরণতলে এলাইয়া কোঁচা ।।
কালিয়ে পোলাও রাঁধো রাঁধো লাউ দিয়া ।
ভাতে খাও ভেজে খাও হবে মুখপ্রিয়া ॥

It's a cool , yet sunny day. An ailing octagenarian lies on his cot. Weakened by the rigours of old age.
Nearby, in the Radha-Madhav temple he has built and devoted his post retirement life to, is abuzz with the festivities of Annakut. Several devotees have assembled , some poor… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… The man was Ganapati Chakraborty. One of Bengal's first on stage illusionists and the mentor to latter day magicians such as PC Sorcar (Sr), K Lal, and other Bengali magicians of that era.

Born into a zamindar family, Ganapati had run away from home at the age of 17, with his… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The interesting story of the legendary strong man, wrestler, circus act and finally a Yogi from Bengal. The story of কান্ত - বলী শ্যামাকান্ত বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় ( Handsome Brave Shyamakanto Bandyopadhyay)

Born in Adial village of Bikrampur, in 1888, Shyamakanto was born to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… At this juncture, having built up a reputation for being a formidable wrestler , Shyamakanta left home and travelled the country. He wanted to join the army but the Brits were not recruiting any Bengalis at that time.
It was the King of Tripura , Birchandra Manikya Bahadur, who… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The first ever play in Bangla ,on a Proscenium stage , was organised by Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedeff, a Russian violinist cum cultural worker on 27th November 1795. He had adapted the play The Disguise, by S Jodrell into the Bangla play Kalponik.

The theater was organised at Domtolla, currently Ezra Street.

We aren't talking about the traditional theater that was present, such as the Dhap, Kheur, Panchali, Akhrai or Jatra, but the evolution into proper theater.

The play had many firsts, such as being the first one to use lyrics in Bengali,

#Bengaliwomantravellers
#পথিকৃৎ
(6)

Durgaboti Ghose
(1905-1992)

Durgaboti Ghosh was born to Indumati and Girindrashekhar Bose in the year 1905.
Schooled at Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya, Durgaboti was married to Rabindra Chandra Gose in 1921. The book details her first travel westwards with her husband in the year 1932. This was a leisurely trip , organised by Thomas Cook and Company.

Even though , largely, the author might come across a a typical housewife out exploring the world, Durgabati's observations regardin

Girindrashekhar Bose
31 January 1887- 3 June 1953
The Father of Psychoanalysis in India.

An established doctor who later delved into the field of Psychoanalysis, G Bose obtained his Master's degree in psychology in 1917 and was awarded the first doctorate in psychology from an Indian University in 1921.

His theories and counters to Sigmund Freud's theories had led to Freud being quite impressed by his work which culminated in a twenty year long correspondence between the two.
Whereas the Cartesian "mind-body" divide was the driving force in

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Lady Abala Bose
1865-1951

Lady Abala Bose was born to Durga Mohan Das and Brahmamoyee Devi on 8th April, 1865.

If ill health and fate hadn't intervened, Lady Bose might just have been the first Bengali woman to become a doctor. Abala Das married the scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose in the year 1887.

It was with her husband, that she travelled the world over prolifically and writing her travelogues targetted especially for young readers.

Most of her travelogues, written for children were published in

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(4)

Rajkumari Bannerjee, is credited with being the first Hindu woman from Bengal to cross the dreaded Kalapani and visit England with her husband Shashipada Bannerjee. If in case, that name sounds familiar, it would be because we have discussed about him in brief on our second post and would do so again at the end of this thread.

Rajkumari Devi was born in the year 1847 and married to Shashipada Banerjee at the age of 13 in the year 1860. At the time of marriage she was illiterate, but under

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(3)

In the previous thread we had done, we discussed the periodical Prabasi and it's founder Ramananda Chattopadhyay.

This thread is dedicated to his daughter, Shanta Chattopadhyay, who had published her travelogue in 14 issues of Prabashi. Shanta Devi and her sister Sita were both accomplished authors, who had co authored several books.

Richly illustrated articles titled Japan Jatra and Japan Bhraman were published in Prabashi Magazine in 14 issues.

She had travelled there with her husband Kalidas Nag.

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(2)

Before we venture further into the topic, it would be prudent to provide a backdrop to the topic and discuss about the facilitators who gave a platform to these budding writing talents.

The three most influential periodicals which provided these industrious women with a platform to express themselves would be Bamabodhini Patrika, Bharati Patrika and most importantly Antahpura Patrika which was an all women effort.

A lot has been written on this forum regarding Bengal's fiery women freedom fighters, artistes and academics.
However, taking a slight diversion from our choice of subject, we would like to discuss more about Bengal's contribution in the field of travel culture and travel writing, as was done by our Women.
In this series, the first woman traveller who we would like to talk about is Hariprobha Takeda.

Hariprobha Takeda is considered by many to be the first Bengali to set foot in Japan. In fact her book Bongomohilar Japanjatra was published