Chakam - the Bishnupriya Manipuri kitchen has significance of its own. The traditional chakams are built on the 'Agni Kun' according to Vaastu Sastra. It is mainly build at the rear end of the house. It usually has two doors - one connecting it to the rest of the house and the other opening at the backyard.
By Ranita Sinha, Kolkata
The Bishnupriya Manipuri kitchens are very spacious and has 'kutcha floors'. It usually has two earthen chulhas known as 'leirang' and a make shift chulha known as the 'Phunka' or 'Udal' which is mainly put at the centre of the kitchen.
A common sight that is seen at every chakam is the household granary known as the 'Barong', built at one corner of the kitchen.
Every morning the Chakam is cleaned and mopped with a mixture of mud and cow dung. No overnight used utensils are kept in the kitchen. No one is allowed to enter the chakam without taking a bath. Shoes and slippers are a big NO NO in there.
Onions, garlic, eggs and meat are not allowed inside a Chakam, though fish is consumed at a large scale. The lady who cooks the food is not allowed to roam around or touch anything or anybody while she is preparing food. Before preparing every meal she has to take a bath.
A layering of mud is done on the outer surface of the utensils used for cooking food. It is necessary because the food is cooked in the 'Leirang' with wooden fire, which releases lots of carbon, which makes the utensils black and very difficult to clean. With the layering the cleaning part is made easier.
The make shift hearth (chulha) known as the 'Phunka' or the 'Udal' has its own significance. It is made by digging a hole of approximately one foot deep and one feet wide. Upon it an iron stand known as the 'Lechupi' is put, over which the utensils used for preparing food are put. The main feature of this Phunka is that the fire is always alive. It is because the hole is filled with skins of paddy called 'Chuss' which once put on fire does not extinct.
The Phunka is mainly used to make tea, boil milk, make roti, roast potatoes, dry fish, Hidol etc. It can even be said that it works as a modern day micro oven. The Phunka is also a popular place of 'adda' for the household. It is the place where on a winter night all the family members sit around and gossip.
But since life is changing at a rapid pace and so also technology. Now a days such Chakams are very rare. Now in the remote villages also all modern amenities like gas and ovens etc. are used in the kitchen. The Leirangs and Phunkas are rarely seen. Now dining tables has taken the place of the Barong. No more household adda takes place surrounding the Phunka at a winter night. Now the village lanes do not smell of the Chossor ji.
But it is life. It has to change with time. Yet it is definite that the food cooked on a cooking gas does not taste the same as the food once cooked on wooden fire. The real taste of Bishnupriya Manipuri food cooked on darour ji (wooden fire) is missing.
Update: by Rebati Mohan Sinha
Earlier I had appreciated Mrs. Ranita Sinha for her articles; like potato-fry, Chinchu etc. And today, again I am going to praise her. The words written in B.M kitchen, leirang, phunka, udaal, chakam and chuss etc ,are fading away from our minds, as she mentioned in her article that these are being replaced by modern days utilities,such as, dining table, Gas stove and oven etc. During my last visit to my native place I have enjoyed a lot, the way she has narrated in her article i.e the phunka,where the household (people)eagerly waiting for their turn to occupy the place around it, like a game of musical-chair; but my berth was assured, as I was second senior most at home.These all could happen,when the Kitchen(chakaam)is spacious, as mentioned in the article and to substantiate this, I am attaching a photograph,showing how the household having their food in the spacious chakam.
Photo by: Rebati Mohan Sinha
Related Stories
Khuttei
Chinchu
I Saw a Bishnupriya Manipuri Ragpicker
Hot Potatoes in Winter
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE BISHNUPRIYA MANIPURI BLOG.
By Ranita Sinha, Kolkata
The Bishnupriya Manipuri kitchens are very spacious and has 'kutcha floors'. It usually has two earthen chulhas known as 'leirang' and a make shift chulha known as the 'Phunka' or 'Udal' which is mainly put at the centre of the kitchen.
A common sight that is seen at every chakam is the household granary known as the 'Barong', built at one corner of the kitchen.
Every morning the Chakam is cleaned and mopped with a mixture of mud and cow dung. No overnight used utensils are kept in the kitchen. No one is allowed to enter the chakam without taking a bath. Shoes and slippers are a big NO NO in there.
Onions, garlic, eggs and meat are not allowed inside a Chakam, though fish is consumed at a large scale. The lady who cooks the food is not allowed to roam around or touch anything or anybody while she is preparing food. Before preparing every meal she has to take a bath.
A layering of mud is done on the outer surface of the utensils used for cooking food. It is necessary because the food is cooked in the 'Leirang' with wooden fire, which releases lots of carbon, which makes the utensils black and very difficult to clean. With the layering the cleaning part is made easier.
The make shift hearth (chulha) known as the 'Phunka' or the 'Udal' has its own significance. It is made by digging a hole of approximately one foot deep and one feet wide. Upon it an iron stand known as the 'Lechupi' is put, over which the utensils used for preparing food are put. The main feature of this Phunka is that the fire is always alive. It is because the hole is filled with skins of paddy called 'Chuss' which once put on fire does not extinct.
The Phunka is mainly used to make tea, boil milk, make roti, roast potatoes, dry fish, Hidol etc. It can even be said that it works as a modern day micro oven. The Phunka is also a popular place of 'adda' for the household. It is the place where on a winter night all the family members sit around and gossip.
But since life is changing at a rapid pace and so also technology. Now a days such Chakams are very rare. Now in the remote villages also all modern amenities like gas and ovens etc. are used in the kitchen. The Leirangs and Phunkas are rarely seen. Now dining tables has taken the place of the Barong. No more household adda takes place surrounding the Phunka at a winter night. Now the village lanes do not smell of the Chossor ji.
But it is life. It has to change with time. Yet it is definite that the food cooked on a cooking gas does not taste the same as the food once cooked on wooden fire. The real taste of Bishnupriya Manipuri food cooked on darour ji (wooden fire) is missing.
Update: by Rebati Mohan Sinha
Earlier I had appreciated Mrs. Ranita Sinha for her articles; like potato-fry, Chinchu etc. And today, again I am going to praise her. The words written in B.M kitchen, leirang, phunka, udaal, chakam and chuss etc ,are fading away from our minds, as she mentioned in her article that these are being replaced by modern days utilities,such as, dining table, Gas stove and oven etc. During my last visit to my native place I have enjoyed a lot, the way she has narrated in her article i.e the phunka,where the household (people)eagerly waiting for their turn to occupy the place around it, like a game of musical-chair; but my berth was assured, as I was second senior most at home.These all could happen,when the Kitchen(chakaam)is spacious, as mentioned in the article and to substantiate this, I am attaching a photograph,showing how the household having their food in the spacious chakam.
Photo by: Rebati Mohan Sinha
Related Stories
Khuttei
Chinchu
I Saw a Bishnupriya Manipuri Ragpicker
Hot Potatoes in Winter
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE BISHNUPRIYA MANIPURI BLOG.
Phunka is supposed to be the rendezvous for all the power brokers in the respective villages... .. It was a long wait for ur articles... and finally a wonderful gift to the readers.... grt. work..grt touching topic...
ReplyDeletehappy holi... regards..
hello eche,
ReplyDeleteit is a beatuful write up .the interior of a chakam, whether chimney fitted modern or traditional with earthen oven, is incomplete without the presence of a phunka.......
regards,
prodip
Hi Ranita, I can only say "wow" as the graphical description of a manipuri chakam threw me down memory lane to my trips to Chencoorie village while visiting granny's and uncles. In this age of sophisticated cooking appliances and conditioned weather, nothing can gratify my soul as much as sitting beside a phunka on a cold wintry morning taking roast potatoes and goading grandma to tell stories. No modern applicance can replicate the heavenly taste of "dari" (scrapped rice from the bottom of the pot) cooked on wooden fire. It really goes well with "paltoi; or with "chelkom, kola and madur." Well "janne kaha gaye who din.........."
ReplyDeleteWell folks, keep up the good work. The team of Rishikesh, Ranita and BN Sinha are doing an excellent job with inputs from so many dynamic BM personalities.
Love and regards,
Rishi (Not to be confused with Rajkumar Rishikesh Sinha although I share his middle and last name or rather he shares my name...just kidding)