A Luncheon at Buckingham Palace

It was none other than the Father of the Nation stepping into the hallowed grounds of Buckingham Palace upon invitation by His Majesty George V in 1930. Gautam Anand shares nuggets of history here with recipes of what was served at the luncheon

“Mahatma Gandhi!” announced the Lord Chamberlain. George V at once looked up. The sandals carried the Saint to His Majesty who stretched out a royal hand. “Mr Gandhi” took it firmly, shook it warmly. He then placed his own hands palm to palm, bowed to Their Majesties as a Hindu priest bows when imparting benediction.

Queen Mary smiled probingly. Mr Gandhi was not in “morning dress” as the royal invitation had requested, but he was wearing a loincloth wider by a thumb’s breadth than usual, and a shawl of homespun khadi, which would usher in a movement called Swadeshi and sowed the seeds of Swadeshi in the Indian mindshare through his vision enunciated by these principles: Eat local, Produce local, Nurture local and Imbibe local.

Swadeshi was the principle of local self-sufficiency – that whatever was produced in the community was to be consumed by the people of the community. It emphasised local and seasonal foods. Trading or purchase of goods and services from outside the community was to be kept to a minimum, and kept to absolutely essential requirements. It centred on home-grown, handcrafted products – ‘not mass production’, but production ‘by the masses’.

This belief to contemplate India’s cuisine that is as varied and as ancient as the land it flavours, is to contemplate the heart(h) of civilisation, it’s Muladhara!

Perhaps India’s self-reliance in food production and milk and more was a direct consequence of the idea.

In the meanwhile, back at the palace, Queen Mary saw nothing unseemly, betrayed the merest flicker of interest as she espied the Mahatma’s dangling dollar watch.

King George drew Guest Gandhi into the royal study. There the King-Emperor took a dish of Indian tea, the Mahatma sucked in a bowl of goat’s milk sent up from the palace kitchen. The conversation veered from world affairs and their respective travels and interestingly anchored finally on food and cuisine, basis which, much to the King’s surprise and delight, the Mahatma agreed to a quick luncheon.

Earlier a pre-emptive meal plan had been set in motion by the palace establishment in consultation with Miraben and Sarojini Naidu*, just in case the restive saint would accede to the King’s request.

The king would later recall that Mahatma Gandhi ‘talks about his food experiments and the revelations he had during the process. His vast knowledge is astonishingly ahead of his times’. Our own research highlights this: From intermittent fasting to Palaeo diet, Gandhiji’s experiments with food and his conclusions are overwhelming.

Mahatma Gandhi had promised his mother he would not touch meat in England. But it was turning out to be extremely difficult for him due to peer pressure and difficulty in availability of vegetarian options till one day when he found a vegetarian restaurant that also sold books. “I noticed books for sale exhibited under a glass window near the door. I saw among them Salt’s Plea for Vegetarianism. I read Salt’s book from cover to cover and was very much impressed by it. From the date of reading this book, I may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice,” writes Gandhiji later in Diet and Diet Reforms.

“I stopped taking the sweets and condiments... I gave up tea and coffee as a rule, and substituted cocoa,” says Gandhiji in his autobiography. He considered sugar to be a harmful sweetener and advocated the use of gur or jaggery. “Gur consisting of cane sugar and fruit sugar in the proportion of 2:1, would be assimilated more rapidly than cane sugar alone taken in the same quantity. Therefore, the nutritive value of gur is at least 33 percent superior to that of refined sugar,” wrote Gandhiji in Harijan. He says that he doubted the veracity of the fact that honey should not be taken with hot water as claimed by most of the Ayurvedic physicians because whenever he asked for a reason they failed to give a satisfying answer.

Gandhiji’s experiments with food also had some other rules where he believed in the use of one grain at a time. “Chappati, rice and pulses, milk, ghee, gur and oil are used in ordinary households besides vegetables and fruit. I regard this as an unhealthy combination. An ounce or two of salads serve the purpose of eight ounces (225 gms) of cooked vegetables. Chappatis or bread should not be eaten with milk. To begin with, one meal may be raw vegetables and chappatis or bread, and the other cooked vegetables with milk or curds,” says the Mahatma.

