Partition food memories that travelled
dal poori in Mauritius, but one which is very different from the original, and which is rooted in East Africa," he says. These kinds of culinary adaptations became more marked just after the partition of India in 1947—an unprecedented migration of people in history. In May 2020, The Partition Museum, Amritsar, spent a week highlighting food memories related to this.
On its Facebook page, the museum wrote: “With the influx of refugees came new food traditions, flavours and techniques. A central example of this phenomenon was Delhi, whose Shahjahanabad-influenced Mughlai cuisine was replaced with the bolder flavours, gravies, and Tandoor from West Punjab… The influx of refugees also introduced a Dhaba culture in the subcontinent with many refugees setting up food establishments for survival." According to Kurush Dalal, a Mumbai-based archaeologist and culinary anthropologist, these food adaptations were a way of holding on to the past, which had been violently ripped away. “Today, there are more Sindhis in Mumbai and parts around it than anywhere else in the country.
They came in with their own food memories, which were then shaped by their refugee-hood in India. What they have done with this over time is a fascinating story," he says. Dalal cites the Sindhi version of the elbow macaroni—cooked in the pressure cooker with potatoes and spices—as one of the most interesting adaptations ever.
“The macaroni was part of the food kits handed out to them at refugee camps in India. What do you do when you have never cooked or eaten macaroni before? You create something new with the flavours that you are familiar with," he says. The Punjabi families, who moved from various parts of Pakistan—Multan, Lahore, Peshawar— did the same
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