Taste of Life: When Rakhmabai served ‘gulavani’ on Easter

Easter in India was a grand affair, sometimes grander than Christmas, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Spring is symbolic of rebirth, new life, and hope. So, it is only natural to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at this time of the year

In “The Net Cast in Many Waters – Sketches from the Life of Missionaries”, published in 1889, an interesting report about the celebration of Easter in Poona could be found. The year was 1888, and the month was April. The Poona Sisters from the Epiphany School were not then shifted to their new buildings at the Panch Haud Mission in Guruwar Peth.

Germans and Italians in Poona painted and gilded eggs as sign of resurrection. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The nuns had been visiting and teaching in the village of “Parvutti” (Parvati), just outside the city of Poona. The village lay at the foot of a high hill on which stood a group of magnificent temples which could be seen from all parts of Poona. The village consisted chiefly of mud huts with now and then a two-storied brick house, and a well. Cattle and goats lived with their owners.

The missionaries had befriended a gardener and his wife who lived in one of the better sorts of houses, with a verandah and a little compound attached. The couple owned a large orchard of mango, plantain, guava, and other trees, at the foot of the hill. Rakhmabai was the woman’s name. She prepared a grand native feast of “chapati”, “gulavani” (jaggery syrup), “spiced rice”, and mutton curry. The food was served under a magnificent mango tree on Easter Tuesday.

At Easter, twenty-three children of the Epiphany School had gone out to tea at the house of an English Sahib. This was quite a new thing for them to do, and there was a little anxiety as to how large a number would conduct themselves. But the venture succeeded excellently, and three carriages were arranged on Easter Monday. After a final look that all hands were clean and tidy, they were packed in respective carriages after a few last words of exhortation and warning.

The children were taken to one Mrs W’s house and made to sit in a garden. They were served with tea and milk and cakes and patties. Chocolates were distributed too.

Easter in India was a grand affair, sometimes grander than Christmas, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Spring is symbolic of rebirth, new life, and hope. So, it is only natural to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at this time of the year. It is a time to spend with friends and family. Easter Sunday is also when church bells will be rung again, having been silent during Lent, a period of prayer, fasting, and penance.

Lent is traditionally a time of giving up food, especially meat and dairy. Officially Lent began with Ash Sunday, and during Lent, many Europeans in India followed a fairly strict abstinence from alcohol and meat. Religion was important in the British Raj. It was not only just spiritual, but also involved British social and cultural rituals.

Fish was important for Lenten diets, and for those who could afford it. During the British Raj, fresh and dried fish would be imported from Bombay. Mahseer, caught from the Khadakwasla dam, would be cooked in the form of curry or baked. Dried Bombay Duck would be in great demand in the bazaars of Poona and would be purchased by the not-so-wealthy Europeans.

In Poona, the Holy Week began with Palm Sunday. In the evening of Maundy Thursday, loaves of bread were given in memory of the Last Supper. Good Friday was a day of grief and sadness. It was sombre and many people would fast the whole day, or eat a simple meal if they ate at all.

Easter Sunday was the end of forty days of moderation and restraint and the moment when flesh and dairy could be consumed again. Lent is all about abstinence. Easter is, by contrast, a feast.

Preparations for the feast would typically begin on Holy Saturday. Easter breakfast usually consisted of a light chicken and veg stew with bread.

Easter lunch would be incomplete without a lamb roast. Lamb carries with it certain religious connotations, with the sacrificial lamb remembered in celebrations of both Passover and Easter. Because of this significance roast lamb became firmly entrenched as the Easter meal, long predating the golden turkeys of Christmas.

Some East Indian cooks employed in Poona would cook a special dish called “mutton tope” for lunch. This was a flavourful recipe where “poha”, ie. pressed rice and mutton were cooked along with special spices, onion, tomatoes, and sometimes, cauliflower. Goan cooks were known for the coconut cakes they would bake on the occasion of Easter.

Milk Punch was a favourite drink to be had on Easter. It is a milk-based brandy or bourbon beverage. It consists of milk, the spirit, sugar, and vanilla extract. It is served cold with nutmeg sprinkled on top. Cursetjee & Sons, General Merchants and Agents, Kirkee, were well known for their bottled milk punch. Bookings were required to be made at least a couple of months in advance to procure a bottle of the much–in–demand drink.

Germans and Italians in Poona painted and gilded eggs as a sign of resurrection. The Scottish, on Easter Day, boiled and painted eggs. In England, there was a very old and widespread custom of making presents of eggs on Easter Day. The eggs were painted yellow or red. They were the emblems of the sun and could put out a fire and cure diseases. The custom was followed by the English in Poona. Egg shells were broken after the meat was out in case the devil should fit it out for a witch.

As in England, Easter was a garden festival in India too. Easter garden parties were very popular in the Bombay Presidency. The Empress and Bund gardens were the coveted venues for such parties. Sandwiches, cold cuts of meat, and pastries would be packed in boxes and were devoured in the company of friends and family. Sherbets made of mangosteens and raw mangoes were sometimes served.

Like lamb, lilies too were associated with Easter. Those who could not afford the flower would make do with jasmine flowers which would be in bloom during the season.

Easter was a festival when charity was encouraged. Before Lent, notices would be put in newspapers asking readers to donate clothes, toys, and food. Volunteers from various churches would collect the goods and distribute them among the poor. It was customary for many well-to-do men and women to distribute cakes, chocolates, and toys in orphanages.

Easter is a time for love, hope, good food, and sunshine. What more does one need?

Chinmay Damle is a research scientist and food enthusiast. He writes here on Pune’s food culture. He can be contacted at chinmay.damle@gmail.com