The cuisine of any country or region depicts the many aspects of that country or region. The cuisine is actually a mirror which depicts or reflects the diversity, culture, availability of raw material, cooking traditions and in short characterises the crucial details of the country. Indian cuisine is no exception to this.
The gastronomy of India is, undoubtedly, rich and phenomenal and speaks volume about the culinary perspective of India.
Indian cuisine has been characterised by the following main aspects:
Religious influence
India being secular country has many religions which have marked their portentous presence in fabricating the Indian cuisine. Hinduism considers food as the most valuable gift of God to the humankind and hence looks at it with great reverence. It strongly advocates the philosophy that humans are what they eat (jaisa khaey ann, waisa hoey mann). It also strongly restricts eating the meat of milk-giving animals like cow and buffalo.
Buddhism advocates vegetarianism and Jainism preaches that meat, underground vegetables, tubers and all root vegetables should no way be consumed by their followers. A commodity like honey also cannot be consumed as per Jainism. Jainism even dictates the time period to its follower stating when to consume food like food should be consumed only between sunrise and noon as this would help them to attain spirituality.
Judaism prohibits eating pork meat, they believe in slaughtering animals through the jugular veins, and they strictly have different cooking vessels for food of different nature. Christians are very liberal in consuming all types of meat and are renowned for their creative skills in culinary fields. In Islam, pork meat and alcohol are sternly prohibited and Muslims consume only halal meat. Parsis have also restrained themselves from eating beef meat like Hindus. Thus, religions in India have their own restrictions and code of culinary rules.
Caste restrictions
Several castes have their own rule of preclusion and this has its own impact. For instance, in general, Brahmins are considered to be a staunch vegetarian segment but we have many sub-sects in Brahmins which are non-vegetarians like Saraswat Brahmin. They consume fish and are referred to as Pesco-vegetarian (segment which considers fish eating as vegetarian act). The Kashmiri Brahmins or Kashmiri Pandits are meat eaters but they restrain from eating onion and garlic. The Iyengar Brahmins of Tamil Nadu are typically vegetarian and do not even use onion and garlic in their meal preparation. They are famed for their scrumptious vegetarian meal nevertheless. The Udipi Brahmins of Karnataka also practice vegetarianism and have taken vegetarianism to a distinct level.
Regional availability
It has been the most influential factor in framing the culinary elements of any country. India has been immensely diverse and varied in its cultivation and produce, hence it casts a huge variation in local delicacies. Locally produced ingredients are basically found in almost every crucial preparation of that particular region. For instance, Kashmir has saffron in plentitude and the use of saffron in almost every preparation is apparent. They incorporate it in delicacies such as bread like sheermal, gravy preparation like dum aloo, and dessert like mechama; various pulao preparation and beverages like kehwa. Similarly, in Rajasthan gram flour plays the same role and is used in piece de resistance such as gatte ki subzi, pithorey ki subzi, papad ki subzi, kadhi, gatte pulao, mohanthal, dilkhusal, gotma, boondi, missi roti, mirchi bada and many such preparations. The fish is in abundance in Goa and Bengal, both being coastal area and hence fish is consumed in almost every main meal on a daily basis. The south of India is blessed with copious quantity of coconut and hence coconut is used in the distinct configuration of coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut kernel, coconut fruits, coconut dessicated and so on in numerous preparations. Wheat is ample in Punjab and hence this state has varied number of wheat bread like tandoori roti, lacchha parantha, naan and its variations.
Climatic and atmospheric impact
The land of India stretches to a huge area from Kashmir (North) to Kanyakumari (South) and Gujarat (West) to Manipur (East). It is multifarious in terms of quality of water and it can easily be understood by the old saying “Kos-kos par badle paani, chaar kos pe baani”; which translates to – The taste of water changes every mile whereas dialect (baani) changes every four miles. So, the distinct land has distinct “aabohawa” and this has its own impact on the cuisine of India. For instance, Bikaner is a city located in Thar Desert area and due to its sand and water quality, Bikaner is renowned for namkeen preparation with varied and unparalleled taste, which is not found in namkeen prepared elsewhere.
