The cuisine of India is characterized by its sophisticated and subtle use of many spices and herbs grown across the Indian subcontinent and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism across its society. Considered by some to be one of the world's most diverse cuisines, each family of this cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse subcontinent.[1] Indian cuisine is generally divided into two main categories: North Indian cuisine and South Indian cuisine. Both of these cuisines vary significantly on the usage of the types of spices and food preparation, however both also share several other commonalities.[2]
India's religious beliefs and culture has played an influential role in the evolution of its cuisine. However, cuisine across India also evolved due to the subontinent's large-scale cultural interactions with neighboring Persia, ancient Greece, Mongolia and West Asia, making it a unique blend of various cuisines across Asia.[3] The colonial period introduced European cooking styles to India adding to its flexibility and diversity.[4][5] Indian cuisine has also influenced cuisines across the world, especially those from South East Asia.[6][7][8]
History and influences
As a land that has experienced extensive immigration and intermingling through many millennia, the subcontinent has benefited from numerous food influences. The diverse climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily available to the many schools of cookery in India. In many cases, food has become a marker of religious and social identity, with varying taboos and preferences (for instance, a segment of the Jain population consume no roots or subterranean vegetable; see Jain vegetarianism) which has also driven these groups to innovate extensively with the food sources that are deemed acceptable.
One strong influence over Indian foods is the longstanding vegetarianism within sections of India's Hindu and Jain communities. At 31%, slightly less than a third of Indians are vegetarians.[9].
Around 7000 BCE, sesame, eggplant, and humped cattle had been domesticated in the Indus Valley.[10] By 3000 BCE, turmeric, cardamom, black pepper and mustard were harvested in India[11]. Many recipes first emerged during the initial Vedic period, when India was still heavily forested and agriculture was complemented with game hunting and forest produce. In Vedic times, a normal diet consisted of fruit, vegetables, meat, grain, dairy products and honey.[12] Over time, some segments of the population embraced vegetarianism, due to ancient Hindu philosophy of ahimsa.[13] This practice gained more popularity following the advent of Buddhism and a cooperative climate where variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains could easily be grown throughout the year. A food classification system that categorized any item as saatvic, raajsic or taamsic developed in Ayurveda. Each was deemed to have a powerful effect on the body and the mind
Later, invasions from Central Asia, Arabia, the Mughal empire, and Persia, and others had a deep and fundamental effect on Indian cooking. Influence from traders such as the Arab and Portuguese diversified subcontinental tastes and meals. As with other cuisines, Indian cuisine has absorbed the new-world vegetables such as tomato, chilli, and potato, as staples. These are actually relatively recent additions.
Islamic rule introduced rich gravies, pilafs and non-vegetarian fare such as kebabs, resulting in Mughlai cuisine (Mughal in origin), as well as such fruits as apricots, melons, peaches, and plums. The Mughals were great patrons of cooking. Lavish dishes were prepared during the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The Nizams of Hyderabad state meanwhile developed and perfected their own style of cooking with the most notable dish being the Biryani, often considered by many connoisseurs to be the finest of the main dishes in India.
During this period the Portuguese and British introduced foods from the New World such as potatoes, tomatoes, squash, and chilies and cooking techniques like baking.
Elements
A typical assortment of
spices used in Indian cuisine.
The staples of Indian cuisine are rice, atta (whole wheat flour), and a variety of pulses, the most important of which are masoor (most often red lentil), chana (bengal gram), toor (pigeon pea or yellow gram), urad (black gram) and mung (green gram). Pulses may be used whole, dehusked, for example dhuli moong or dhuli urad, or split. Pulses are used extensively in the form of dal (split). Some of the pulses like chana and "Mung" are also processed into flour (besan).
Most Indian curries are fried in vegetable oil. In North and West India, groundnut oil has traditionally been most popular for frying, while in Eastern India, Mustard oil is more commonly used. In South India, coconut oil and Gingelly Oil is common. In recent decades, sunflower oil and soybean oil have gained popularity all over India. Hydrogenated vegetable oil, known as Vanaspati ghee, is also a popular cooking medium that replaces Desi ghee (clarified butter).
The most important/frequently used spices in Indian cuisine are chilli pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi), fenugreek (methi), asafoetida (hing), ginger (adrak), and garlic (lassan). Popular spice mixes are garam masala which is usually a powder of five or more dried spices, commonly comprised of cardamom, cinnamon and clove; and Goda Masala, a popular spice mix in Maharashtra. Some leaves are commonly used like tejpat (cassia leaf), coriander leaf, fenugreek leaf and mint leaf. The common use of curry leaves is typical of all Indian cuisine. In sweet dishes, cardamom, nutmeg, saffron, and rose petal essence are used.
The term "curry" is usually understood to mean "gravy" in India, rather than "spices."
Geographical varieties
Northern
-
Typical north Indian dishes.
North Indian cuisine is distinguished by the proportionally high use of dairy products; milk, paneer, ghee (clarified butter), and yoghurt (yogurt, yoghourt) are all common ingredients. Gravies are typically dairy-based. Other common ingredients include chilies, saffron, and nuts.
