Beyond Litti-Chokha: Eating Beef in Bihar

Our reporter blogs about eating beef in Patna and why diet politics isn’t catching on in Bihar.

Aakash Joshi writes about a most satisfactory meal while covering the Bihar elections. (Photo: The Quint)

I needed meat. Sattu is healthy, filling and gives you enough energy to spend a whole day running around looking for stories. But it’s not exciting. By lunch on day two of #BiharMobile2015 the soul, if not the stomach, was craving animal protein.

Luckily for me, our Patna contact guided us to the ironically named Sabzi Bagh, a collection of lanes behind Gandhi Maidan that had more than enough meat to satisfy my carnivorous desires.

As we looked in to the various eateries trying to choose where to go, various people were pointed out to me. One is supposedly a former ‘shooter’, with over 30 murders to his credit. Another is a former RJD baahubali.

We pick the most opulent of the dhabas, and walk in.

Along with the bowls of mutton curries and plates of liver and kidney, I also ordered Bihari kebab. Loudly, proudly and perhaps a little rudely, the waiter said “Beef hai usme, khaatein hai na?”

Bihari kebab sizzling away on a pan. (Photo: The Quint)

In Delhi, there is more caution and even subterfuge around consuming larger cattle. Waiters and butchers say the same words, but in a whisper, “yeh bade ka gosht hai sir...”

The crowd at the dhaba had both Hindus and Muslims, and no one seemed to care about what was on anyone else’s plate.

Suitably sated with Bihari kebab, mutton ishtoo and a large plate of goat liver, it was time for a conversation with the owner of the establishment that had fulfilled my desires.

Mohammed Irshad urf ‘Golden’. (Photo: The Quint)

“Mohammed Irshad urf Golden hai mera naam,” announced the proprietor, as he sat over the most massive bowl of egg curry I have ever seen.

After lavishing praise on the food he served us, I brought up the beef ban in Maharashtra and the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri. Is the politics and polarisation around beef having in effect in Patna and Bihar?

We serve people from all communities, and it’s never been a problem. There is no politics around beef here. I have mutton, chicken and vegetarian dishes that are a lot more popular. If beef becomes a problem, there are more than enough alternatives. Beef is not cow here, it’s usually bulls or buffaloes.
– Mohammed Irshad urf Golden

The other customers seem more amused by my questions than perturbed.

For now at least, in Bihar food is just food and beef is just beef.