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The cuisine of India is characterized by its sophisticated and subtle use of many spice
Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetable used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth....
s and vegetables grown across India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism
Vegetarianism

File:Foods.jpgVegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes meat , fish and poultry.There are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude egg and/or some products produced from animal labour such as dairy products and honey....
 across its society. Considered by some to be one of the world's most diverse cuisines, each family of this cuisine is characterised by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics
Demographics of India

This article is about the demographics features of the population of India, including population density, Ethnic group, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
 of the ethnically diverse Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
.

India's religious beliefs and culture has played an influential role in the evolution of its cuisine.






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The cuisine of India is characterized by its sophisticated and subtle use of many spice
Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetable used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth....
s and vegetables grown across India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism
Vegetarianism

File:Foods.jpgVegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes meat , fish and poultry.There are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude egg and/or some products produced from animal labour such as dairy products and honey....
 across its society. Considered by some to be one of the world's most diverse cuisines, each family of this cuisine is characterised by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics
Demographics of India

This article is about the demographics features of the population of India, including population density, Ethnic group, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
 of the ethnically diverse Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
.

India's religious beliefs and culture has played an influential role in the evolution of its cuisine. However, India's cuisine also evolved with the subcontinent's cross-cultural interactions with the neighboring Middle East
Middle Eastern cuisine

Middle Eastern cuisine is the cuisine of the various countries and peoples of the Middle East. The cuisine of the region is diverse while having a degree of homogeneity....
 and Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
 as well as the Mediterranean
Cuisine of the Mediterranean

Mediterranean cuisine is the food of the areas around the Mediterranean Sea.Whether this is a useful category is disputed:Mediterranean cuisine is the food of the areas around the Mediterranean Sea....
, making it a unique blend of various cuisines from across Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
. The colonial period
Colonial India

Colonial India refers to areas of the Indian Subcontinent under the rule of European Colonialism powers. The colonial era in India began in 1502, when the Portuguese Empire established the first European trading centre at Kollam, Kerala....
 introduced European cooking styles to India adding to its flexibility and diversity. Indian cuisine has also influenced cuisines across the world, especially those from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
. In particular, curry
Curry

Curry is the English language description of any of a general variety of spiced dishes, best known in Asian cuisines, especially South Asian cuisine....
 has been widely adopted in cuisines around the world.

History and influences

As a land that has experienced extensive immigration and intermingling through many millennia, India's cuisine 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
Jainism

Jainism is one of the oldest Indian religions that originated in India. Jains believe that every soul is divine and has the potential to achieve God-consciousness....
 population will not consume any roots or subterranean vegetables; see Jain vegetarianism
Jain vegetarianism

Jain vegetarianism is the diet of the Jains, the followers of Jainism. It is the most radical form of religiously-motivated diet regulation in the Indian subcontinent....
). One strong influence over Indian foods is the longstanding vegetarianism
Vegetarianism

File:Foods.jpgVegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes meat , fish and poultry.There are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude egg and/or some products produced from animal labour such as dairy products and honey....
 within sections of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
's Hindu
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, Buddhist
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 and Jain communities. People who follow a strict vegetarian diet make up 20–42% of the population in India, while less than 30% are regular meat-eaters.

Around 7000 BC, sesame
Sesame

Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalization in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....
, eggplant, and humped cattle
Zebu

Zebus , sometimes known as 'humped cattle' or 'indicus' cattle. They are a type of cattle better-adapted to tropics environments than the other domestic cattle, the Bos primigenius taurus or 'taurine' types....
 had been domesticated in the Indus Valley
Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization , abbreviated IVC, was an ancient civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin. Primarily centered along the Indus river, the civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, including its Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces, and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab...
. By 3000 BC, turmeric
Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20? C and 30? C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive....
, cardamom
Cardamom

The name cardamom is used for herbs within two genera of the ginger family Zingiberaceae, namely Elettaria and Amomum. Both varieties take the form of a small seedpod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds....
, black pepper
Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering plant vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning....
 and mustard
Mustard plant

Mustards are several plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis whose small mustard seeds are used as a spice and, by grinding and mixing them with water, vinegar or other liquids, are turned into the condiment known as Mustard ....
 were harvested in India. Many recipes first emerged during the initial Vedic period
Vedic period

The Vedic Period is the period during which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Indo-Iranians, were being composed. Scholars place the Vedic period in the 2nd millennium BCE and 1st millennium BCE millennia BCE continuing up to the 6th century BCE based on literary evidence....
, 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. Over time, some segments of the population embraced vegetarianism, due to ancient Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy is divided into six Sanskrit nastika schools of thought, or darshanas :#Sankhya, a strongly dualist theoretical exposition of mind and matter....
 of ahimsa
Ahimsa

Ahimsa is a Sanskrit term meaning to do no harm . It is an important tenet of the religions that originated in ancient India . Ahimsa is a rule of conduct that bars the killing or injuring of living beings....
. This practice gained more popularity following the advent of Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 and a cooperative climate where variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains could easily be grown throughout the year. A food classification system that categorised any item as saatvic, raajsic or taamsic developed in Ayurveda
Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda comprises the words , meaning 'life' and , meaning 'science'....
. Each was deemed to have a powerful effect on the body and the mind