North Indian cooking features the use of the "tawa" (griddle) for baking flat breads like roti and paratha, and "tandoor" (a large and cylindrical coal-fired oven) for baking breads such as naan, and kulcha; main courses like tandoori chicken also cook in the tandoor. Other breads like puri and bhatoora, which are deep fried in oil, are also common. Goat and lamb meats are favored ingredients of many northern Indian recipes.
The samosa is a popular North Indian snack, and now commonly found in other parts of India, Central Asia and the Middle East. A common variety is filled with boiled, fried, or mashed potato. Other fillings include minced meat, cheese (paneer), mushroom (khumbi), and chick pea.
The staple food of most of North India is a variety of lentils, vegetables, and roti (wheat based bread). The varieties used and the method of preparation can vary from place to place. Popular dishes include buknu, bhujiya, chaat, daal ki kachauri, mirchi bada, jalebi, imarti, several types of pickles (or achar), murabba, sharbat, pana and aam papad. Popular sweets include mithai, such as gulab jamun, peda, khurchan, petha, rewdi, gajak, milk cake, balushahi, bal mithai, singori, kulfi, falooda, khaja, ras malai, gulqand, and several varieties of laddu, barfi and halwa.
Some common North Indian foods such as the various kebabs and most of the meat dishes originated with Muslims’ incursions into the country. Pakistan was part of North India prior to the partition of India. As a result, Pakistani cuisine is very influenced by northern Indian cuisine esp. Punjabi cuisine.
Eastern
Popular Bengali sweets, such as
sandesh, displayed at a shop in
Kolkatta.
East Indian cuisine is famous for its desserts, especially sweets such as rasagolla, chumchum, sandesh, rasabali, chhena poda, chhena gaja, and kheeri. Many of the sweet dishes now popular in Northern India initially originated in the Bengal and Orissa regions. Apart from sweets, East India cuisine offers delights of posta (poppy seeds).
Traditional Bengali cuisine is not too spicy, not too faint. General ingredients used in bengali curries are mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black cumin, green chillies,cumin paste, mustard paste, curd, nuts, poppy seed paste, cashew paste,etc. and cooked in mustard oil. Curries are classified into bata (paste), bhaja (fries), chochchoree (less spicy vapourized curries) and jhol (thin spicy curries).These are eaten with plain boiled rice or ghonto (spiced rice). Traditional Bengali breakfast includes pantabhat (biotically degenerated boiled rice), doi-chirey, doodh-muree with fruits. Neighboring Bangladesh's cuisine is very similar to that of West Bengal. Fish and seafood are very popular in the coastal states of Orissa and West Bengal.
Like South India, rice is the staple grain in Eastern India. A regular meal consists of many side dishes made of vegetables. The popular vegetable dishes of Orissa are Dalma and Santula. The most popular vegetable dish of Bengal is Sukto. Deep fried, shallow fried and mashed vegetables are also very popular. Fish frequently features in a regular meal.
Southern
-
Hyderabad's popular biryani with curry.
South Indian cuisine is distinguished by a greater emphasis on rice as the staple grain, the ubiquity of sambar and rasam (also called saaru'/'chaaru), a variety of pickles, and the liberal use of coconut and particularly coconut oil and curry leaves. The dosa, poori, idli, vada, bonda, and bajji are typical South Indian favorites. These are generally consumed as breakfast.
Andhra, Chettinad, Tamil, Hyderabadi, Mangalorean, and Kerala cuisines each have distinct tastes and methods of cooking . In fact each of the South Indian states has a different way of preparing sambar; a connoisseur of South Indian food will very easily tell the difference between sambar from Kerala, sambar from Tamil cuisine, Sambar from Karnataka and pappu chaaru in Andhra cuisine.Some popular dishes include the Biriyani, Ghee Rice with meat curry, sea-food (prawns, mussels, mackerel) and paper thin Pathiris from Malabar area.
Western
Ragada in a
pani puri, a popular snack from Mumbai.
Western India has three major food groups: Gujarati, Maharashtrian and Goan. Maharashtrian cuisine is has mainly two sections defined by the geographical sections. The coastal regions, geographically similar to Goa depend more on rice, coconut, and fish. The hilly regions of the Western Ghats and Deccan plateau regions use groundnut in place of coconut and depend more on jowar (sorghum) and bajra (millet) as staples. Saraswat cuisine forms an important part of coastal Konkani Indian cuisine. Gujarati cuisine is predominantly vegetarian. Many Gujarati dishes have a hint of sweetness due to use of sugar or brown sugar. Goan cuisine is influenced by the Portuguese colonization of Goa. For instance, beef and pork are consumed there, due to the Portuguese presence. Popular and well known dishes from Goa include the vindaloo (which means garlic wine in the Portuguese language), originally a sour and spicy pork curry, but which more recently are consumed with any meat. Pork sorpotel is also a Portuguese influenced Goan dish. This dish consists of thin pork sausages mixed with onions, and is usually eaten on its own, unlike other Indian dishes which are eaten with rice and Indian breads.
