DNA EXCLUSIVE: Khichdi was around even 2,000 years ago, says study

Khichdi, the humble member of our culinary company, has been playing a long, long inning in the taste match. It's score: Nearly 2,000 years.

Archaeologists have found burnt pieces of rice and green gram, aka moong dal, that were cooked together in Maharashtra in 1st century AD, indicating that the comfort food was equally savoured back then.

The site of the discovery – Ter in Osmanabad district – was a mercantile centre and part of India's ancient trade with Rome, another clue that the lentil-rice dish was prepared in large quantities.

"We found two broken terracotta pots with traces of rice and moong dal cooked together in bulk. The grains were burnt and converted to carbon. This gives us an insight into the culture and eating habits of people 2,000 years ago," said Maya Patil (Shahapurkar), head, department of archaeology, Solapur University.

Arrival of chilli, potato, and tomato in the past few centuries, and more recently Chinese cuisine, may have expanded choices for Indian palates, but the savoury combination of rice and dal continues to be the first choice for those under the weather and is synonymous with simple-eating.

In 2015, Patil, the then deputy director at the state department of museums and archaeology, led excavations the site, about 450 km from Mumbai. A report on their findings was submitted to the government recently.

Ter, called 'Tagar' in ancient times, is mentioned in the works of the Chinese traveller Hsuan-Tsang and was populated from 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD through the pre-Satavahana, Satavahana, later-Satavahana and Vakataka period. It attained the pinnacle of its glory during Satavahana rule. It is said that Ter gradually became uninhabitable due to drought during the Rashtrakuta era.

The Marathwada region, which includes Osmanabad, is drought-affected. "Rice is not widely cultivated here. This means the region had good rainfall in that period with abundant water," said Patil.

Though traces of rice were found in late-Harappan Chalcolithic sites in Maharashtra like Inamgaon and Daymabad, this was probably the first instance where rice and moong dal were found to be cooked together. The team also found burnt pieces of wheat, jowar, bajra and tur dal and jujube seeds.

Amol Gote, assistant archaeologist and another member of the team, said this could be among the oldest evidence of khichdi being prepared.

"We found a number of terracotta bowls. We unearthed small stone mortars and pestles. Grains may have been soaked at night and crushed in the morning and eaten as stone grinders were used only after the Satavahana era. A cookery book penned by Chalukya king Someshwara II mentions gruel," said Patil.

The people of ancient Ter ate vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian food as revealed by bones of fish and animals like sheep and goats that were dug up by the archaeologists.

Among other discoveries of historical importance, the team found traces of around two-meter tall wooden ramparts protecting the city and terracotta spindles or bobbins used to wind cotton fabric or muslin which was India's famous ancient export.

"We found pieces of Mauryan-era northern blackware pottery which may have been brought by Buddhist monks as Ter was a major Buddhist centre," she said. Ter has the 4th-century Trivikram temple, which is the oldest surviving brick temple in Maharashtra, and the 6th-century Uttareshwar and Kaleshwar temples.

THE DISCOVERY

• Traces of burnt rice and moong dal cooked together in 1st century AD found at Ter in Maharashtra
   
• Ter was a business hub and part of India's trade with Rome, another clue that it was cooked in large quantities
   
• Archaeologists say this could be the oldest evidence of khichdi being prepared

THE CULINARY DISCOVERY

History:
Ter, or Tagar as it was called, is among the richest archaeological sites in Maharashtra. It finds a mention in the works of Pliny the Elder and 'Periplus of the Erythraean Sea' (a navigation document)

Some ancient trade routes: 
Nashik- Junnar- Naneghat- Kalyan- Ter Machilipatnam- Vinukonda- Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad)- Ter- Paithan ( Prathisthan, the capital of the Satavahanas)- Kalyan- Nashik- Surat- Bharuch (or Barigaza as it was called then).

Excavations: 
An exploration was conducted by Henry Cousens (1901-5), later excavations include K.N Dikshit (1958), B.N Chaphekar (1967-68), S.P Deo (1974-75) and by the state archaeology directorate

Some archaeological finds: 
Shell bangles, ivory eyebrow pencils used to apply kajal, megarianware decorated pottery, black ware and red ware, terracotta bowls, remains of a stupa, chaitya and houses, figurines of Lajjagauri (Mother Goddess), terracotta toys including wheels, figurines of animals like elephants and bulls, fragments of amphoras that may have contained wine from Rome

Threats: 
Rampant use of white sand found there for farming, brick kilns.