History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s2.t1.5

v1.c26.s2.t1.5

Steaming : The Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang in the 7th century AD stated that "India does not know the use of the steamer". While specific devices may not have been in widespread use, steaming as a way of cooking was known. The *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* of Varāhamihira, dated about 505 AD, describes a barley dish, *yavaka*, as *svinnabhaksya* or a steamed food (Shastri, 1969, pp.209- 216). Among traditional cooking operations were *svedanam* or steaming, the others being *bharjanam* (dry roasting), *talanam* (drying), *apakva* (frying), *pacanam* (cooking in water ), *kvatanam* (parboiling), *tanduram* (grilling), *puṭapāka* (baking), and *bhāvita* (seasoning). A Kannada work written in 920 AD mentions the *idalige* (idli) (*Sūpa Śāstra*, (b), p.255), and steaming was probably achieved, as it was slightly later, by the simple expedient of tying a cloth (on which the material was placed in lumps or small wicker baskets) over the wide mouth of a vessel in which water was boiled. A related product, the *kaḍubu*, was not through-steamed like the porous *idli*, but spread out on leaves or trays and surface-steamed to a denser product. In making the *puṭṭu* of Kerala, alternate layers of broken rice and coconut are introduced into a wide bamboo tube in which a pierced metal disc is placed on the lower node. A funnel is loosely inserted on top for steam to escape, and the tube is then tightly fixed on the spout of a vessel in which water is boiled to effect steaming. The antiquity of this simple domestic technology remains to be established. A vessel that occurs commonly even in many neolithic sites, and later in the Indus Valley, is a tall earthen cylinder with perforations all over it (Wheeler, 1959, p.103); one use suggested for this, among many others, is that it is a vessel for steam cooking (Ghurye, 1979, p. 383).