It is about balancing the kharas (savoury) with the meethas (sweet flavours): Unearthing erasures of food history in Gujarat

Abstract (English)

In July 2024, Palitana a city in Gujarat became the first city in the world to ban the sale and consumption of non-vegetarian food. This process is symptomatic of a larger history of violence and erasure that is backed by the state and what is understood as ‘Gujarati’ food. Earlier research on Gujarat has shown the cities are divided into ‘gastronomical zones’ with very clear spatial boundaries around purity/ pollution and clean/unclean attached to Muslim bodies and their food habits (Jasani, 2014). This paper seeks to systematically document the erasure of the unique food histories of the Muslim communities of Gujarat - the Memons, the Bohras and the Khojas. These communities originated in rural Gujarat and have migrated to Pakistan (during the partition) and other urban Indian centres) in India. These histories though mobile carry a sense of place in their narration. This food culture comes with its own materiality, traditions around community kitchens, foods that are served during festivals and in mourning and nuanced rituals during eating and drinking.

This paper draws attention to the larger politics of food in Gujarat while showing how these food histories keep the moral universe of these communities alive.