Indian food historian Colleen Taylor Sen in her book Feasts And Fasts: The History of Food in India explains that while gastronomical issues were given great importance in ancient Indian texts, little attention was paid to the culinary aspect. Most of the references to food in these ancient texts pertained to what should or should not be eaten, in what season, and so on. They gave little or no importance to the palate. Not this one, though; it offers very specific directions on how to prepare, cook and consume different foods.

The Manasollasa – the earliest known ‘non-medical’ text on Indian food – was written in the court of King Bhulokamalla Someshvara III (r. 1127 – 1138 CE), a king of the Western Chalukya dynasty, which ruled a large part of peninsular India from their capital at Kalyani (Basavakalyan) in Karnataka.