South Asian Sub - c ontinent 1 Sema Jethma , Ruple Patel , Aruna Thaker (Gujarat) , Renuka McArthur , Jevanjot Sihra , Rupinder Sahota , Ravita Taheem , Sunita Wallia (Punjab) , Zenab Ahmad , Bushra Jafri , Afsha Mughal , Rabia Nabi , Shamaela Perwiz , Tahira Sarmar , Ghazala Yousuf (Pakistan) , Kalpana Hussain , Thomina Mirza (Bangladesh) , Thushara Dassanayake , Deepa Kariyawasam , Vanitha Subhu (Sri Lanka) The cultural groups from Gujarat, Punjab, Pakistan, information on migration, traditional diets and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have migrated from the changes in migration, religious infl uences and on South Asian subcontinent to the United Kingdom dietary considerations for specifi c diseases, such as from different regions over last 60 years, mostly obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. due to economic and political upheavals, and made the UK their home. As a result of the vast distances between the countries there were many 1.1 Gujarati Diet differences in their cultural, traditional beliefs and Sema Jethma , Ruple Patel, Aruna Thaker diets but also many similarities as well. The reasons for these changes are many, but lifestyle changes, 1.1.1 Introduction especially dietary changes, have had the greatest impact on health. The traditional diets which they The South Asian sub - continent comprises India, were following were much healthier, more in line Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Four per cent with what is currently recommended, but inclu- of the total UK population is classifi ed as ‘ Asian ’ sions of some of the host countryCOPYRIGHTED ’ s unhealthy foods or ‘ Asian MATERIAL British ’ and this group makes up 50.2% are having detrimental effects. This is now high- of the UK minority ethnic population (UK Census, lighted in scientifi c research; however, much of this 2001 ). is generic to those of South Asian origin rather than ‘ South Asian ’ defi nes many ethnic groups, with related to specifi c cultural groups. In this book, for distinctive regions of origin, languages, religions the fi rst time, an attempt has been made to provide and customs, and includes people born in India, detailed information on each of group. There is Bangladesh, Pakistan or Sri Lanka (Fox, 2004 ). Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, First Edition. Edited by Aruna Thaker, Arlene Barton. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2012 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2 Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics PAKISTAN Rajasthan Banaskantha Rann of Kuchchh Patan Kuchchh Little Rann Mehsana of Kuchchh Sabarkantha Gandhi Nagar Kheda Ahmedabad Gulf of Kuchchh Surendranagar Panchmahal Dahod Anand Jamnagar Rajkot Madhya Vadodara Pradesh Porbandar BharuchNarmada Bhavnagar Amreli Gulf Junaghad of Khambhat Surat Dangs Ara Diu Navsari bia n Sea Maharastra Daman Valsad Dadra N State of Gujarat, INDIA Nagar Haveli Figure 1.1.1 Map of Gujarat Gujarat state is situated on the west coast of India husbandry and dairy farming also play a vital role and boasts a 1,600 km - long coastline. The Arabian in the rural economy. Dairy farming – primarily Sea sweeps the western and south - western fron- milk production – is run on a cooperative basis tiers. The state extends from Kutch in the west to and has more than a million members; it is one of Daman in the south, with Pakistan to the north - the best examples of cooperative enterprise in the west and the state of Rajasthan to the north and developing economy so that Gujarat is now the north - east. To the east is Madhya Pradesh and largest producer of milk in India. ‘ Amul ’ (Anand Maharashtra (Figure 1.1.1 ). This state celebrated Milk Union Limited), formed in 1946, is based in the 50th anniversary of its formation on 1 May 2010. Anand and is Asia ’ s biggest dairy. Its products are Gujarat is one of the prime developing states of well known throughout India. India and is known for its vibrancy and colourful The state is currently experiencing rapid urbani- profi le. Traditionally, the population has engaged zation, with 37.67 per cent of the population living in agriculture as their principal occupation. It is the in 242 urban areas according to the 2001 census. main producer of tobacco, cotton, peanuts (ground- Over the last four decades it has become an indus- nuts) and other major food crops (rice, wheat, trial powerhouse, thereby reducing its dependence sorghum ( jowar ), millet ( bajra ), maize, red gram on agriculture. Oil, fertilizers, chemicals and tex- dal ( tuvar dal ) and whole pulses); crops account tiles production attract many outsiders from across for more than half of the total land area. Animal India. The South Asian Sub-continent 3 The population of Gujarat state was 50,671,017 of these countries. After independence from Britain according to the 2001 census. Some 89.1% of the in the 1960s, the majority of East African Asians population are Hindus, Muslims account for 9.1%, migrated or were expelled from these countries (in Jains 1.0% and Sikhs 0.1%. The density