Dawoodi Bohri (Bohra), is an Indian community with an ancient Yemeni root. Only one million in population, we are widely spread across the world. Our cuisine is Gujarati Indian with Middle Eastern influence and the adoption of cuisines from the countries we have settled in.
Food is an intrinsic part of the Bohri’s daily life. We have a distinctive style of cooking and eating, encased with traditions. An age old custom is eating in a thaal. A thaal is a large round metal plate that has food placed on it and the family sits around, eating dishes, course by course. Sitting around a thaal, symbolises unity, equality and sharing among the diners.
A piece of cloth, called a ‘safra’ is placed on the floor and a metal cylinder called a ‘kundli’ is used to raise the thaal. The thaal is only placed on the kundli once you have people sitting around it, usually eight. You never have an unaccompanied thaal and no one leaves the thaal until everyone has finished their meal.
When you are invited to someone’s home for a thaal dinner, after you are seated on the floor, the host will come with a ‘chelamchi loto’ (water jug) to wash your hands before the thaal with the food is brought in. It is again done after the meal is over. This is a gesture of treating your guest with honour.
A meal starts and ends with the taste of a pinch of salt. Salt symbolises equality among men as it is accessible to everyone, rich or poor. It is also a palette cleanser. We start the meal with a sweet dish called ‘mithas’. This followed by a savoury appetiser called ‘kheraz’. This mithas and kheraz sequence can be repeated if it is a special occasion such as weddings. The main course meal follows with a rice dish, curries, soups and side dishes of salads, acars and chutneys.
The Bohris have an extensive range of dishes. Some are common Indian, Middle Eastern dishes, some are fusion and some are distinctively Bohri. One such dish is ‘Dal Chawal Pelidu’. A humble dish yet the mother of all Bohri dishes. A dish that is served in almost every Bohri home across the globe. A vegetarian rice dish, it literally means lentil (dal), rice (chawal), lentil stew (pelidu). The rice is layered with spiced lentils and the stew is cooked with lentil flour, drumstick (the fruit of Moringa tree). Sometimes, mutton is added to the pelidu making it non vegetarian. The three items go hand in hand and are never served on its own.
Other well loved iconic Bohri dishes are Kulfi (ice cream), Gajar Halwa (carrot pudding) Kebabs, Samosas, Biryani, Kari (curry), Khema Ni Khicri (mince mutton rice with soup), Helim (rice, wheat and mutton stew), Kechumber (onion and cucumber salad). Some dishes are only cooked during special occasions. Sirkhermo (sweet milk soup with vermicelli, nuts and dried fruits) is only served during Idd. And on the eve of the Bohri new year, families all over the world sit around a Thaal that must have at least 11 dishes and one of them must be a sweet rice dish and fish dish.
The Bohris have a strict no food wastage policy. Everything on a thaal has to be eaten and nothing must be thrown away. Thus you will always have one person in a thaal that will gently tell everyone to finish all their food.
A Bohri meal is not just about appreciation the food but also about fellowship