Later, invasions from Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
, Arabia, the Mughal empire
Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was a Muslim imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century....
, and Persia, and others had a deep and fundamental effect on Indian cooking. Influence from traders such as the Arab
Arab cuisine

Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab World from Iraq to Morocco to Somalia to Yemen, and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian and others....
 and Portuguese
Portuguese cuisine

Portuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavored dishes and is an example of a Mediterranean cuisine. Mutual influence between Portuguese and Spanish cuisine is common....
 diversified subcontinental tastes and meals. As with other cuisines, Indian cuisine has absorbed the new-world vegetables such as tomato
Tomato

The Tomato is an herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins Nicotiana, potatoes, aubergine , chilli peppers, and the poisonous Atropa belladonna....
, chilli
Capsicum

Capsicum is a genus of plants from the nightshade family native to the Americas, where it was cultivated for thousands of years by the people of the tropical Americas, and is now cultivated worldwide....
, and potato
Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
, as staples. These are actually relatively recent additions
Origins of North Indian foods

Many of the food items that define modern Pakistani cuisine and North Indian cuisine cooking have origins inside the Indian subcontinent. At the same time, many foods that are now commonplace are based on fruits and vegetables that originated outside the subcontinent....
.

Islamic rule
Islam in India

Islam in India is the second-most practiced religion after Hinduism. There are approximately Islam by country in India's population as of 2008 , i.e., 13.4% of the population....
 introduced rich gravies, pilaf
Pilaf

Pilaf, also called polao, pilau, or pulao, is a dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat, is browned in oil, and then cooked in a seasoned broth....
s and non-vegetarian fare such as kebab
Kebab

Kebab refers to a variety of meat dishes in Middle Eastern cuisine, Mediterranean cuisine, Cuisine of Africa, Central Asian cuisine, and South Asian cuisine cuisines, consisting of Grilling or broiled meats on a skewer or stick....
s, resulting in Mughlai cuisine
Mughlai cuisine

Mughlai cuisine is a Pakistani and Indian cuisine, influenced by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking style used in Delhi and Punjab ....
 (Mughal
Mughal era

The Mughal era is the historic period of the Mughal Empire in India, it ran from the early sixteenth century, to a point in the early eighteenth century when the Mughal Emperors' power had dwindled....
 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
Jahangir

Nur-ud-din Salim Jahangir Born as Prince Muhammad Salim, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Mughal Empire Emperor Akbar. Akbar's twin sons, Hasan and Hussain, died in infancy....
 and Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan

Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I , was the ruler of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent from 1628 until 1658. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning "King of the World." He was the fifth Mughal ruler after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir....
. The Nizam
Nizam

Nizam , a shortened version of Nizam-ul-Mulk , meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title of the native sovereigns of Hyderabad state, India, since 1719, belonging to the Asaf Jah dynasty....
s of Hyderabad state
Hyderabad State

Hyderabad state was the largest princely state in the erstwhile British Indian Empire. It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam....
 meanwhile developed and perfected their own style of cooking with the most notable dish being the Biryani
Hyderabad Biryani

Hyderabadi Biryani is perhaps the most well-known culinary delights from the famous Hyderabad Cuisine.It is a traditional dish made using Basmati rice, goat meat and various other exotic spices....
.

During this period the Portuguese
Portuguese India

Portuguese India was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India. At the time of British India's independence in 1947, Portuguese India included a number of enclaves on India's western coast, including Goa proper, as well as the coastal enclaves of Daman and Daman and Diu, and the enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which lie inl...
 and British introduced foods from the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
 such as potato
Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
es, tomato
Tomato

The Tomato is an herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins Nicotiana, potatoes, aubergine , chilli peppers, and the poisonous Atropa belladonna....
es, squash, and chilies
Chili pepper

Chili pepper is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the Solanaceae, Solanaceae. Botany considers the plant a berry bush....
 as well as cooking techniques like baking.

Elements

The staples of Indian cuisine are rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
, atta (whole wheat flour
Whole wheat flour

Whole wheat flour is a Powder substance derived by grinding or mashing the wheat whole grain. It is used in baking but typically added to other "white" flours to provide nutrients , texture, and body to the finished product....
), and a variety of pulses, the most important of which are masoor (most often red lentil
Lentil

The lentil or daal or pulse is a bushy annual plant of the Fabaceae family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about 15 inches tall and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each....
), chana (bengal gram), toor (pigeon pea
Pigeon pea

The pigeon pea is a perennial member of the family Fabaceae. Other common names are arhar , Rohor , red gram, toovar/toor , tuvaram paruppu ,toovara paruppu ,'togari , Kandi , gandul, guandul, guandu, Congo pea, Gungo pea, Gunga pea, and no-eye pea....
 or yellow gram), urad
Urad (bean)

Urad, also referred to as urad dal, udad dal, urd bean, urd, urid, black matpe bean, black gram, black lentil , or white lentil , is a bean grown in southern Asia....
 (black gram) and mung
Mung bean

||-||}Mung bean, also known as green bean, mung, moong, mash bean, munggo or monggo, green gram, golden gram, and green soy, is the seed of Vigna radiata which is native to India and Pakistan....
 (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
Dal

Dal or Pappu is a preparation of pulse s which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick, spicy stew prepared therefrom, a mainstay of Indian cuisine, Cuisine of Pakistan, and Cuisine of Bangladesh cuisine....
 (split). Some of the pulses like chana and "Mung" are also processed into flour (besan).

