VARIOUS INFLUENCE ON INDIAN COOKING HABITATS - A LOOK BACK

India is such a vast country that the style of cooking various enormously from region to region.History, too has had a role and outside have all left their mark on Indian food and cooking -from the moguls with Persian style of cooking to the Portuguese,who ruled Goa on the west coast for four centuries and converted many people to Catholicism, the British colonialists of the Raj who also left dishes in their wake.

                             EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON COOKING:

In early centuries of the fruit millennium AD it appears that Indians ate two meals a day.The daily diet depended on the part of the country in which people lived.Wheat and barely grown  in winter in only in the south but almost anytime of the year in the cooler part of the north.
Rice was the standard crop on southern plains.Gourds,peas and lentils were found throughout the country ans sugar came ,tamarind and mango were widely grown.Although rice,local spices,vegetables and fish were the base of south Indian cooking,the foods was subject to many outside influences arriving by sea along with pepper,cardamon and ginger-Coriander and cumin were introduced to India's Malabar coast from the eastern Mediterranean trade with Arab world and Rome.
While the Indian coast received visitors by sea,in north western India foreign contact came overloaded through the passes of the HINDU KUSH , in a succession of invasion and infiltration of idea,attitudes and techniques over thousands of year.
  Aryans ,Persian,Greek and Central Asian influences were all absorbed into the heritage of the Indus Valley Civilization to produce a mixed culture. Because the land was fertile and many of the influences nomadic,meat was more commonly eaten here then anywhere else in India.

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                                  DIFFERENT COOKING CULTURE IN INDIA:

During the early centuries, Indians ate only two meals, later this became three meals a day and mostly people of the south and east tend to eat rice throughout while  in north and west of  India people had flat wheat bread like chapati .This was usually supplemented with dhal,vegetables dish ,meat dish or a freshly prepared chutney.
Based on cooking style India is generally divided into 5 different region.

• NORTHERN INDIA:

The subtly spiced Punjabi and Kashmir styles for the cooking in Northern India.The Punjab is particularly famous for its tandoori cooking and for its sweetmeats.The Punjabi's mostly prefer to consume wheat in preference to rice, while the Kashmir cooking is known for its meat cooking. Ghee is the most commonly used cooking medium.

   Also read:variety of north indian that will make your mouth watering

• SOUTHERN INDIA:

The staple foods in the south are mostly vegetables and rice.Mustard oil, with its slightly sweet flavor is the commonly used cooking medium and coconut, coconut milk, and tamarind are widely used.

Curry leaves and mustard seeds are the great spices and fenugreek and roasted pulses provide extra nutrition in the diet.

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• EASTERN INDIA:

This region encompass Bengal and Bihar has good access to rivers and the sea so fish is an important part of the local diet.Mustard oil is again the principal cooking medium and foods are spiced with mustard , cumin,anise and fenugreek seeds.The easterners are particularly known for their delicious sweetmeats and savories.

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• WESTERN INDIA: 

The cuisine of western India is derived principally from Goa and Bombay(Mumbai). Food from Goa,once colonized by Portuguese,tends to be hot and spicy and uses a lot of coconut milk,vinegar and tamarind juice.Bombay is famed for its chutneys and pickles, its fruits ,ice creams and its refreshing cold drinks made with fruits juices and yogurt as "sharbats".

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• CENTRAL INDIA:

The cuisine from central India is dominated by the Mogul influence of the North but it also has certain southern touches and adaptation. Eg: cashew nuts and coconut have replaced Turkish walnuts and Persian almonds.

 Also read:great indian recipes of the mugals -here

Thus Indian cooking is as vast as the people of her country. Love and respect each and very region of the country and learn to appreciate their way of cooking . Hope it was an useful post to know about a small part of  history of Indian cooking.
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                                           HAPPY COOKING!!!