Indian cuisine uses the whole palette of flavors—spicy, sour, sweet, and hot all at the same time—making it something that wants to jump off the plate,” says Floyd Cardoz, the executive chef and a partner of North End Grill in New York City and the author of One Spice, Two Spice.
Across the world wide /what-makes-india-world-famous/ Indian cuisine consists of a wide variety of traditional and regional cuisines due to the range of diversity in soil type, climate, culture, ethnic traditions and occupations, these cuisines vary from each other too according to the available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits.
Trade relations, colonialism, foreign invasions have played a major role in introducing certain foods to this country. Indian cuisine has shaped the history of international trading relations; the spice trade between India and Europe set up the milestone for Indian cuisine across the globe.Let’s discuss some Of the famous Indian Cuisines here, though the list is quite long but discussed few of them :
Fish, rice, milk, and sugar all play crucial parts in Bengali cuisine. Bengali cuisines have chilli pepper, mainly use of mustard oil along with large amounts of spices. In Bengali cuisine, a deep fried version of bread called luchi is popular. Fresh sweetwater fish is one of its most unique features; Bengalis prepare fish in many ways, such as steaming, braising, or stewing in vegetables and sauces based on coconut milk or mustard. Shondesh and Rasgulla
are popular sweet dishes made of sweetened, finely ground fresh cheese. The “Jaggery Rasgullas” are even more famous.
Bihari cuisine. It has famous litti chokha, a baked salted wheat-flour cake filled with sattu
(baked chickpea flour) and some special spices, which is served with baigan bharta, made of roasted eggplant (brinjal) and tomatoes. Malpua is a famous sweet dish of Bihar, made by a mixture of milk, maida, bananas, cashew nuts, peanuts, raisins, sugar, water, and green cardamom. Another sweet dish of Bihar is balushahi.The most awaited festival of Bihar, Chhath is celebrated by making thekua, a sweet dish made of ghee, jaggery, and whole-meal flour, flavoured with aniseed is the must to have.
Punjab and Haryana
The states with a cosmopolitan food culture mainly involving North Indian cuisine. Mostly North Indians enjoy parantha, especially at breakfast, and other Punjabi foods like roti which is made from wheat, corn, or other glutenous flour with cooked vegetables or beans. Sarson da saag and makki di roti
are well-known dishes among others.World famous snacks include gol gappa (known as panipuri in other places) that consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of flavoured water, boiled and mashed potatoes, bengal gram beans, etc.
It is actually an mixture of different Indian cuisines modified in unique ways. This Delhi was once the capital of the Mughal empire, and it became the birthplace of Mughlai cuisine. Delhi is world famous for its street food. The Paranthewali Gali in Chandani Chowk is just one of the landmarks for stuffed flatbread (paranthas).
Delhi has people from different parts of India, thus the city has different types of food traditions; its cuisine is influenced by the various cultures but Punjabi cuisine is common . This is apparent in the different types of street food available . Kababs, kachauri, chaat, Indian sweets, Indian ice cream (commonly called kulfi), and even western food items like sandwiches and patties are common.
The area has a tropical climate, which means the spices and flavours are intense. Use of kokum is a distinct feature of the region’s cuisine. Goan cuisine is mostly seafood and meat-based; the staple foods are rice and fish.
Khaman is a popular Gujarati snack. Vegetable Handva is a savory Gujarati dinner dish.Mostly Vegetarian, the typical Gujarati thali
consists of roti called rotlii locally, daal or kadhi, rice, sabzi/shaak, papad and chaas (buttermilk). South Gujarat , North Gujarat, kathiawad and kachchh are the four major regions of Gujarati cuisine. Many Gujarati dishes are both sweet, salty and spicy. In mango season (fresh mango pulp) called Keri ras is often an integral part of the meal. Seasonal spices like garam masala is used much less in summer. Few of Gujarati Snacks like Sev Khamani, Khakhra, Dal Vada, Methi na Bhajiya, Khaman, Bhakharwadi etc.
Dairy products are a common component of its cuisine. Specific dishes include kadhi, pakora, besan masala roti, bajra aloo roti, churma, kheer, bathua raita, methi gajar, singri ki sabzi, and tamatar chutney.
In the olden days, its staple diet included, bajra khichdi, rabdi, onion chutney. Nimbu pani, lassi, sharbat and “labsi(which is a mixture of bajra flour and lassi) are three popular beverages in Haryana.
Rogan josh is a popular Kashmiri dish.Kashmiri Pandit food is elaborate, and an important part of the Pandits’ ethnic identity. Kashmiri Pandit cuisine usually uses dahi (yogurt), oil, and spices such as turmeric, red chilli, cumin, ginger, and fennel, though they do not use onion and garlic
Street food is also famous which include various types of chaats, specially Gol Gappas,
Gulgule, Chole Bhature, Rajma Kulcha and Dahi Bhalla.