Most Indian curries are cooked in vegetable oil. In North and West India, groundnut oil has traditionally been most popular for cooking, while in Eastern India, Mustard oil
Mustard oil

The term mustard oil is used for three different oils that are made from mustard seeds:* a fatty vegetable oil resulting from pressing the seeds,...
 is more commonly used. In South India, coconut oil
Coconut oil

Coconut oil, also known as coconut butter, is a tropical oil with many applications. It is extracted from copra . Coconut oil constitutes seven percent of the total export income of the Philippines, the world's largest exporter of the product....
 and Gingelly Oil is common. In recent decades, sunflower
Sunflower

The sunflower is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae and native to the Americas, with a large flowering head . The stem can grow as high as 3 meters , and the flower head can reach 30 cm in diameter with the "large" seeds....
 oil and soybean
Soybean

The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia. The plant is classed as an oilseed rather than a Pulse . It is an annual plant that has been used in China for 5,000 years as a food and a component of drugs....
 oil have gained popularity all over India. Hydrogenated vegetable oil, known as Vanaspati
Vanaspati

Vanaspati is the Sanskrit word that now refers to the entire plant kingdom. However, according to Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita and the Vaisesikas, Vanaspati is limited to plants that bear fruits but no evident flowers....
 ghee, is also a popular cooking medium that replaces Desi ghee, clarified butter (the milk solids have been removed).

The most important/frequently used spices in Indian cuisine are chilli pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin
Cumin

Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to East India....
 (jeera), turmeric
Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20? C and 30? C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive....
 (haldi, manjal), fenugreek
Fenugreek

Fenugreek is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Fenugreek is used both as an herb and as a spice . It is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop....
 (methi), asafoetida
Asafoetida

Asafoetida , alternative spelling asafetida, is a species of Ferula native to Iran. It is an herbaceous perennial plant growing to two metres tall, with stout, hollow, somewhat succulent stems 5-8 cm in diameter at the base of the plant....
 (hing, perungayam), ginger
Ginger

Ginger is a spice which is used for cooking and is also consumed whole as a delicacy or medicine. It is the rhizome of the Zingiber, Zingiber officinale....
 (adrak, inji), coriander
Coriander

Coriander is an annual plant herb in the family Apiaceae. It is also known as cilantro, particularly in the USA. Coriander is native to southwestern Asia west to north Africa....
, and garlic
Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
 (lassan, poondu). Popular spice mixes are garam masala
Garam masala

Garam masala, the literal meaning of which is 'hot spice' , is a basic blend of ground spices to be used alone or with other seasonings. It is common in Cuisine of India, Cuisine of Bangladesh and Cuisine of Pakistan cuisines....
 which is usually a powder of five or more dried spices, commonly comprised of cardamom, cinnamon and clove
Clove

Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world....
. Each region, and sometimes each individual chef, has a distinctive blend of Garam Masala. Goda Masala is a popular spice mix in Maharashtra. Some leaves are commonly used like tejpat (cassia leaf), coriander
Coriander

Coriander is an annual plant herb in the family Apiaceae. It is also known as cilantro, particularly in the USA. Coriander is native to southwestern Asia west to north Africa....
 leaf, fenugreek
Fenugreek

Fenugreek is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Fenugreek is used both as an herb and as a spice . It is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop....
 leaf and mint
Mentha

Mentha is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the Family Lamiaceae . Species within Mentha have a cosmopolitan distribution distribution across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America....
 leaf. The common use of curry leaves
Curry Tree

The Curry Tree or Karivepallai or Kadipatta is a tropical to sub-tropical tree in the family Rutaceae, which is native to India. It produces the leaves known as Curry leaves or Sweet Neem leaves....
 is typical of all South Indian cuisine. In sweet dishes, cardamom
Cardamom

The name cardamom is used for herbs within two genera of the ginger family Zingiberaceae, namely Elettaria and Amomum. Both varieties take the form of a small seedpod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds....
, nutmeg
Nutmeg

The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace....
, saffron
Saffron

Saffron is a spice derived from the dried gynoecium of the flower of the saffron crocus , a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. The flower has three Carpels, which are the anatomical terms of location ends of the plant's carpels....
, and rose
Rose

A rose is a perennial plant flower shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species and comes in a variety of colors....
 petal essence are used.

The term "curry" is usually understood to mean "gravy" in India, rather than "spices." The term Desi Diet indicates a Diet followed by Indians.

Geographical varieties


Northern

North India
North India

Northern India is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of northern India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia....
n cuisine is distinguished by the proportionally high use of dairy
Dairy

A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from goat or cattle, but also from bovine, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption....
 products; milk
Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
, paneer
Paneer

Paneer is the most common Persian cuisine and South Asian cuisine cheese. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice or other food acid....
, ghee
Ghee

Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in the Indian subcontinent, and is important in South Asian cuisine and Middle Eastern cuisine ....
 (clarified butter
Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
), and yoghurt
Yoghurt

Yoghurt, yogurt, yoghourt, youghurt or yogourt , is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk....
 (yogurt, yoghourt) are all common ingredients. Gravies
Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. It is a smooth, non-chunky liquid. Ready-made bouillon cube and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts....
 are typically dairy-based. Other common ingredients include chilies, saffron
Saffron

Saffron is a spice derived from the dried gynoecium of the flower of the saffron crocus , a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. The flower has three Carpels, which are the anatomical terms of location ends of the plant's carpels....
, and nuts
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
.