of popula- the 1970s from Uganda). Most moved to Britain, tion is 258 persons per km 2 , which is less than that India or other popular destinations like the United of other Indian states. States (USA) and Canada as they had acquired Gujarati is one of the 14 main languages of India British citizenship. and is spoken by an estimated 47 million people The fi rst Gujaratis to come to UK were students worldwide making it the 26th most commonly in the late nineteenth century for further studies, spoken language in the world. In Gujarat 71% especially in law. Notable among them was speak Gujarati; the rest (29%) speak Hindi. Almost Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, born in Porbandar 88% of the Muslims speak Gujarati while the other on the western coast of Saurashtra. He was the 12% speak Urdu. In addition to Gujarati, Kutchi is pre - eminent political and spiritual leader of India widely spoken in Kutch District. Almost all Jains during the independence movement, pioneering speak Gujarati and a few speak Marwardi as well. satyagraha (resistance to tyranny through mass civil Gujaratis form the second largest of the British disobedience), a philosophy fi rmly founded on South Asian - speaking communities, with impor- ahimsa (non - violence), which inspired civil rights tant communities in Leicester and Coventry, in the movements and demands for freedom across the northern textile towns and in Greater London. world. Prior to Indian independence in 1947 small numbers of students, sailors and emissaries Migration to the U nited K ingdom migrated to the imperial capital by exercising the Britain has had commercial links with Gujarat right of all colonial subjects to study, travel and since the early seventeenth century when the settle in UK. This was followed by different types British East India Company fi rst set up a trading of migration during the postwar period of decolo- post in Surat in 1612. nization, as the British government began recruit- Migration was common from Gujarat during the ing labour from its former colonies to fi ll vacancies 18th century. When the winds were favourable, in its industrial sectors. people travelled in dhows (traditional Arab sailing Later the main growth of Gujarati communities vessels) to East Africa, especially Zanzibar, for in UK came when their experience in the textile cloves and other spices. and steel industries was welcomed at a time of In 1896, when Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania labour shortages. These South Asian workers typi- were part of British East Africa, migration from cally followed an arrangement known as ‘ chain Gujarat and Punjab started for the construction of migration ’ , which involved men from villages and the railway from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to districts (generally in Gujarat, Bengal and the Kampala in Uganda to provide a modern transpor- Punjab) migrating temporarily to industrialized tation link to carry raw materials out of Uganda inner cities and sharing dormitory - style accommo- and to import manufactured British goods to East dation while searching for employment as semi - Africa. After the construction was completed many skilled labourers. When the government began to of these workers remained in East Africa and restrict entry into Britain in the 1960s, many of established substantial Indian minority communi- these men decided to stay permanently, sponsor- ties. Their numbers may have been as high as ing their immediate families and establishing their 500,000 in the 1960s. Apart from being employed lives in different parts of UK. to manage the railways, they ran businesses which were, and in some cases remain, the backbone of Current UK p opulation the economies of these countries. These ranged from small rural grocery stores to sugar mills. In There are 300,000 Gujarati language speakers in the addition, Indian professionals – doctors, teachers, UK, including East African Gujaratis, many of them engineers and civil servants – in privileged posi- in Leicester, Coventry, Bradford and the London tions played an important role in the development boroughs of Wembley, Harrow and Newham. 4 Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics 1.1.2 Religion ● Sattvik (nutritious) food is the most desirable. Non - irritating to the stomach and purifying to The majority of Gujaratis are Hindus. Hindu reli- the mind, it includes milk, fruit, vegetables, gion is believed to be the oldest religion in the nuts and whole grains. These foods are believed world; it is nearly 5,000 years old. It can be seen as to produce calmness and nobility, or what is a ‘ way or interdependence of life ’ which gave rise known as an ‘ increase in one ’ s magnetism ’ . to other religions – Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. ● Rajasi food is believed to produce strong emo- Hindus avoid eating meat and eggs or food pre- tional qualities, passions and restlessness of the pared from animal products (e.g., cheeses that mind. This category includes meat, eggs, fi sh, contain rennet and gelatin).