Fish and seafood play a major role in Kerala cuisine, as Kerala is a coastal state.Coconuts grow in abundance in Kerala, so grated coconut and coconut milk are commonly used for thickening and flavouring.
Kerala’s long coastline and numerous rivers have led to a strong fishing industry in the region, making seafood a common part of the meal. Rice is grown in abundance, along with tapioca. It is the main starch ingredient used in Kerala’s food .Having been a major production area of spices for thousands of years,
the place makes frequent use of black pepper, cardamom, clove, ginger, and cinnamon.In most Kerala also has a variety of breakfast dishes like idli, dosa, appam, idiyappam, puttu, and pathiri.Popular desserts are payasam and halwa.
Daal bafla, a popular dish in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat Dal bafla is a common meal in the region and can be easily found in Indore and other nearby regions,
consisting of a steamed and grilled wheat cake dunked in rich ghee, which is eaten with daal and ladoos. The specialty of the Malwa and Indore regions of central Madhya Pradesh is poha (flattened rice); usually eaten at breakfast with jalebi.
Popular dishes include puran poli, ukdiche modak, batata wada, sabudana khichdi, masala bhat, pav bhaji, and wada pav.Poha or flattened rice is also usually eaten at breakfast.
Kanda poha and aloo poha are some of the dishes cooked for breakfast and snacking in evenings. Like other coastal states, an enormous variety of vegetables, fish, and coconuts exists, where they are common ingredients. Peanuts and cashews, grated coconuts are used to flavour many types of dishes, but coconut oil is not widely used; peanut oil is preferred. Kokum, most commonly served chilled, in an appetiser.. During summer, Maharashtrians consume panha, a drink made from raw mango.
Exclusively variant dishes of Punjab, such as makki di roti and sarson da saag, dal makhani, etc. are a favorite of many. The masala in a Punjabi dish traditionally consists of onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala salt, turmeric, tomatoes sauteed in mustard oil. Tandoori food is a Punjabi specialty,
Dairy products are commonly consumed and usually accompany main meals in the form of dahi, milk, and milk derived products such as lassi, paneer, etc.
Punjabi cuisine is incomplete without the famous desserts, such as kheer, gajar ka halwa, sooji (cream of wheat) halwa, rasmalai, gulab jamun and jalebi. Most desserts are ghee or dairy-based, use nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, and, raisins. And last but not least is the Chhole Bhature
and Chhole Kulche which are famous all over the northern India.
Cooking in Rajasthan is generally done in milk or ghee, making it quite rich. Gram flour is a main ingredient of Marwari food mainly due to the scarcity of vegetables in the area.Historically, food that could last for several days and be eaten without heating was preferred. Rajasthani meal may include daal-baati,
tarfini, raabdi, Ghevar, bail-gatte, panchkoota, chaavadi, laapsi, kadhi and boondi. Rajesthani snacks include bikaneri bhujia, bada, Pyaaj Kachori, and Dal Kachori.Daal-baati is the most popular dish prepared in the state. It is usually supplemented with choorma, a mixture of finely ground baked rotis, sugar.
Uttar Pradeshi cuisine
Traditionally, Uttar Pradeshi cuisine consists of Awadhi and Mughlai cuisine, though a vast majority of the state is vegetarian, preferring dal, roti, sabzi, and rice .
Specially, Pooris and kachoris are eaten on special occasions. Chaat, samosa, and pakora, among the most popular snacks in India, originate from Uttar Pradesh. kebabs, dum biryani, and various mutton recipes, Sheer Qorma, Ghevar, Gulab jamun, Kheer, and Ras malai are some of the popular desserts in this region
This includes both the Kumaoni and Garhwali styles make liberal use of ghee, lentils or pulses, vegetables and bhaat (rice).
They also use Badi (sun-dried Urad Dal balls) and Mungodi (sun-dried Moong Dal balls) as substitutes for vegetables at times. During festivals and other celebrations, special refreshments made by the people of Uttarakhand include both salty preparations such as bada and sweet preparations such as pua and singal. Uttarakhand also has several sweets such as singodi, bal-mithai, malai laddu, etc. native to its tradition.
Indian fasting cuisine
Only certain kinds of foods are allowed to be eaten like Sabudana khichadi, popular on Hindu fasting day, Hindu people fast on days such as Ekadashi, in honour of Lord Vishnu or his Avatars, Chaturthi for Lord Ganesh, Mondays for Lord Shiva. These include milk and other dairy products (such as dahi), fruit and Western food items such as sago,potatoes, purple-red sweet potatoes, amaranth Seeds and popular fasting dishes include Farari chevdo, Sabudana Khichadi or (peanut soup).
