Information on sesame (tila)

Sat Jan 2 16:01:56 UTC 1999

I would recommend, that you refer to the book "Indian Food A Historical
Companion" by K.T.Achaya published by Oxford India Paperbacks in 1998
(first published in 1994 by Oxford University Press). ISBN 0 19 564416
6. I obtained my copy in California at Barnes & Noble for $16.00!!

In case you are unable to obtain it, I quote from the book:

1. Page 17.
   At Harappa an unmistakable "lump of charred sesame" was found at a
depth of about two metres (Referenced from M.S.Vats, Excavations at
Harappa, Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1940, vol 1, p 466).

2. Page 31.
   The Rigveda mentions neither rice or wheat but only barley (yava);
the Yajurveda has all three, besides a panicum cereal, an oilseeed
(tila, sesame)...

3. page 33
   A book is mentioned(M.S. Randhawa, A History of Agriculture in India,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, vol 1,1980, (a) p.
179 (b) p.195f (c) p 169) which is described as 'a well documented book
has appeared on the foods and drinks that occur in those Sanskrit works,
chronologically listed from the earliest times to about AD 1200'.

Rice is mentioned as later dominating the Aryan food system was cooked
with milk and sesame seeds(krsara), perhaps a forerunner of the later
khichidi made from rice and dhal.

4. Page 45
   Rice in the Southern Diet
   Rice was ofcourse mostly eaten boiled, but sometimes fried aromatics
were sprinkled on it. Dressing with tamarind gave puli-kari
(puli-sadam), and further with sesame seeds and sugar yielded
chitrannam. (Referenced from F.R. Allchin, in P.J.Ucko and
G.W.Dimbleby(eds), The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and
Animals, gerald Duckworth and Co. Pvt. ltd., New Delhi, 1969, page 323.)

5.page 36
  A wild sesame seed, jartila, permitted as food to ascetics, is
recorded in the Taittiriya Samhita.(Referenced from M.S. Randhawa at
item 3 above).

6. Page 36

   Sesame oilcake or sesame powder compounded with coarse rice flour and
jaggery gave the tasty fried dish shashkuli, the tilkut of
today.(B.B.Lal, 'The World's earliest Agricultural Field', Science Age,
Bombay, 1983, vol 1, no 3/4, October, p229.)(H.D. Sankalia, 'Some
aspects of Prehistoric Technology in India',Indian National Science
Academy, New Delhi, 1970, (a) pp45 - 51 (b) p 13.).

7. page 37
   Much later the physician Charaka recommends ghee for frying in
autumn, animal body fats in spring, and oil(with special commendation of
sesame oil) in the rainy season.

8. Page 37
   The sugarcane is not mentioned in the Rigveda but occurs frequently
in all the Samhitas and its chewing is mentioned in the Atharvaveda.
Guda was the base for numerous sweet preparations. Mixed with it sesame
seeds were shaped to yield palala...

9. Page 82
   Sushrutha's classification is fifteen-fold, and includes shali,
shastika and vrihi(all rices) as three of the classes, and yava(barley),
shimbi(horsegram) and tila (sesame) as separate classes.(Reference -
Priyadaranjan Ray, Hirendra Nath Gupta, and M.roy, Susruta Samhita: A
Scientific Synopsis, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 1980.

10. Page 86
    From curds came khada(perhaps resembling the khadi of the present)
by acidification with kapittha (the wood apple fruit) and changeri (the
Indian sorrel leaf, amrul in Hindi, Oxalis corniculata), followed by
seasoning with pepper and jeera. The same product with oil, sesame seeds
and urad pulse added to it was termed kambalika by Sushrutha.

11. Page  93
    Finally let us listen as Annaji, writing about 1600 in Kannada,
describes a domestic meal:
......
He also describes the following scene in a sweetmeat shop, listing by
name several items:

For those who cannot command these delicacies at home the sweetmeat
shopoffers a variety of delights. there is karrajjige, a sweet made from
maida flour; athirasa fried in ghee, urad based vadai; idlis as fair as
the moon; sweet sesame balls....

12. page 104
    Utensils of the Vedic Sacrifice

akaraphalika: snake shaped board, one arm long, on which sesame seeds
are offered in the sacrifice.

13. Page 140
    A century ago, the everyday foods of Bihar were meticulously
recorded in considerable detail by a British official. Tilauri were
balls of urad or mung with sesame seed, dried in the sun and deep
fried...

(Reference - G.A. Grierson, Bihar Peasant Life (2nd edition 1885),
Governement Printing Press, Bihar and Orissa, Patna 1926, p345.

14. page 142
    Ktesias (416 -398 BC), court physician and historian based his
Indika on his talks with Persian official who had themselves visited
India, and with seven Indians, including 2 women, whom he had met at the
Persian court of Susa. Both coconut and sesame oil were in
use.(Reference - J.W.McCrindle, Ancient India as described by Ktesias
the Kuidian (1882), Manohar reprints, Delhi, repr, 1976, pp 16, 21, 23,
30, 70.

15. page 144
    Strabo of Ameseia(65 BC - 25 AD) wrote his famous
Geography.....During the rainy season, .... flax millet and sesamum were
sown.

Please note all 16 points are taken from the book by K.T. Achaya
mentioned in the begining. I have given relevant quotes from this book.
I have not actually checked the references quoted therein - you may wish
to do so.

Good Luck!!

Asha

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