History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s2.t1.3

v1.c26.s2.t1.3

*Spits* : The Vedic sacrifices (as we shall see ) involve roasting a whole animal, or pieces of meat, on skewers or spits. In cooking language, *tanduram* means grilling and *bharjanam* dry roasting (Krishnamurthy, 1984, p. 227). At a picnic described in the *Mahābhārata* (Sengupta, P. 1950, p. 547), “cleanly cooks under the supervision of diligent stewards, served large pieces of meat roasted on spits...... young buffalo calves (were) roasted (whole?) on spits with ghee dropping on them”. A *Paṭṭupāṭṭu* poet (*Rasanayagam*, 1926, pp. 130-160) of the third Tamil Sangam period (about the 3rd century AD) describes “fine large pieces of fat meat roasted on iron spikes” and elsewhere roasted pork is noted with relish (Nilakantha Sastri 1958, p.130). The modern *kābab* has an old history.