Preservation technique
The wonderful land of India has mastered the skill of preservation technique from the period of antiquity. The preparation of achar of almost every vegetable and fruits is the beautiful demonstration of this preservation technique. Achar is described as really healthy as it has been incorporated with certain anti-flatulence ingredients like fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida etc. It is also made healthy with usage of mustard oil as well. Other best example is paneer (chhurpi) prepared of yak milk in Arunachal Pradesh known as Chhur pupu which can be stored for 4-5 years in the skin of yak. Thus, the preservation of certain ingredients has shaped Indian cuisine to some extent.
Traditional equipment
It would sound bit nonsensical that traditional equipment have also imparted and contributed to the unique taste of Indian food. Sil-batta is one such equipment used for grinding spice mixture with water or vinegar. The spices grinded in this fashion lend undoubtedly distinct and more desired flavour to the dish as compared to the dish prepared with spices ground in electrical operated equipment like mixer. Earlier the roti or chapatti was prepared on mud tawa lending trenchant taste. Similarly, dishes like baati cooked on cow-dung cakes is liked by baati baked in oven. Other equipment contributing in this segment is wet grinder. Wet grinder with drum and stone is used for grinding batter of idli and dosa and this method of grinding also imparts a different taste as compared to the batter ground in electrical grinder.
Ayurvedic references
Ayurveda is a way of lifestyle and this gives approval to many food combinations to be consumed improving the health and life of diners. Ayurveda strongly emphasises and advocates the food to be eaten depending upon the season, body’s adaptability, eating habits, digestibility, appetite and so on. People complying with such guidelines have helped people to prolong their lifespan.
Lifestyle
Change has been a prime feature which cannot be avoided. The change in eating habits and liking towards certain taste and dishes has also taken place from time to time. This feature has experienced the people of all states having an inclination towards certain dishes like golgappa or pani puri or ghup chup or paani batashe. It has become a common practice to go at eateries during outing with families and eat golgappa. This common dish has woven the penchant of people across all states. Similarly, dishes like kachori, samosa, chaat papdi, idli, dosa, momos, soya chaap etc. have been liked by all across the country. People are busy and heavily stressed in their life and to pacify this they prefer to go out and dine at roadside eateries. So, lifestyle and special liking towards certain delicacies have also framed culinary features of our country.
Foreign invasions
The Indian food has, to some extent, been shaped and fabricated by foreign invasion and their reign. The substantial impact of Moghuls, Britishers and Portugese is apparently visible on Indian cuisine. The Moghuls have ruled India for a long time and hence the Kashmiri food, Awadhi food and Hyderabadi food depict the character of Moghulai cuisine. Many scrumptious food from this stream have become an inseparable part of Indian food. Their royalty, their traditions have benefitted culinary aspect of our country. The versatile and multi-faceted equipment tandoor is also there only due to Moghul invasion of India. Dishes like sheer kurma, khubani ka meetha, breads like sheermal, taftan, bakherkhani, biryani, kebabs and so on have glorified the dignity of celestial cuisine of our land. Similarly, Britishers have also gifted certain things like breakfast tea, various baked items and so on.
Portuguese also do not stand far behind in this race and their impact is predominantly seen on Goan food. The food of Goa has altogether distinct unique feature as compared to the food of other states of our land. Goan food is said to be the cuisine of Portuguese influence and is considered to be the cuisine similar to Lesbon food. Goan food has delicacies like cafreal, xacutti, sorpotel, vindaloo, reachedao and so on, which is truly Portuguese in character. Portuguese have brought many spices and vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes along with them and now it has become a part of Indian culinary system. This factor has enriched our cuisine and has taken it to a significant arena of varied mouth-watering and scrumptious delicacies.