North India
North India

Northern India is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of northern India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia....
n cooking features the use of the "tawa" (griddle) for baking flat breads like roti
Roti

Roti or Phulka in general, is defined as an Leavening agent flat bread in Urdu, Hindi language, Punjabi language, Pashto, Assamese language, Indonesian language, Malay language, Bengali language, and Somali language languages....
 and paratha
Paratha

A paratha is a bread that originated in the subcontinent . It is made with whole-wheat flour, pan frying in ghee or cooking oil, and sometimes stuffed with vegetables, such as boiled potatoes, radishes or cauliflower and/or paneer ....
, and "tandoor
Tandoor

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, the Transcaucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia and Bangladesh....
" (a large and cylindrical charcoal-fired oven) for baking breads such as naan
Naan

Naan is a round flatbread made of white flour. It is a staple accompaniment to hot meals in Central Asia and South Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, northern India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the surrounding region....
, and kulcha
Kulcha

Kulcha is a north India bread, usually eaten with chana masala. It is typically made with Maida flour.Kulcha is a typical Punjabi cuisine recipe, originating in Punjab, India....
; main courses like tandoori chicken
Tandoori chicken

Tandoori Chicken is a roasted chicken delicacy that originated in the Punjab region of present-day Pakistan and India.Chicken is marinated in yogurt and seasoned with tandoori masala....
 also cook in the tandoor. Other breads like puri
Puri

Puri is a city in the east Indian state of Orissa. The city is famous for its Jaganatha temple. The temple was built in the late eleventh century....
 and bhatoora
Bhatoora

Bhatoora is a soft and fluffy Cuisine of India fried bread, and is often eaten with a chickpea curry, choley, making the classic Punjabi dish chole bhature....
, which are deep fried in oil, are also common. Goat
Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae....
 and lamb meats are favored ingredients of many northern Indian recipes.

The samosa
Samosa

A samosa, a stuffed pastry, is a common snack in South Asia, Central Asia, the Horn of Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. It generally consists of a fried triangular- or tetrahedron-shaped pastry shell with a savory filling of spiced potatoes, onion, peas, coriander, and sometimes fresh paneer....
 is a popular North Indian snack, and now commonly found in other parts of India, Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
, North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, and the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. A common variety is filled with boiled, fried, or mashed potato. Other fillings include minced meat, cheese (paneer
Paneer

Paneer is the most common Persian cuisine and South Asian cuisine cheese. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice or other food acid....
), mushroom
Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
 (khumbi), and chick pea.

The staple food of most of North India is a variety of lentils, vegetables, and roti
Roti

Roti or Phulka in general, is defined as an Leavening agent flat bread in Urdu, Hindi language, Punjabi language, Pashto, Assamese language, Indonesian language, Malay language, Bengali language, and Somali language languages....
 (wheat based bread). The varieties used and the method of preparation can vary from place to place. Popular snacks, side-dishes and drinks include mirchi bada
Mirchi Bada

Mirchi Bada is a spicy Indian snack consisting of Chili pepper and potato stuffing, served hot with tomato sauce or occasionally with mint and tamarind chutney....
, buknu
Buknu

Buknu is a powdered mixture of several spices popular in parts of Uttar Pradesh, India.Some people say that its origin is in Kanpur. Buknu is claimed to have medicinal values by Ayurveda and is thought to be a very ancient recipe....
, bhujiya, chaat
Chaat

Chaat is plate of savoury snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India, Pakistan and the rest of South Asia. The word derives from Hindi ca? ??? , from ca?na ????? , from Prakrit ca??ei ?????? ....
, kachori
Kachori

Kachori or Kachauri is a spicy Indian Cuisine snack of various regions of India, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh....
, imarti, several types of pickles (known as achar
Achar

The term achar has a number of possible meanings:*Achar, the Hindi word for a variety of Indian pickle Also known as Charr*Achan , also called Achar, a figure mentioned by the Book of Joshua in connection with the fall of Jericho and conquest of Ai....
), murabba
Murabba

Murabba also murraba or murrabo is a savoury pickle or achar in the Gujarat region of India. It is traditionally sweet, prepared with raw mangoes, sugar, and spices, and resembles a fruit preserve, such as apricot conserve or orange marmalade, more than the hot oily pickles associated with Indian Cuisine....
, sharbat
Sharbat

Sharbat is a popular Middle Eastern and South Asian "juice" that is prepared from fruits or flower petals. It is sweet and served chilled. It can be in concentrate form and eaten with a spoon or mixed with water to create the drink....
, aam panna
Aam panna

Aam Panna is an India drink renowned for its heat resistant properties. It is made from Green Mangoes and it is used as a tasty and healthy beverage to fight against the intense Indian summer heat....
 and aam papad
Aam papad

Aam papad is a traditional List of Indian snacks made out of mango pulp mixed with concentrated sugar solution and sun dried. Aam papad is a part of the North Indian cuisine and is available is numerous varieties all over North India....
. Popular sweets are known as mithai (means sweetmeat in Hindi), such as gulab jamun
Gulab jamun

