The history of eating both rice and roti is thousands of years oldRice first originated in China, then came to India and spread from hereWhere was the first wheat bread made in India and how was it made
Indian people eat both roti and rice in their traditional diet. Usually both of these things are included in our food. In North India, a meal is not considered complete without roti and rice. Do you know whether roti was eaten first in the world or rice? And do you know in which country the first roti of the world was made and how it was made?
This question in itself is a matter of curiosity that what was eaten first in the world – roti or rice. If we talk about historical facts, then the answer is found. Let me tell you one more thing that whether it is rice or roti – both these things were first discovered in Asia and were also eaten here.
So know what was eaten first in the world
Well, now we will tell you which of these two was eaten first in the world. The answer is rice. Historical facts show that rice cultivation started in China in 8000 BC. The earliest evidence of domestic rice cultivation is from the Yangtze river region of China around 8000 BC. From there, rice spread all over the world, but before spreading to the world, it came to South Asia. This means that rice was eaten first in the world. That too in China and India. By the way, the primitive man of the world neither ate rice nor roti first, if he ate anything first, it was meat.
Why rice is the most consumed food in the world
However, it is absolutely true that rice is eaten in almost every country in the world. Its consumption is much more than wheat. There is a reason for that. Because it is very easy to eat. That is why the list of rice-based dishes is also long around the world. Roti is still eaten in fewer countries in comparison to that.
Who was eaten first in India – roti or rice
Rice cultivation started in India and other parts of Asia by 2000 BC. From here it spread to other countries in the world but now most of the rice in the world is produced in China and India. It is exported from here to all over the world. In the Rigveda (around 1500-500 BC), rice has been mentioned as the staple food in the Indian subcontinent.
Roti was probably eaten in India before rice, as historical evidence suggests that the earliest evidence of flatbread consumption in the Indian subcontinent dates back to around 3000 BC. However, these rotis were not made of wheat but of millet or barley. Wheat began to be used to make roti (chapati) around 1000 BC.
It should be said that both rice and roti have been a part of Indian food for thousands of years, but rice had come much earlier than that. Roti emerged as a food later, that too after many experiments.
The first wheat roti was made in Awadh. These rotis were cooked by placing embers on top and bottom. (photo bing)
Where was the first roti made? in India
So now we know in which country the world’s first roti was made. The wheat roti that we eat was first made and eaten in India. The wheat version of roti originated in the then Awadh state. However, it is also claimed that roti came to India through traders from East Africa. Unleavened flat bread was a staple food among the Swahili speaking people of Africa.
Some historians speculate that roti may have originated in Persia or East Africa following ancient trade routes, but lack of evidence suggests it originated in the Indian subcontinent.
Roti and similar flatbreads then spread to other parts of the world, including the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, often with the help of people from the Indian subcontinent. The Indian subcontinent appears to have been the place where roti was first made and eaten.
What did Tulsidas write about bread?
Many old texts mention that chapati or roti existed in India even in the Harappan culture. People knew how to grow wheat, millet, bajra and vegetables. According to Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas in 1600 century AD, roti existed then. The word roti originated from the Sanskrit word rotika.
There is also a mention of wheat roti in Kannada literature between the 10th and 18th century. In this, flat roti was made by roasting it. It was cooked by placing it on plates with burning embers on both the top and bottom, then the tawa method originated from here.
Akbar and Aurangzeb loved thin rotis
Chapati is mentioned in Ain-e-Akbari. This book says that Mughal emperor Akbar preferred thin rotis made from tawa rather than tandoori. He liked the thin roasted flatbread made of wheat so much that he often ate it as breakfast with ghee and sugar. This fondness was also shown later by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who was a vegetarian.
It is said that palm-sized chapatis became popular during the reign of Aurangzeb. These were also popular in the dining rooms of the British army. However, the Chapati movement during the 1857 freedom struggle alerted the British to this.
In which Indian subcontinent countries is roti eaten
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Iran, in South East Asia
Canada and the United States in the American countries
United Kingdom, Netherlands in Europe
Roti is eaten as a staple food in at least a dozen countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and parts of Africa and North America. Its popularity began in the Indian subcontinent and has spread throughout the world.
Tags: Food, Food and Diet, Food Stories
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 27, 2024, 18:37 IST