10 Indian healthy foods giving Uniqueness to the Indian flavour
Curd or “Dahi,” in most parts of India, is one of the most commonly available food that contains good bacteria that help us digest food and keep us healthy. It also contains large amounts of calcium, potassium and vitamin B and Yogurt provides an high amount of proteins.Some types of yogurt contain live bacteria or probiotics, that were either a part of the starter culture or added after pasteurisation , consumed on a regular basis may strengthen the immune system.
2. Leafy Vegetables
Green leafy vegetables are already popular in the Indian diet.Spinach (Palak) is found all over the country throughout the year, cabbages found around the year . These vegetables are loaded with iron, vitamin K, and other essential minerals and nutrients that help prevent a load of diseases, including cancer.Mustard greens and kale help lower cholesterol.Leafy vegetables preserve vision health and decreases the risk of cataracts and increase the vision and also helps as a fuel in the the body to produce energy.The slightly bitter taste of many leafy greens is a good sign because of their high levels of calcium.
The Indian diet, whether one is a vegetarian or not, is extremely rich in grains, rice and flour but pulses are an equal part of our staple. There are so many types of pulses available that we can still maintain variety in your diet. Pulses are rich in dietary fibre and vitamins A, B, C and E and also contain minerals like calcium, iron, potassium and zinc. Most importantly, they are the major source of protein ,lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and have low-glycemic index food which ranks food on how it affects the blood sugar.
White rice is still the most common grain consumed in India, however, switching to brown rice since it contains more fibre, can be a better alternative. Rice and flour in particular brown rice flour may help along with nuts, beans and vegetables, such as cauliflower and potatoes all foods that provide plenty of fiber.Rice and flour is high in protein, and contains a higher level of B vitamins and dietary fiber which is an essential part of any eating plan. Rice contains insoluble fiber, that helps waste material move through the intestines.
5. Fruits and vegetables
India has a unique variety of fruits and vegetables which are rich in nutrients, minerals and vitamins and giving the uniqueness in the flavour and taste of Indian Cuisine.
Paneer is a maincourse of the vegetarian diet, but even non-vegetarians consume it on a regular basis. Paneer is a versatile food, lending itself well to many different kinds of dishes. However, one should avoid the fat-heavy variety that is made from whole milk. Homemade paneer made from toned (or skimmed) milk contains less fats and cholesterol and is much healthier and retain high quantities of protein. Paneer is a good source of protein that releases the energy slowly, good especially for vegetarians who do not get their intake from meat products. Apart from protein and calcium, paneer is a great source of conjugated linoleic acid ,a fatty acid which helps lose weight by increasing the fat burning process in the body and also prevents from various bones diseases like osteoporosis, joints pain and tooth problems like tooth decay and gums problems.
Indian spices have been world-famous since ancient times. Not only provides the flavor but being healthy too like Haldi or turmeric contains healing properties, helps reduce cholesterol and prevents blood clots that can lead to heart attacks. Most herbs and spices also contain more disease-fighting antioxidants than fruits and vegetables.Cinnamon lowers blood sugar levels and has a powerful anti-diabetic effect.Turmeric contains curcumin, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory effect. Cardamom boosts metabolism, while the components of garam masala contain varying degrees of minerals while also promoting digestion. Turmeric can treat nausea and has anti-inflammatory properties
Garlic is not only flavourful, but is also well known for its many healing properties. It is a primary source of natural anti-bacterial agents. Garlic contains a compound Called Allicin, which has potent medicinal propertiesConsuming garlic on a daily basis helps to lower cholesterol levels because of the anti-oxidant property. Garlic protect the skin from the effect of free radicals and slow down the depletion of collagen which leads to loss of elasticity in ageing skin.
9. Beans and other legumes They are a great source of proteins, calcium, iron and folic acid. . They also go well with cuisines of other cultures – from Asian to European.Beans are “heart healthy” because they contain an abundance of soluble fiber, which can lower cholesterol levels.Most beans are having less percent fat, and contain no cholesterol, unless they’re processed or prepared .Eating beans regularly may lower the risk of coronary heart disease and regulates the problem of constipation.
10. Fresh chillies Fresh chillies are an excellent source of vitamin C, much more than most fruits. If you like spicy food, you are in luck here. There are plenty of less “hot” chillies available that can provide the same benefits without the burning sensation. Fresh Chilli contains up to seven times the vitamin C level of an orange and has a range of health benefits, including fighting sinus congestion, aiding digestion and helping to relieve migraines and muscle, joint and nerve pain.