North Eastern
The food of the North East is very different from other parts of India. This area's cuisine is more influenced by its neighbours, namely Burma and the People's Republic of China. It's use of well known Indian spices is less. Yak is a popular meat in this region of India.
Popularity outside India
Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Chilli have become extremely popular in the West.
Britain has a particularly strong tradition of Indian cuisine that originates from the British Raj. At that time there were a few Indian restaurants in the richer parts of London that catered to British officers returning from their duties in India. Currently, the favourite dish in the United Kingdom is supposedly Chicken Tikka Masala, even before fish and chips.[14]
In the 20th century there was a second phase in the development of Anglo-Indian cuisine, as families from countries such as Bangladesh migrated to London to look for work. Some of the earliest such restaurants were opened in Brick Lane in the East End of London, a place that is still famous for this type of cuisine. Leicester has become well known for its curry houses, being increasingly known as the curry capital of England.
In the 1960s, a number of unauthentic "Indian" foods were developed, including the widely popular "chicken tikka masala". This tendency has now been reversed, with subcontinental restaurants being more willing to serve authentic Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani food, and to show their regional variations. In the late twentieth century Birmingham was the centre of growth of Balti houses, serving a newly developed style of cooking in a large, wok-like, pan, with a name sometimes attributed to the territory of Baltistan, (however, the Hindi word for bucket is also Balti). Indian food is now integral to the British diet. There are now 8,000 Indian restaurants in Britain, turning over in excess of £2 billion and employing 70,000 workers.[14]
Butter Chicken, or
Murgh Makhani, is one of the popular Indian dishes in the West.
In the past Indian food adapted to its surroundings, and mild "Indian-style" dishes like Chicken Korma and Chicken Tikka Masala became hugely popular. However, since Indian food has now become an everyday part of the British diet, there has blossomed an avid and enthusiastic market for authentic Indian cuisine, which has seen many more inventive restaurateurs create new and vibrant dishes which challenge the customers palate rather than pander to everyday tastes. Dishes like Mirchi Rasoi Jhinga, the Hariyali Sheekh Kebab and Jhangi Champey have their roots in Indian Britain rather than India. Mulligatawny Soup is another Anglo-Indian dish, its name taken from Tamil for "pepper water" ('Millagu' is pepper and 'Thanni' is water). Also authentic Indian dishes such as Dhansak and Madras have become widely popular in Britain.
After the Immigration Act of 1965, South Asian immigration to the United States increased, and with it the prevalence of Indian cuisine, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, the New York City neighborhoods of Murray Hill, Manhattan, Jackson Heights and East 6th Street, and in Edison, NJ. All-you-can-eat buffets with several standard dishes are typical in some Indian restaurants in the United States. Indian restaurants are common in the larger cities of Canada, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver where large numbers of Indian nationals have settled since 1970. A number of the more adventurous restaurants have transformed their offerings into so-called Indian "fusion" menus, combining fresh local ingredients with traditional Indian cooking techniques. Due to the large Indian community in South Africa, the cuisine of South Africa includes several dishes of Indian-origin; some have evolved to become unique to South Africa, such as the bunny chow. Many others are modified with local spices.
[edit] Beverages
- See also: Indian wine
A shop in Chennai serving local favorite Indian filter coffee.
Tea is a staple beverage throughout India; the finest varieties are grown in Darjeeling and Assam. It is generally prepared as masala chai, wherein the tea leaves are boiled in a mix of water, spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger, and large quantities of milk to create a thick, sweet, milky concoction. Different varieties and flavors of Tea are prepared to suit different tastes all over the country. Another popular beverage, coffee, is largely served in South India. One of the finest varieties of Coffea arabica is grown around Mysore, Karnataka, and is marketed under the trade name "Mysore Nuggets". Filter Coffee, or kaapi, is also especially popular in South India. Other beverages include nimbu pani (lemonade), lassi, badam dood (milk with nuts and cardamom), Chaach (made from curd/yogurt ), sharbat and coconut water. India also has many indigenous alcoholic beverages, including palm wine, fenny, bhang and Indian beer. However the practice of drinking a beverage with a meal, or wine and food matching, is not traditional or common in India.
Although above listed beverages are popular, people prefer to consume drinking water with their food. In fact it is custom to offer drinking water to guest before serving hot or cold drink. Also drinking water does not overshadow taste of food.
Etiquette
Several customs are associated with the manner of food consumption. Traditionally, meals are eaten while seated either on the floor or on very low stools or cushions. Food is most often eaten without cutlery, using instead the fingers of the right hand. However, these traditional ways of dining are being influenced by eating styles from other parts of the world.
Traditional serving styles vary from region to region in India. A universal aspect of presentation is the thali, a large plate with samplings of different regional dishes accompanied by raita, breads such as naan, puri, or roti, and rice. In South India, a cleaned banana leaf is often placed under the food as decoration and as a hygienic and portable alternative to plates.
