This article is the result of an interesting debate I had one afternoon while travelling in the car with my mum and dad. My father had come across an interesting but of course questionable and maybe even false (if I may take the liberty to say so) piece of information about the origin of the word Bungalow.
An over-enthusiastic YouTuber had decided to spread the word on the origin of the word Bungalow by stating that it originated from the word Bangle since they were houses which had a circular shape. Now before your face transforms into one filled with the confusion of whether to laugh or to cry, you must remember that I just recovered from this, and this is what led me to write this article. Of course, I did indulge myself a little more into finding out the relationship between Dak Bungalows and the Curry with the same name we Bengalis pride ourselves on and love to eat.
The word Bungalow is derived from the Hindi word Bangla. Yes, you got that right! A Bangla was a house built in a Bengali style and hence were quite common in the region of Bengal. It gained popularity when India was colonised by the British, who preferred this architectural design of houses. You may have already connected the dots by now to the next word in my list of inquiries, which is ‘Dak Bungalow’.
The word ‘Dak’ means a postal system. Hence, a ‘Dak Bungalow’, was a lodging meant for a postal services employee in the East India Company who was posted in a particular area. However, these Dak Bungalows were also meant for any other employees of the East India Company or any travellers looking for a place to stay at a reasonable price. Hence, these Dak Bungalows were sometimes referred to as Traveller’s Bungalows as well. (Point to note, these Dak Bungalows aren’t necessarily only found in the region of Bengal, but definitely do have their origins there.)
Before we get to the lip-smacking dish named after these Dak Bungalows, let’s talk a little bit about the saucy history these lodgings had. Dak Bungalows have always been a subject of rumours amongst the people living close to these beautiful houses. Rumours ranged from a simple affair to suicides, murders or sometimes even ghosts of the subject of these suicides or murders haunting these houses. While these rumours have not always been well founded in factual data, there have been many accounts in multiple locations which associate these sorts of happenings in Dak Bungalows. Now one must remember that while these Bungalows were beautiful, they did not always possess the happiest of inhabitants. In addition to this, the people living here did not play the role of permanent resident but instead of one who sought to move on as soon as the next assignment came their way or as soon as their trip had ended, in the case of travellers. However, what we can attribute as a permanent resident and one that still brings joy and pride to these Dak Bungalows is the curry of the same name.
While it has been debated on whether the Dak Bungalow Curry originated in a Dak Bungalow or not, it was definitely an integral aspect of the Dak Bungalow. Now, before I go any further, one must keep in mind that this took place sometime during the 1800s when India was completely under the “British Raj”. Hence, it was mostly the ‘Babu Culture’ or any culture that the Sahibs approved of, which were even allowed to explicitly exist, in a sense.
While the mail carriers or travellers were only temporary residents, the Khansama (cook) and the caretakers of these Bungalows were permanent residents and they made sure to make their temporary guests feel warm and welcome. One of the ways they did this was through this delicious Curry which was unique, in that, not only was it a Chicken or in some cases Mutton Curry with Aloo (Potato), it also had a boiled egg sliced in half. One could say, that it was a move of the local Bengalis, to acquaint and educate the British about Indian flavours in food and may have even tried to subvert the narrative of what was considered “civilized” flavours and tastes at the time. (While my assumptions are probably far-fetched, I’d like to believe that there was a larger role this Curry had to play as mediator between the Coloniser and the Colonised).
It’s rather interesting how a family discussion led me to make an attempt to take a post-colonial perspective on the Dak Bungalow. Nonetheless, reading and writing about this was quite fun! At least I know a little more about one of the Curries I so love to eat and that many Bengalis still pride themselves on today.
Nikita Chung 