Gulab jamun ; ) or gulab jambu is a popular North Indian cuisine, Bangladeshi cuisine, Nepali cuisine, Gujarati cuisine and Punjabi cuisine sweet dish made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids in a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron....
, jalebi
Jalebi

Jalebi is a fried candy made from maida flour, commonly prepared in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Jalebi originated in Iran, where it is called Zulbiya....
, peda
Peda

Peda or Pera is a sweet from the Indian subcontinent, usually prepared in thick, semi-soft pieces. The main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavorings, including cardamom seeds, pistachio nuts and saffron....
, petha
Petha

Petha is a translucent soft candy from North India and Pakistan. Usually in the shape of rectangular or cylindrical pieces, it is made from the winter melon vegetable ....
, rewadi, gajak, bal mithai
Bal Mithai

Baal Mithai is a brown chocolate-like fudge, made with roasted khoya, coated with white sugar balls, and is a popular sweet from the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in India, especially regions around Almora....
, singori
Singori

Singori is a North Indian sweet, originating in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand in India. It is prepared from khoya , grated coconut, and cane sugar, and served wrapped like a cone in Molu leaf and topped with rose petals....
, kulfi
Kulfi

Kulfi or Qulfi is a popular flavoured frozen ice cream dessert found in South Asia, made with milk. In taste, texture and preparation, it shares commonalities with ice cream....
, falooda
Falooda

Falooda or Faluda is a popular beverage in the Indian subcontinent made primarily by mixing rose water syrup with vermicelli and tapioca seeds along with either milk or water....
, khaja
Khaja

Khaja is a sweet delicacy of Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal states in eastern India.Refined wheat flour, sugar and edible oils are the chief ingredients of khaja....
, ras malai
Ras malai

Ras Malai is a sweet dish invented in Bengal and found in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan....
, gulkand
Gulkand

Gulkand, or more correctly Gulqand , is a sweet preserve of rose petals from Pakistan and North India. Gul means flower in Persian language and qand means sweet in Arabic language....
, and several varieties of laddu
Laddu

Laddu or Laddoo is an Indian, Pakistani and Bengali sweet that is often prepared to celebrate festivals or household events such as weddings....
, barfi
Barfi

Barfi or burfi , is a sweet from the Indian subcontinent. Plain barfi is made from condensed milk, cooked with sugar until it solidifies. Other varieties include besan barfi, made with Gram flour, and pista barfi, which is a milk barfi containing ground pistachio nuts....
 and halwa.

Some common North Indian foods such as the various kebabs and most of the meat dishes originated with Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
s’ incursions into the country. Considering their shared historic and cultural heritage, Pakistani cuisine and north Indian cuisine are very similar.

Eastern

East India
East India

East India, or more properly Eastern India, is a List_of_regions_in_India of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa....
n cuisine is famous for its desserts, especially sweets such as rasagolla
Rasgulla

Rasgulla is a syrupy dessert of Orissa and Bengal....
, chumchum, sandesh
Sandesh (sweet)

Sandesh is a sweet that is made in West Bengal state of India and in Bangladesh. It is somewhat comparable to a Peda . It is created with coconut and sugar ....
, rasabali
Rasabali

Rasabali is a sweet dish from Orissa, India. Unlike some other popular Oriya desserts, such as Rasagolla which have spread throughout India through Bengal, the popularity of Rasabali remains largely confined within Orissa....
, chhena poda, chhena gaja
Chhena Gaja

Chhena Gaja is a sweet dish from Orissa, India. Unlike some other popular chhena-based Oriya desserts, such as Rasagolla, which have spread throughout India, the Chhena Gaja remains largely popular within the state itself....
, and kheeri. Many of the sweet dishes now popular in Northern India initially originated in the Bengal
Bengal

Bengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast of South Asia. Today it is mainly divided between the independent sovereign nation of the Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Oris...
 and Orissa
Orissa

Orissa , is a states and territories of India located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It was established on 1 April 1936 as a province in British India, and consists, predominantly of Oriya language speakers....
 regions. Apart from sweets, East India cuisine offers delights of posta (poppy seeds).

Traditional Bengali cuisine
Bengali cuisine

Bengali cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in Bengal, a region in the eastern South Asia which is now divided between the Indian state of West Bengal and the independent country of Bangladesh....
 is not too spicy, not too faint. General ingredients used in Bengali curries are mustard seeds, cumin seeds, nigella, green chillies and cumin paste. Mustard paste, curd, nuts, poppy seed paste and cashew paste are preferably cooked in mustard oil
Mustard oil

The term mustard oil is used for three different oils that are made from mustard seeds:* a fatty vegetable oil resulting from pressing the seeds,...
. 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
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
 or ghonto (spiced rice). Traditional Bengali breakfast includes pantabhat (biotically degenerated boiled rice), doi-chirey, doodh-muree with fruits. Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
's cuisine is very similar to that of West Bengal
West Bengal

West Bengal is a States and territories of India in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal....
, corresponding to the link between Pakistani and northern Indian cuisine. Fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
 is relatively commonly consumed in the eastern part of India, most especially in Bengal
Bengal

Bengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast of South Asia. Today it is mainly divided between the independent sovereign nation of the Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Oris...
.

