Key Points
But it got me thinking, again, about why I get so cross about these things tomatoes in rogan josh, or bay leaves or garam masala powder in what claim to be Kashmiri recipes...
Often, these naysayers argue, our versions or definitions of authenticity are formed by our childhood introductions to those foods, clothes or other markers..
And sure, of course there were times, especially when we no longer lived in Kashmir, when my mother had to improvise regular chillies instead of Kashmiri chillies, brown cumin instead of black, onions instead of shallots something I end up doing too...
And of course while there is much thats different between Kashmiris and Palestinians, and their respective situations, in a world where they seem to have such little control over their individual and collective lives and lands, where from their point of view, every marker of their identity seems to make them a target, food is one thing they still have control over..
This excerpt from Forgotten Foods: Memories and Recipes from Muslim South Asia edited by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Tarana Husain Khan and Claire Chambers has been published with permission from Pan Macmillan India..