In many of his food experiments, milk found no place and Gandhiji did have a certain disregard for milk, but he could not turn away from the numerous health benefits it offered. “Though my own experiment is both unfired and milkless, I am not yet in a position to recommend avoidance of milk and ghee. Though my belief in the possibility of avoiding milk and ghee without endangering health is unshakable, I cannot claim as yet to have found a combination of vegetarian foods that will invariably produce the results claimed today for milk,” he wrote in Young India.

He made several experiments eating uncooked food for days together. Although he admits that it did cause weakness sometimes, but if coupled with milk and a small amount of ghee, it is a great way to cleanse and nourish the body. It also clears the brain and makes one a bit more calm. Unfired food or uncooked food, according to him, was food in its purest form, which made it healthier. Raw salads, sprouts, chutneys of several fruits and vegetables and leaves made a great meal and quite an affordable one, too.

The King listened attentively and was genuinely entranced and showed his allegiance to Mr Gandhi by ordering (much to the palace staff’s horror) a small vegetarian meal for himself as well of ‘punchnap’.

Punchnap is a traditional vegetable-based dish originating from Wales. The dish consists of root vegetables that are cooked, then mashed together and mixed with butter or cream. The most popular combination includes potatoes and baby white turnips, but carrots, peas and parsnips are also often used, either separately or together with the potatoes.

For Mr Gandhi, what was on offer were small portions of purslane, dum aloo, a sprout salad, fresh sautéed peas, two flat breads, a bowl of goat yogurt and naturally, no sweet (the Mahatmas love for sweet and his perseverance on giving it up, is another story).

May we add that the concept of the third plate (fresh from the earth) is so inherently becoming a part of our daily diet, influencing top Michelin restaurants to turn to vegetarian and even vegan.

 Back at the palace, among buzzing guests in the Picture Gallery, several startled the rest by recalling that this was not the first Gandhi-George V meeting. In 1901 the Indian community of Durban, South Africa, welcomed the then Duke & Duchess of York, now Their Majesties, with a reception at which Lawyer MK Gandhi made the principal address. In 1901 formal-dresser Gandhi was bedight in the latest British fashion. Last week potent St. Gandhi created a sensation by leaving the Royal party after a small lunch before no other guest. “Personally I have very little time for social functions,” said he. “Both Their Majesties were charming. I also liked the Prince of Wales.”

British Reporter: Did the King give any encouragement to your hope for Indian independence?

St. Gandhi: Only God gives encouragement, not Kings.

Badgered by correspondents to tell what his host had talked about, Guest Gandhi replied, “It would not be dignified for me to tell you what the King said,” and explained why. “Our conversation consisted mostly of pleasantries. There were questions and answers about the weather and its effect on a man so recently come from India as myself.”

Finally, Gandhiji’s crusade for healthy living continued throughout his life. His disregard for polished food, sugar and Vanaspati ghee and his support to local food, soybean and whole grains was much ahead of his times. Just like his political philosophy that was plain, direct and unpolished, so was the food that Mahatma loved − natural and elemental. While we may be blindly looking for sassy nutritionists and health experts, Mahatma Gandhi’s nuggets of wisdom as perhaps the world’s first LOCAVORE, that are based on solid experiments, are lying untouched in closets. It’s time we realise their worth and take control of our lives.

It’s fitting to give Gandhi the last word: “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

*Sarojini was closely associated with Gandhi and even followed him to jail on several occasions. Gandhi was impressed by her; he wrote in Young India: ‘She has wonderful charm of manner and is tireless in her duties… I have compared her to Mirabai…’ Sarojini’s relationship with Gandhi was special. It was she who called him ‘our adorable Mickey Mouse’.

Gujarati Khatti Meethi Dal Recipe

Punchnap