Like South India, rice is the staple grain in Eastern India too. A regular meal consists of many side dishes made of vegetables. The popular vegetable dishes of Orissa are Dalma
Dâlma

* Dalma Island, an island off the coast of Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesD?lma may refer to several villages in Romania:* D?lma, a village in Scortoasa Commune, Buzau County...
 and Santula
Santula

Santula is a vegetable dish from the state of Orissa. It can be either fried or boiled . Ingredients include potato, brinjal, pumpkin, and ladyfingers, which are first boiled together, then fried in oil with diced onion, garlic, and green chillies....
. The most popular vegetable dish of Bengal is Sukto. Deep fried, shallow fried and mashed vegetables are also very popular. Fish is frequently featured in many meals.

Southern

South India
South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the Union territories of India of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area....
n cuisine is distinguished by a greater emphasis on rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
 as the staple grain, the ubiquity of sambar
Sambar (dish)

Sambar or sambhar or Sambaaru , is a dish common in south Indian cuisine and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines, made of toovar dal .Sambar is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and toovar dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala an...
 and rasam
Rasam

Rasam, is a South Indian soup. It is prepared with tamarind juice or tomato, Chili pepper and other spices. Lentils are added by some along with vegetables....
 (also called saaru and rasa), a variety of pickles
Pickles

Pickles may refer to* A pickled cucumber, a food most commonly referred to as a pickle in the U.S. and Canada* A pickled onion, a food most commonly referred to as a pickle in the UK....
, and the liberal use of coconut
Coconut

The Coconut Palm is a member of the Family Arecaceae . It is the only species in the genus Cocos, and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaf 4-6 m long, pinnae 60-90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the trunk smooth....
 and particularly coconut oil
Coconut oil

Coconut oil, also known as coconut butter, is a tropical oil with many applications. It is extracted from copra . Coconut oil constitutes seven percent of the total export income of the Philippines, the world's largest exporter of the product....
 and curry leaves. Curries called Kozhambu are also popular and are typically vegetable stews cooked with spices, tamarind and other ingredients. The dosa
Dosa

The Dosa or Dosai is a South Indian culture#Cuisine delicacy made from rice and urad s. Dosai is a typical South Indian food, eaten for breakfast or dinner, and is rich in carbohydrates and protein....
, poori, idli
Idli

The idli , also romanized "idly" or "iddly" and plural "idlis", is a savory cake popular throughout South Indian cuisine. The cakes are usually two to three inches in diameter and are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented urad s and rice....
, vada
Vada

Vada ; also known as vadai, wada or vade; pronounced "vah-daa", "vah-dey", or "vah-die"), is a savoury snack from South India, shaped like a doughnut and made from dal, lentil or potato....
, bonda
Bonda

Bonda is a typical South Indian snack. Bonda has a sweet and a spicy variant. Keralites prefer the sweet one, while the savoury version is common in the rest of India....
 and bajji are typical South Indian favorites. These are generally consumed as part of breakfast. Other popular dishes include Kesaribath, Upma
Upma

Upma , Uppittu or Kharabath in Kannada, Upeet in Marathi language and Rulam in Konkani language, is an Indian food dish made of wheat rava ....
, Pulao, Puliyodharai and Thengai Sadham
Coconut rice

Coconut rice is a dish prepared by cooking white rice in coconut milk or coconut flakes.As both the coconut and the rice-plant are indigenous in places all-around the world, coconut rice too is found in many cultures throughout the world ....
. Hyderabadi biryani, a popular type of biryani
Biryani

Biryani, biriani, or beriani is a set of primarily South Asian rice-based foods made with spices, rice and meat/vegetables....
, reflects the diversity of south Indian cuisine. South Indian cuisine obtains its distinct flavours by the use of tamarind, coconuts, lentils, rice and a variety of vegetables.

Andhra
Andhra cuisine

Rice is the staple food of the South India States and territories of India, Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of rice in India. Naturally, a lot of local food is rice based....
, Chettinad
Chettinad

Chettinad is a region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu state, India. Karaikudi is known as the capital of Chettinad, which includes Karaikudi and 74 other villages....
, Tamil
Tamil cuisine

Tamil Nadu is famous for its hospitality and its deep belief that serving food to others is a service to humanity as is common in many regions of India....
, Hyderabadi
Hyderabadi cuisine

Hyderabadi Cuisine is a princely legacy of the Nizams, is a blend of Mughlai cuisine and Persian cuisines.The use of ingredients is carefully chosen and cooked to the right degree and time....
, 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
Sambar (dish)

Sambar or sambhar or Sambaaru , is a dish common in south Indian cuisine and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines, made of toovar dal .Sambar is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and toovar dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala an...
 from Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
, sambar from Tamil cuisine
Tamil cuisine

Tamil Nadu is famous for its hospitality and its deep belief that serving food to others is a service to humanity as is common in many regions of India....
, Sambar from Karnataka
Karnataka

Karnataka is a States and territories of India in the southern part of India. It was Unification of Karnataka on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act....
 and pappu chaaru in Andhra cuisine
Andhra cuisine

Rice is the staple food of the South India States and territories of India, Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of rice in India. Naturally, a lot of local food is rice based....
.Some popular dishes include the Biriyani, Ghee Rice with meat curry, seafood (prawns, mussels, mackerel) and paper thin Pathiris from Malabar
Malabar

Malabar is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.The name is thought to be derived from the Malayalam word Mala and Iranian language word Bar or from the Turkic words Mal and Bar ....
 area.

