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When was the first time you had a homegrown, true blue Indian dish that was wrapped in a leaf? Was it Bengal’s Fish Paturi, the Gujarati Patra, the Mangalorean Ponsache Patholi or the Kumaoni Singori? Or was it simply an idli cooked in a banana leaf wrapping?
Whatever your first experience might have been, seeing delicious food come out of a soft leaf wrapping is such utter joy—and don’t we know it! It doesn’t matter if the leaf wrapping is made of banana, turmeric, colocasia, jackfriut, betel or screwpine. We care not if the filling inside is a mustard-soaked fish, a dumpling of jackfruit or a pitha made of rice flour, coconut and jaggery. Each time we come across a leaf-wrapped dish we are given a gift. The act of opening the leafy parcel is always one of joy and pleasure, whether you’re at a festival, a wedding or at home.
Here’s what you need to know about India’s age-old cooking technique, leaf wrapping.
The Science Behind Leaf Wrapping Food
Truth be told, leaf wrapping is not just a cooking technique used in India. Since it’s actually prehistoric, many cultures across the world grew with at least one version of it—and most have managed to keep it alive. The Tamales of Mexico and Kakinoha-Zushi of Japan are probably the prime examples we know of. While the precise history of how this cooking technique emerged is not known, the common sense behind it is evident. Instead of using an earthen pot or cookware to hold the ingredients, you put them in a sturdy leaf that has been lightly heated up (to soften it), seal everything in with twine or more of the same leaves, then place the parcel on an open fire to cook it. Simple, and quite hassle-free too, right?
The science behind leaf wrapping as a cooking technique has been proved to be effective, not only because the results are delicious but also since they cooked dish is also healthy. When you pick a leaf for this technique, whether it’s the common banana or the rarer screwpine, it works as a sustainable, eco-friendly vessel for the ingredients. The flavour of the leaves also seeps into the dish being cooked, adding to its flavour. Now, let’s take a look at what goes on inside the leafy exterior.
Whether the ingredients used are savoury or sweet, they are usually arranged in a proper proportion. If you are making a Fish Paturi, then selecting the right cut of the fish matters just as much as getting the right amount of mustard, salt, chillies and a bit of oil for fat. The same goes for sweet dishes like Enduri Pitha, where the proportion of rice flour to coconut and jaggery is key to the dish coming out perfectly. Once packed in and sealed, the leaf wrapping technique introduces us to the third key element—fire. While the leafy parcel chars and burns, the ingredients inside get gently steamed. So, leaf, stuffing and fire, these are the three pillars of the leaf wrapping technique.
Leaf Wrapping & Its Results Across India
Now that we understand the science behind leaf wrapping better, we come to the next bit that makes this ancient technique a winner even today—ingenuity. Every region of the Indian subcontinent has at least one leaf-wrapped delicacy to boast of, and each of these are the results of human ingenuity and the love of food. Let’s keep the well-known Patra Ni Machhi and Panki aside and delve into some of the more unusual leaf wrapping dishes produced across India to prove this point.
Rajasthan is a land where the Rajputs combined leaf wrapping with khad (pit) cooking for unbelievably scrumptious and royal meaty results. Whole chicken, slathered with an aromatic spice blend, are wrapped in leaves called Khakhara (flame of the forest) and roasted in a pit. At the Varadaraja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuarm, Tamil Nadu, a simple idli batter is flavoured with dry ginger, cumin, asafoetida and carry leaves, placed in manthara leaves and then steamed. The woody fragrance of the mantharai leaves meld with the spices in the idli batter. Paknam is a savoury cake made in Manipur, where turmeric leaves are packed with chickpea flour, banana blossoms and fermented fish before being steamed. In Assam, small fish, green chillies, ginger, salt and mustard oil are used to create a similar dish.
The examples from across the nation are never-ending. For some, like Singori sweet in Kumaon, you have to travel all the way to Uttarakhand. For others, you can just head to a restaurant in your cosmopolis to get a taste. And if you have the resourcefulness and creativity that those who came up with these unique recipes can boast of, then is there anything more than the ingredients and ingenuity you need?
