The cuisine of Bangladesh is derived from its geography, culture, and history of constant battle where inspiration and influence carried over from the Mughal and Bengal empires. Staples like rice, lentils (dal), and curried meats with vegetables, mostly fish, dominate the cuisine of the Bengalis. Shutki (fermented fish), panta bhat (fermented rice soaked in water), hilsa curry, beef rezala, and other bhartas (mashed vegetables or fish in mustard oil with green chilies) are some more cornerstones of the country's culinary heritage, more so in rural Bangladesh where creativity and resourcefulness during physically, politically, and economically trying times were the foundations for innovative dishes and culinary practices.
With war ravaging the nation, millions were displaced and found themselves in refugee camps or secluded areas with little or no access to cooking facilities or ingredients. Shortage, hunger, and displacement meant that the population largely subsisted on boiled rice, wild roots, wild leaves, dried fish, or flattened rice (chira) soaked in water. Preparation was done with the highest level of care not to draw unnecessary attention, often over small fires or in makeshift shelters. Refugees who fled to India had equally dire food conditions, living off plain rations like rice gruel, bread, and lentils, rationed in escape camps.
Methods and daily Struggles
People would need to slip out at dawn or after dark to forage for food. Villagers scanned the forests or parched rice fields for wild greens like kolmi shaag (spinach), thankuni (herb for food and/or medicine), water spinach, edible roots, or leftover stalks. Others took risks by going into abandoned farmlands, risking stepping on a mine, in the hope of picking unharvested rice, some lentils remaining in sacks, or hidden stores of shutki (dried fish) buried underground before they fled. Sometimes small children were sent in groups, since they would be less noticeable to soldiers. Even obtaining water had to be done covertly, under the cover of trees or from shallow wells in hidden places.
Meals were drastically simplified with so little to prepare. Earth stoves built into the ground were utilized, with dry leaves, twigs, or cow dung cakes burned for fuel. Those fires were low and smokeless to avoid detection. In Indian camps, refugees cooked beneath tarpaulin sheets or alongside muddy streams, where rations were boiled into bland khichuri (rice and lentil mash) or rice gruel. Now and then, a single egg or piece of dried fish was shared between several to flavor a pot of watery rice. Cooking was usually carried out at odd hours not just to stay hidden, but also because it was cooler and less risky.
Preparing some panta bhat, or combining mustard oil and green chili with boiled mashed potatoes, permitted a level of normalcy and cultural identity to be preserved in the midst of chaos. Women, especially, were the ones who took on the task of trying to keep their families fed and emotionally grounded, even as they mourned loss or cowered in fear.
The ways individuals obtained and prepared food during the genocide testify not only to their victimhood, but also to their extraordinary resilience and resourcefulness.
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