Western

Western India
West India

West India or the Western region of India consists of the States and territories of India of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli....
 has three major food groups: Gujarati, Maharashtrian and Goan. Maharashtrian cuisine
Maharashtrian cuisine

Maharashtrian cuisine is cuisine of the Marathi people, those from the state of Maharashtra in India. Maharashtrian cuisine covers a wide range from being extremely mild to very spicy dishes....
 has mainly two sections defined by the geographical sections. The coastal regions, geographically similar to Goa
Goa

Goa is India's smallest states and territories of India in terms of area and the List of states and territories of India by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western...
 depend more on rice, coconut, and fish. The hilly regions of the Western Ghats
Western Ghats

The Western Ghats also known as the Sahyadri mountains, is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea....
 and Deccan plateau regions use groundnut in place of coconut and depend more on jowar (sorghum
Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
) and bajra (millet
Millet

The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal Crop or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a scientific classification group, but rather a functional or agronomic one....
) as staples. Saraswat cuisine
Saraswat cuisine

IntroductionSaraswat Cuisine is the main cooking fare of Saraswat Brahmins from the konkan coast of western India.There are small differences according to the Saraswat Sub-caste and region....
 forms an important part of coastal Konkani
Konkan

The Konkan , also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali, is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore. The sapta-Konkan is a slightly larger region described in the Skanda-purana....
 Indian cuisine. Gujarati cuisine
Gujarati cuisine

Gujarati cuisine refers to the cuisine of the people from the state of Gujarat in the Western Region of India. It is primarily vegetarian, due to the influence of Hinduism and Jainism....
 is predominantly vegetarian. Many Gujarati dishes have a hint of sweetness due to use of sugar or brown sugar. Goan cuisine
Goan cuisine

Goan cuisine consists of regional foods popular in Goa, located along India's west coast along the Arabian Sea. Seafood, coconut milk, rice and paste are mainstays and of Goan delicacies....
 is influenced by the Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 colonization of Goa
Goa

Goa is India's smallest states and territories of India in terms of area and the List of states and territories of India by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western...
.

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
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
. For example it uses less of the well known spices that are popular in other parts of India. Yak
Yak

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia....
 is a popular meat in this region of India.

Popularity and influence outside India

Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe. The cuisine is popular not only among the large Indian diaspora but also among the mainstream population of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. In 2003, there were as many as 10,000 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 alone. A survey held in 2007 revealed that more than 1,200 Indian food products have been introduced in the United States since 2000. According to Britain's
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Her Majesty's Government. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by an appointed board that is intended to act in the public interest....
, Indian food industry in the United Kingdom is worth £3.2 billion, accounts for two-thirds of all eating out and serves about 2.5 million British customers every week. Apart from Europe and North America, Indian cuisine is popular in South East Asia too because of its strong historical influence on the region's local cuisines. Indian cuisine has had considerable influence on Malaysian cooking styles and also enjoys strong popularity in Singapore
Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
. Indian influence on Malay cuisine dates back to 19-century. Other cuisines which borrow Indian cooking styles include Vietnamese cuisine, Indonesian cuisine and Thai cuisine. The spread of vegetarianism in other parts of Asia is often credited to ancient Indian Buddhist practices. Indian cuisine is also fairly popular in the Arab world
Arab world

The Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast....
 because of its similarity and influence on Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine

Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab World from Iraq to Morocco to Somalia to Yemen, and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian and others....
.

The popularity of curry, which originated in India, across Asia has often led to the dish being labeled as the "pan-Asian" dish. Curry's international appeal has also been compared to that of pizza
Pizza

Pizza is a world-popular dish of Italy origin, made with an oven-baked, flat, generally round bread that is often covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based sauce and mozzarella cheese....
. Though the tandoor
Tandoor

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, the Transcaucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia and Bangladesh....
 did not originate in India, Indian tandoori dishes, such as chicken tikka
Chicken Tikka

Chicken tikka ; / mug? ?ikk?? /) is a dish of South Asia. It originated in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, possibly among the Hindkowans of the city of Peshawar....
 made with Indian ingredients, enjoy widespread popularity. Historically, Indian spices and herbs were one of the most sought after trade commodities. The spice trade
Spice trade

Spice trade is a commercial activity of ancient origin which involves the merchandising of spices and herbs. Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman trade with India....
 between India and Europe led to the rise and dominance of Arab traders to such an extent that European explorers, such as Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama

D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portugal in the Age of Discovery, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India....
 and Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
, set out to find new trade routes with India leading to the Age of Discovery
Age of Discovery

The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, was a period in human history starting in the 15th Century and continuing into the 17th Century, during which Europeans explored the world by ocean searching for trading partners and particular trade goods....
.

