Sanskrit Cookbooks

[Stephen Hodge]

I have done some work on early Buddhist Kriya Tantras such as the
Susuddhikara and so forth which give fairly extensive lists of Indian
foods and dishes used as naivedya offerings.  Unfortunately these
texts only survive in Chinese and Tibetan translation -- with the
names of the foods usually transcribed for obvious reasons. I have
managed to restore a fair number of the Skt terms for these foods but
not all given i) the textual corruptions in Tibetan and ii) the
problems of Chinese phonetic transcriptions of Skt.
However, these materials must be a very useful source for information
about Indian foods during the 7th and 8th centuries.   I have also
seen some Chinese commentaries on Tantras which describe the manner of
preparing various foods for the benefit of the Chinese readers.   I do
have some queries for which I shall seek subscribers assistance at a
later date.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge