Indian cuisine


Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available ingredients.
Indian food is also heavily influenced by religion, cultural choices and traditions. Historical events such as invasions, trade relations, and colonialism have played a role in introducing certain foods to India. The Columbian discovery of the New World brought a number of new vegetables and fruits. A number of these such as potatoes, tomatoes, chillies, peanuts, and guava have become staples in many regions of India.
Indian cuisine has shaped the history of international relations; the spice trade between India and Europe was the primary catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery. Spices were bought from India and traded around Europe and Asia. Indian cuisine has influenced other cuisines across the world, especially those from Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa, East Africa, Southeast Asia, North America, Mauritius, Fiji, Oceania, and the Caribbean.
World Wildlife Fund ’s Living Planet Report released on 10 October 2024 emphasised India’s food consumption pattern as the most sustainable among the big economies.

History

Indian cuisine reflects an 8,000-year history of various groups and cultures interacting with the Indian subcontinent, leading to diversity of flavours and regional cuisines found in modern-day India. Later, trade with British and Portuguese influence added to the already diverse Indian cuisine.

Prehistory and Indus Valley Civilisation

See also: Meluhha, Indus–Mesopotamia relations, and Indian maritime history
After 9000 BCE, a first period of indirect contacts between Fertile Crescent and Indus Valley civilisations seems to have occurred as a consequence of the Neolithic Revolution and the diffusion of agriculture. Wheat and barley were first grown around 7000 BCE, when agriculture spread from the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley. Sesame and humped cattle were domesticated in the local farming communities. Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.
By 3000 BCE, turmeric, cardamom, black pepper and mustard were harvested in India.
From around 2350 BCE evidence for imports from the Indus to Ur in Mesopotamia has been found, as well as Clove heads thought to originate from the Moluccas in Maritime Southeast Asia, which were found in a 2nd millennium BC site in Terqa. Akkadian Empire records mention timber, carnelian and ivory as being imported from Meluhha by Meluhhan ships, Meluhha being generally considered as the Mesopotamian name for the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Vedic age

The ancient Hindu text Mahabharata mentions rice and vegetable cooked together, and the word "pulao" or "pallao" is used to refer to the dish in ancient Sanskrit works, such as Yājñavalkya Smṛti. Ayurveda, ancient Indian system of wellness, deals with holistic approach to the wellness, and it includes food, dhyana and yoga.

Antiquity

Early diet in India mainly consisted of legumes, vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy products, and honey. Staple foods eaten today include a variety of lentils, whole-wheat flour, rice, and pearl millet, which has been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent since 6200 BCE. The Sangam literature, which is specific to South India, mentions that fish, crab, forest cattle, pork, monitor lizard, and poultry were consumed in the region together with a variety of millets, sago, sugarcane, dairy products, honey, and rice.
Over time, segments of the population embraced vegetarianism during the Śramaṇa movement while an equitable climate permitted a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains to be grown throughout the year.
A food classification system that categorised any item as saatvic, raajsic, or taamsic developed in Yoga tradition. The Bhagavad Gita proscribes certain dietary practices.
Consumption of beef is taboo, due to cows being considered sacred in Hinduism. Beef is generally not eaten by Hindus in India except for Kerala, parts of southern Tamil Nadu and the north-east.

Ingredients mentioned in ancient Indian scripture

While many ancient Indian recipes have been lost in history, one can look at ancient texts to see what was eaten in ancient and pre-historic India.
  • Barley— is mentioned many times in Rigveda and other Indian scriptures as one of the principal grains in ancient India
  • Betel leaf—primary use is as a wrapper for the chewing of areca nut or tobacco, where it is mainly used to add flavour; may also be used in cooking, usually raw, for its peppery taste
  • Breadfruit—fritters called jeev kadge phodi in Konkani or kadachakka varuthath in Malayalam are a local delicacy in coastal Karnataka and Kerala
  • Chickpeas—popular dishes are made with chickpea flour, such as mirchi bajji and mirapakaya bajji
  • Curd—a traditional yogurt or fermented milk product, originating from the Indian subcontinent, usually prepared from cow's milk, and sometimes buffalo milk, or goat milk*Figs—cultivated from Afghanistan to Portugal, also grown in Pithoragarh in the Kumaon hills of India; from the 15th century onwards, also grown in areas including Northern Europe and the New World
  • Ghee—a class of clarified butter that originated in ancient India, commonly used in the Indian subcontinent, Middle-Eastern cuisine, traditional medicine, and religious rituals*Grape wine—first-known mention of grape-based wines in India is from the late 4th-century BC writings of Chanakya
  • Honey—the spiritual and supposed therapeutic use of honey in ancient India was documented in both the Vedas and the Ayurveda texts*Mango—the Jain goddess Ambika is traditionally represented as sitting under a mango tree
  • Mustard—brown mustard is a spice that was cultivated in the Indus Valley civilisation and is one of the important spices used in the Indian subcontinent today
  • Pomegranate—in some Hindu traditions, the pomegranate symbolises prosperity and fertility, and is associated with both Bhoomidevi and Lord Ganesha
  • Rice—cultivated in the Indian subcontinent from as early as 5,000 BC
  • Rice cake—quite a variety are available*Rose apple—mainly eaten as a fruit and also used to make pickles
  • Saffron—almost all saffron grows in a belt from Spain in the west to Kashmir in the east
  • Salt—considered to be a very auspicious substance in Hinduism and is used in particular religious ceremonies like house-warmings and weddings; in Jainism, devotees lay an offering of raw rice with a pinch of salt before a deity to signify their devotion, and salt is sprinkled on a person's cremated remains before the ashes are buried
  • Sesame oil—popular in Asia, especially in Korea, China, and the South Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, where its widespread use is similar to that of olive oil in the Mediterranean*Sorghum—commonly called jwaarie, jowar, jola, or jondhalaa, sorghum is one of the staple sources of nutrition
  • Sugar—produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, its cultivation spread from there into modern-day Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass
  • Sugarcane—the earliest known production of crystalline sugar began in northern India; the earliest evidence of sugar production comes from ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts
  • Turmeric—used widely as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking

    Middle Ages to the 16th century

During the Middle Ages, several Indian dynasties were predominant, including the Gupta dynasty. Travel to India during this time introduced new cooking methods and products to the region, including tea.
India was later invaded by tribes from Central Asian cultures, which led to the emergence of Mughlai cuisine, a mix of Indian and Central Asian cuisine. Hallmarks include seasonings such as saffron.

Colonial Period

The Portuguese and British during their rule introduced cooking techniques such as baking, and foods from the New World and Europe. The new-world vegetables popular in cuisine from the Indian subcontinent include maize, tomato, potato, sweet potatoes, peanuts, squash, and chilli. Most New World vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, Amaranth, peanuts and cassava based Sago are allowed on Hindu fasting days. Cauliflower was introduced by the British in 1822. In the late 18th/early 19th century, an autobiography of a Scottish Robert Lindsay mentions a Sylheti man called Saeed Ullah cooking a curry for Lindsay's family. This is possibly the oldest record of Indian cuisine in the United Kingdom.

Ingredients

s of Indian cuisine include pearl millet, rice, whole-wheat flour, and a variety of lentils, such as masoor, tuer, urad, and moong. Lentils may be used whole, dehusked—for example, dhuli moong or dhuli urad—or split. Split lentils, or dal, are used extensively. Some pulses, such as channa or cholae, rajma, and lobiya are very common, especially in the northern regions. Channa and moong are also processed into flour.
Many Indian dishes are cooked in vegetable oil, but peanut oil is popular in northern and western India, mustard oil in eastern India, and coconut oil along the western coast, especially in Kerala and parts of southern Tamil Nadu. Gingelly oil is common in the south since it imparts a fragrant, nutty aroma.
In recent decades, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, and soybean oils have become popular across India. Hydrogenated vegetable oil, known as Vanaspati ghee, is another popular cooking medium. Butter-based ghee, or deshi ghee, is used commonly.
Many types of meat are used for Indian cooking, but chicken and mutton tend to be the most commonly consumed meats. Fish and beef consumption are prevalent in some parts of India, but they are not widely consumed except for coastal areas, as well as the north east.
The most important and frequently used spices and flavourings in Indian cuisine are whole or powdered chilli pepper, black mustard seed, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, asafoetida, ginger, coriander, and garlic.
One popular spice mix is garam masala, a powder that typically includes seven dried spices in a particular ratio, including black cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, black peppercorns, coriander seeds and anise star.. Each culinary region has a distinctive garam masala blend—individual chefs may also have their own.
The spices chosen for a dish are freshly ground and then fried in hot oil or ghee to create a paste. The process is called bhuna, the name also being used for a type of curry.
There are other spice blends which are popular in various regions. Panch phoron is a spice blend which is popular in eastern India. Goda masala'' is a sweet spice mix which is popular in Maharashtra. Some leaves commonly used for flavouring include bay leaves, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, and mint leaves. The use of curry leaves and roots for flavouring is typical of Gujarati and South Indian cuisine. Sweet dishes are often seasoned with cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, and rose petal essences.