Beverages

Tea
Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
 is a staple beverage throughout India; the finest varieties are grown in Darjeeling
Darjeeling

Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal.It is the headquarters of Darjeeling district, in the Siwalik Hills on the lower range of the Himalaya, at an average elevation of ....
 and Assam
Assam

Assam ) is a North-East India state of India with its capital at Dispur, in the outskirts of the city Guwahati. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak River river valleys and the Karbi Anglong District and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles ....
. It is generally prepared as masala chai
Masala chai

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
Coffee

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the Coffea. Caffeinated coffee has a stimulating effect in humans....
, is largely served in South India. One of the finest varieties of Coffea arabica
Coffea arabica

Coffea arabica is a species of coffee indigenous to Ethiopia and Yemen. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee"....
 is grown around Mysore
Mysore

Mysore ; renamed to Mysuru|??????) is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka....
, Karnataka
Karnataka

Karnataka is a States and territories of India in the southern part of India. It was Unification of Karnataka on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act....
, and is marketed under the trade name "Mysore Nuggets". Indian filter coffee
Indian filter coffee

South Indian Coffee, also known as Filter Coffee is a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans and chicory , especially popular in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu....
, or kaapi, is also especially popular in South India. Other beverages include nimbu pani (lemonade), lassi
Lassi

Lassi is a popular and traditional South Asian drink originating from North India. It is made by blending yoghurt with water, salt, pepper, ice and spices until frothy....
, chaach, badam doodh (milk with nuts and cardamom), sharbat
Sharbat

Sharbat is a popular Middle Eastern and South Asian "juice" that is prepared from fruits or flower petals. It is sweet and served chilled. It can be in concentrate form and eaten with a spoon or mixed with water to create the drink....
 and coconut water
Coconut water

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts , not to be confused with coconut milk. As the fruit matures, the coconut water gradually is replaced by the Coconut#The fruit and air....
. India also has many indigenous alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and distilled beverage....
s, including palm wine
Palm wine

File:Timor palm wine.jpgFile:Toddy.jpgPalm Wine also called Palm Toddy or simply Toddy is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the Borassus, and coconut....
, fenny
Fenny

Fenny is an Indian Distilled beverage made from either coconut or the juice of the cashew apple. Fenny originated in Goa, and the Goan fenny is generally considered superior....
 and Indian beer
Indian beer

History Modern brewed beer began to be exported to India in the early days of the British Empire ? the mid-1700s. The demand for beer in the hot climate of many parts of India by the British administrators and the troops was so great that it led to the creation of a completely new style of beer by George Hodgson in his London brewery ? India...
. There's also bhang
Bhang

Bhang is preparation from the leaves and flowers of the female Cannabis, consumed in the Indian subcontinent. It is consumed either as a beverage or smoked....
, prepared using cannabis
Cannabis

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa L., Cannabis indica Lam., and Cannabis ruderalis Janisch....
, and typically consumed, especially in North India, during Holi
Holi

Holi , also called the Festival of Colours, is a popular Hinduism spring festival observed in India, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, United Kingdom and Nepal....
 and Vaisakhi
Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi is one of the most significant holidays in Sikh calendar, commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa in 1699. Vaisakhi is celebrated by the Khalsa as their birthday every year, the day corresponding to the event when they were created by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699....
. However the practice of drinking a specific beverage with a meal, or wine and food matching
Wine and food matching

Wine and food matching is the process of pairing food dishes with wine to enhance the dining experience. In many cultures, wine has had a long history of being a Staple food at the dinner table and in some ways both the winemaking and culinary traditions of a region will have evolved together over the years....
, is not traditional or common in India.

Although the above listed beverages are popular, people prefer to consume drinking water with their food becuase drinking water does not overshadow the taste of the food. In fact it is customary to offer drinking water to guests before serving any hot or cold drinks.

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. Eating with your hands is considered important in Indian etiquette because a person eating with his hands knows the exact temperature of food before the morsel hits his mouth thus preventing blisters in mouth due to consumption of hot food.

Traditional serving styles vary from region to region in India. A universal aspect of presentation is the thali
Thali

Thali is an Indian meal with contents varying from one Indian cuisine to another. A thali is a selection of different dishes, usually served in small bowls on a round tray....
, a large plate with samplings of different regional dishes accompanied by raita
Raita (condiment)

Raita or pachadi is a South Asian cuisine/Indian food condiment based on yogurt and used as a sauce or dip . The yogurt is seasoned with coriander , cumin, Mentha, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices....
, breads such as naan
Naan

Naan is a round flatbread made of white flour. It is a staple accompaniment to hot meals in Central Asia and South Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, northern India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the surrounding region....
, puri
Puri (food)

A puri or poori or boori is a South Asian unleavened bread prepared in many of the countries in South Asia including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh....
, or roti
Roti

Roti or Phulka in general, is defined as an Leavening agent flat bread in Urdu, Hindi language, Punjabi language, Pashto, Assamese language, Indonesian language, Malay language, Bengali language, and Somali language languages....
, and rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
. In South India, a cleaned banana leaf is often used as a hygienic, visually interesting and environmentally friendly, alternative to plates.

In Southern India there is a beverage served cold known as Panner Soda or Gholi Soda which is a mixture of water, gas, rose water, and sugar . Another southern beverage is rose milk, which is served cold.

See also

  • Indian bread
    Indian bread

    Indian breads are a primary food in the daily menu of most people in the Indian subcontinent. The wide variety of grains and cereals grown in the country are used to make different kinds of breads, broiled, steamed, fried and cooked over direct heat....
  • Curry
    Curry

    Curry is the English language description of any of a general variety of spiced dishes, best known in Asian cuisines, especially South Asian cuisine....
  • Spices


Bibliography

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External links