Foods

The Taste Of Mithila

The Taste of Mithila

In the course of learning about the culture of Mithila we have reached to its most important part which is about the food of MITHILA .

Mithilanchal has its rich culture of food which is full of delight and taste. Many of them are known to lots of people but still there are some which are less known and has some very specific nutritional values which adds an extra edge to ones diet and food habit.It cater the need of huge population so it has a variety of dishes. So, one have lots of option to choose those which suits to their food consumption habit.


The people of Mithila ,predominantly belong to Brahmin clan but despite of being Brahmin they are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian as well.Because food habits have lot to do with the geography of that particular area and as we know lots of rivers are flowing through the region of Mithila making it a dampy and marshy plain .So, there is a huge availability of water bodies in a form of river and ponds which is a ready source of fishes. In this way fish is one of the main ingredient of the diet of Mithilas people .But instead of being non-vegetarian ,they did not prefer to take onions, garlic and poultry products.

There is a custom of eating Boiled Rice based lunch and Roti based dinner and breakfast..The staple food is bhat (boiled rice), dal, roti, tarkari and achar.


Unlike others Maithili enjoy both the quality and quantity of the food and this is the characteristics that differentiate the cuisine and people from others.The best manifestation of this can be seen in BHOJ (feast) and weddings .

There is a famous saying about MITHILA'S BHOJ;

"केला के पत्ता पर,

भात,दाइल,घी,भाटा अदौरी, डालना,ओलक चोखा,

सजमैनक भुजिया,तरल परौर,तिलकोर,पापड़ और आचार।

इ भेल मिथलाक सचार।"

Here it mentions,the various dishes through which guests are welcomed in Mithila and any holy ocassion these dishes must be prepared in every home in Mithila.

The another favourite dish among Maithil is Machh-Bhat (fish curry and steamed rice). Maachhak Jhor is all day famous except in few religious festivals. No any function is considered complete without this.

The introduction about Mithila Cuisine would remain incomplete without a reference on Paan (betel leaves). According to an old saying Paan , Maach and Makhan ( betel leaves, fish and lotus seed) is not found even in the paradise, so one should enjoy these things on earth only so not to regret later. It is generally taken after completion of the meal in order to make it complete.


One must get confused that even after eating so much of food and that also having spicy flavour how one can go for healthy diet. But here in mithila the cure of each problem is there in the food itself. With each diet you may encounter something which can help you to digest that food it may be in a form of some spices,lefs of some desert dish. So,even after eating a lot its very rare that one may go through some serious health issues.


In this way Mithila's legecy of knowledge and philosophy's can also

be seen through its food and in the way its consumed and enjoyed by the people.

~ Yasha Sandilya