Nah-Bai, Roti-Walah
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Nah-Bai, Roti-Walah
These are different descriptions of Muhammadan bakers, the former being also a pastry-cook.
The Nan-bai uses leaven (maya) prepared with Tayir,2 acidulated milk, to which cocoa-nut milk, wheat flour, and spices are added. These ingredients being well kneaded are wrapped in a cloth, and kept in a warm place till required. He bakes several kinds of bread, such as Baqir-Khani, Shir-mal, Panja-Kash, and Nan-Khatai; and makes Kulicha, or scones, Paratha, an indigestible piecrust, and, of late years, English biscuits.
The Nan-bai is also a cook providing for dinner parties at
1 In Upper India the mouthpiece is often made of jade or bloodstone.
2 Tayir is Tamil for curds, and, according to Dr. Caldwell, belongs to the West Indo-European family of words. How comes it to be in general use in Eastern Bengal? Was it like Tope, a grove of trees, and Topas, a native Christian, introduced from Madras by the English?
his shop, or house, and his bill of fare includes a delicious, richly-flavoured curry, Kofta, or pounded meat, roasts, and pulaos. Afghans, and other travellers, obtain their meals at his shop for so much a head; but the dinner is a la carte. He often, too, lets lodgings to those who prefer a quiet room to a noisy, dirty inn.
Taking him for all in all there is no more jovial and entertaining character than the baker, the barber being his only rival. The former naturally finds it easier to secure popularity by ministering to the creature comforts of his customers than the latter, who only has to depend on his ready wit, and conversational talent, for causing his clients to forget the blunt edge of his razor.
The Roti-walah, again, makes bread according to the English method, his ferment being toddy (Tari), and from using this unholy liquor his bread is not in so much request as the badly baked and doughy article prepared by the Nan-bat. The oven of the Roti-walah is always above ground, while that of the Nan-bai is either sunk beneath the surface or covered over with mud. English bread is known as Pao-roti, as each loaf weighs half a pound, or a quarter (pao) of a Ser.
The Roti-walah also makes Samosa, a three-cornered pate, or pasty, of minced meat, as well as the piecrust seen on many European tables.
With the exception of pork and the flesh of turtles, Muhammadans eat all manner of meat, properly killed. It is cooked by the Nan-bai in the following ways:�
Kababi�plain roast. Kofta�hashed or pounded, and fried in Ghi. Qaliya�broiled, and served up with curry (Salan) and vegetables. Qorma�soaked in curds, and cooked with Ghi and hot spices. Do-piyaza�a stew or curry, made with Ghi, onions, and rich spices.
