Sattu served up on a plate

SATTU is a poor man’s fast food. It was the staple diet in villages of Himachal Pradesh till a few decades ago. It is prepared from parched grains of barley, wheat or gram. When ground into flour, salted and kneaded, the dough can be eaten  as such, with buttermilk or even plain water. No vegetables or lentils are needed to go with this meagre repast. The homemade victual is not only economical, but also convenient to carry while travelling. And, it was this simple dish that was once the source of ‘mischief’ under the British Raj during the early 1920s. 

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The site of occurrence was 16 km off Simla, on the outskirts of a small hamlet called Kufri, on the Hindustan-Tibet Road. There was a baoli (manmade small water reservoir) just outside Kufri, along the road. Perhaps it still exists there. 

During those days, vehicular transport beyond Kufri did not exist. People from interior places had to walk long distances to catch a bus for Simla and beyond. But travel they must, to eke out a living through menial jobs, labour work or petty trade. They moved in groups for the sake of security and companionship, carrying adequate stock of sattu to last them some days. 

On one such occasion, a group of five villagers headed for Simla, each carrying a stack of special wooden staves for sale in Simla’s Lakkar Bazaar. 

Wood was the raw material for making fancy walking sticks and other joinery items by craftsmen in Simla. The process of gathering these special kind of sticks, baking, peeling, drying and then carrying them to Simla on their backs involved a lot of drudgery and trudging. This consumed more than a week’s time. And all they got for their labour was a mere Rs 3-4. With this amount, they would purchase their frugal domestic requirements, such as rock salt, tobacco, lentils and coarse cotton cloth for the family. 

So, when our bravehearts reached Kufri’s baoli, they set down their loads and stared preparing sattu for lunch. While they were engrossed in kneading and eating the dough, along came a European couple, enjoying a walk through the salubrious, sylvan environment of the pine and deodar forest. The couple was shocked to see the natives eat, what they perceived to be raw dough. They were alarmed by the prospect of the villagers falling sick due to some stomach ailment.

The large-hearted European extracted from his pocket a handful of silver one-rupee coins and threw them at the villagers, with a stern admonishment not to eat uncooked flour. He also scattered the dough with his walking stick and advised them to have a proper meal at the nearby Kufri market. 

But as soon as the couple left, the amused bunch hurriedly pocketed the coins and resumed eating their sattu once again.

Trust me, I am not fibbing. I still possess a silver coin, belonging to the year 1918 of George V King Emperor, because one of the rustics was my grand-maternal uncle.