IRRESPECTIVE OF ELECTORAL FIGHT,
BIRYANI EMERGES VICTORIOUS IN CUTTACK
AND BHUBANESWAR
SADANANDA DAS
sndas.agora@gmail.com
The voters of twin-city of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in the ongoing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, buzz with feasts and flavours sponsored by the contestants belonging to political parties as a part of their election campaign prior to polling dates. The city commoners have developed a well trained nose to know the fragrance of a well-cooked food like Biryani.
The political parties believe that “Biryani” is an easy bait to lure voters to the polling booths. From food influencers, chicken Biryani is quite economical compared to mutton Biryani which is too costly to serve a larger section of the mass freely. However, chicken Biryani is famous as an aromatic Iranian dish liked by all food lovers of the historic twin-city.
Authentically, chicken “Biryani” is prepared by local cooks and it is simple to pack, easy to distribute to a large gathering, thrown by the political donors in every niche and cranny of the city. The residents are lined up in snaking queues on streets at a late dusk to receive their favourite. It is seen that women are found more in numbers than men to get a smoked packet of Biryani and run to their respective homes in delight. At times, the Biryani makers resort to a brisk business stealthily by sending food-parcels to some of their pocketed customers. The aroma is contagious even to stray dogs that poke their head through the gates of kitchen where Biryani is made to shine.
The dream of free evening meals in form of chicken Biryani buffets on table, organised in open fields to entice a crowd, hosted by the candidates on different dates. The flavour, texture and aroma of Biryani dish rustled up with an appitiser prepared from curd mixed with onion-slices is incomparable. Generally, the dish on the table satisfies the whole family to mitigate their stressful summer days.
In Bhubaneswar city, the candidates tried to attract its voters with chicken Biryani in preferred locations, day before the election though moral code of conduct and the silence period of campaign were in force. It is true that the trickling orders of consumption are finalized a week before the election dates and the arrangements are done accordingly to feed the voters in different locale. Separate orders are given in advance to caterers for official bureaucrats and party men.
Thousand of kilos of chicken are procured from the market by the party functionaries in consensus to the list given by their respective cooks besides culinary ingredients. The buying of bulk raw chicken, create high demand for poultry on weekly Sundays and that too the rate is twice of average Sundays. The small, regular buyers are hesitant to go for fresh chicken with a twitting nose. The vendors of meat also make supplementary income with unwanted offal during the election period.
Biryani is regarded a meal of the election, getting associated in early 2000s. It first got started in South India during election time where fresh, raw chicken and mutton were supplied to the voters by the party representatives, dropping them at each door of residents.This practice was later evolved into cooked Biryani that is fragrant, flavourful and a good balance of rice and meat. Enriched with ‘ghee’, ingredients, patience, and cooking-skill, make Biryani a ubiquitous recipe.
The fifth phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly election is already over and the next two phases on May 25 and June 01 still remain to put an end to election contests. There is victory and defeat in a free and fair electoral process with voters exercising their adult franchise in a democratic set-up; nevertheless Biryani stands out as a consummate host.
The simple Biryani with unseen hands behind it may be an “influencer” but certainly not a “game-changer” in today’s election.
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