People Eat in the Mauryan Era? (c. 3rd Century BCE)

When we think of ancient India, our minds go to mighty kings like Ashoka the Great and the bustling capital of Pataliputra (modern Patna). But have you ever wondered what ordinary people and royals actually ate 2200 years ago?

India already had the science of food and life. Our ancestors divided every meal into Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic categories — not just for the body, but for the mind and soul.

Here are some 2000+ years old Mauryan Diet

🌾 Grains & Staples

boiled plain rice, sometimes with ghee.

cooked into porridge, often mixed with milk or honey.

Flatbreads (Roti-like) – made from wheat/barley on clay griddles.

🥘 Dals & Vegetables

Mung dal soup (Mudga Yusha) – seasoned with turmeric, cumin, ginger.

Masoor and urad dals – simple stews.

Gourds, cucumber, brinjal, radish, lotus roots – cooked with mustard, turmeric, or black pepper.

🍎 Fruits & Sweets

• Mango, banana, jackfruit, coconut, pomegranate, amla.

• Apūpa (ancient sweet) – barley/wheat cakes fried in ghee with jaggery (like today’s malpua).

• Payasa (early kheer) – rice boiled in milk, sweetened with jaggery.

• Sesame–jaggery balls (til-gud ladoo).

🍶 Drinks

• Takra (Buttermilk) – spiced with cumin and salt.

• Madhu (Honey Mead) – honey diluted and naturally fermented.

🚫 Not in the Mauryan Kitchen

Surprisingly, some of today’s staples were missing!
❌ Potato, ❌ Tomato, ❌ Chili, ❌ Papaya, ❌ Pineapple, ❌ Cashew, ❌ Maize.
(These came from the Americas after 1500 CE.)