Why the veg/non-veg debate during Durga Puja is wrong to engage in

Goat sacrifice is a bloody affair — not for the faint-hearted. At the Kalighat temple in Kolkata, and some villages of West Bengal, it is still practised with fanfare. If egg rolls offend you, then read on, but at your own risk. The sacrificial goat’s neck has to be stretched to offer a clean shot. Its head is stuck to a wooden structure, and the rest of the animal is pulled away by its legs by multiple men. Another man brings down a specially shaped heavy sword to sever the head in one stroke. The steps of the ritual vary as per local custom. It is cruelty. The custom has faced severe opposition from many quarters. It isn’t getting any more popular and is being abandoned slowly. But it’s still on. Hundreds of goats are sacrificed in the state (some in Odisha and Assam, too) during the Durga Puja and Kali Puja festivals. It is a tradition that sharply divides West Bengal. A pair of goats, many consider, is the best offering to the goddess, especially when praying for something definite. It’s an uneasy legacy and the burden of guilt around sacrificing a living being also wafts into Bengali literature (Rajarshi by Rabindranath Tagore and Kapalkundala by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) — something the “liberal” Hindu Bong learns to live with.

Meanwhile, the traditional Hindu Bong also struggles with goat sacrifice: a clash of age-old traditions. The Shakta traditions cradle the practice of animal sacrifice while the Vaishnav traditions and no-nonveg rules associated with it also have firm roots in the state. Many households struggle to maintain the vegetarian/non-vegetarian divide on Durga Puja and Kali Puja days. Therefore the sacrificial goat’s meat has to be slow-cooked in vegetarian style, without onion or garlic, but with yoghurt, ginger, roasted cumin and coriander powders, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and a hint of asafoetida. It has to be first offered to the goddess and, then, consumed as prasad.

Now imagine the incredulity of asking an average Bong to feel guilty about consuming an egg roll. The egg roll is in many ways the vada pav of Kolkata, the staple or basic street food. It is different from the Frankie, or a wrap. A flat bread of maida is fried on a tawa and then an egg (or two) is broken on it and cooked together, finally wrapping in finely chopped onions with a pinch of lemon. Tasty, yes, but it’s not really sinful. Not yet. That’s just the beginning. Now you add more matter, chicken or mutton, use keema instead of chunks, and increase the number of eggs, or a potato stuffing if you please.

But let us get on to the real deal. Betki fillets (Bhetki in Bengali) fried with a coating of bread crumbs and served with kasundi (a sauce made of fermented mustard seeds) is easily the go-to item on Durga Puja nightouts for Bongs. Bengali caterers in cities other than in West Bengal are in huge demand to set up their stalls within Durga Puja pandals to sell fish fry, the kobiraji cutlet and the plethora of chops (croquettes). Chops are usually mashed fish or chicken or mutton, coated with bread crumbs, deep fried. And if you thought Bongs were all about non-veg, try the vegetable chop, the aamer (mango) chop or the mochar chop (banana flower).

No Reservations
In fact, the veg/non-veg debate is the wrong one we are engaging in. It is not about the kind of food. In fact, it may not at all be about food per se. The build-up to the Durga Puja frenzy is largely about eating. You might want to add drinking, too. Country liquor, after all, is a must offering to the goddess Kali. We have all heard the idiom about how you can reach a person’s heart through their stomach. Why can’t it, then, reach even further to spirituality?

To understand the Bong psyche, we can just go back a little more than 100 years into the 19th century and read a poem-song by one of the most well-known poet saints of West Bengal, Ramprasad Sen. He was initiated in the tantric tradition of Kali worship. But as a young man Ramprasad worked as a clerk at zamindar Durga Charan Mitra’s household in Kolkata. Ramprasad would often write poetry in praise of the goddess Kali in the accounts ledger books. After reading his poetry, Mitra offered him a stipend and asked him to write more. One of the most popular songs of Ramprasad, often used in Bengali movies and literature, is Ebar Kali tomay khabo (Now I will eat you, Kali). Yes, the eating referred to here is metaphorical — leading to oneness with the goddess worshipped as a mother and snubbing death in the face. But note the detail in the poet’s lines — Dakini Jogini dutoy, tarkari banaye khabo (I will make a curry out of your two accompanying demons) or Tomaar munda-mala kere niye, ambal e sombara debo (I will snatch your garland of heads and use it to spice up my sour dishes). In the same song, Ramprasad also says, “Either my mother eats/ consumes me or I eat /consume her, but we will do one of the two.” It should suffice as an explanation to all who are unable to comprehend the Bong-food-god connection.

When a Bong is eating/worshipping her goddess, it’s best to leave her alone. She eats, thereby she prays.

The Full Monty
Wonder what’s the popular street food for pandal-hopping Bongs during Durga Puja? Here’s the uncut version:

ROLLS: Egg, chicken, mutton, veg, egg-veg, egg-chicken, egg-mutton, double egg, keema, double egg double chicken...

CHOPS: Fish, mutton, chicken, vegetable (carrot, beet and peanut), mango, banana flower...

CUTLET: Chicken, mutton, vegetarian, kobiraji (You must see how it is made: an egg-based batter is released on the cutlet as it is being fried, forming delicious bubbles around it)...

MOGHLAI: Biryani (mutton, chicken, egg, veg), chaap, rezala, shami kebab, Moghlai parota…

SWEETS: Rosogolla, sandesh, malpoa, goja, chanar jilipi...