The food in India is just as diverse as its people and cultures. When you're traveling in India you start to get the impression that it's not just one big country. It seems almost like it's made up of thousands of individual countries each with its own traditions, culture but most noticeably, flavor!

Indian cuisine

The sometimes overwhelming aroma of India is the light scent of roses and lavender flowing on the warm air mixing with the heavy fragrance of spices coming from every home. Oils and spices are a vital part of pretty much every aspect of Indian food and are used to enhance the taste of a dish. Exact blending methods and combinations of flavors have been passed down through families for thousands of years so you're unlikely to eat two meals that are the same. The English word 'curry' translates to Hindi as 'Kari' which basically means 'spice sauce'.

Indian cuisine has many depths to it and each unique dish can be identified by different cooking techniques, by its region and by its chef. India's various religions and cultures have played a major part in modern day Indian food. For nearly two millenia, mass immigration and religious and cultural fusing along with its massive geographical differences (climate, altitude, etc) have had a huge influence on the evolution of food in India.

Trade routes from the Middle East, China and South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia etc) brought a whole new range of ingredients to light. Various occupation such as the Portuguese and British brought a touch of the Mediterranean to Indian cooking.

North Indian food

North Indian cuisine has some of the most exotic foods available in India and some say that if you are going to India for just the food, then the north is the place to be.

The staple of north Indian food consists predominately of Lentils, Vegetables and Roti (round, flat wheat bread). North Indian cuisine is also noted for its high use of dairy products. Milk, paneer, butter and yogurt are all used as either an ingredient in the cooking process or served as a side dish.

The Thali is a good example of a standard meal in North India and would usually consist of Roti, Rice and a selection of side dishes. Sometimes you will only get a couple consisting of a chutney and a Dal (Lentil gravy) but if your lucky or go to a restaurant specializing in Thalis you can get up to 12 side dishes with things like Fried vegetables, curd, mango puree, chutneys, pickles, the list goes on. A typical dessert would be a choice of sweet meats which originated in Bengal. Things like Rasagulla (cheese balls dipped in syrup), Sandesh (Coconut and sugar balls) and Gulab Jamuns (cream, sugar, flour and saffron).

Cuisine in the north utilities the use of the 'Tawa' (griddle) for baking the flat breads such as Roti and Paranthas and the 'Tandoor" which is a large round oven used for baking Naan bread and Tandoori chicken.

The North also eat more meat than the rest of the country, Goat and lamb are popular, obviously no steak (holy cows) and pork is rare because of the large Muslim population.

The Samosa has been a large part of North Indian lives for centuries and can now be found all over India and the rest of the world. Each street seller or chef will have there own secret recipes but popular ingredients consist of fried or mashed potato with spices or minced meat, cheese, mushroom or chick peas.

Because of the large Muslim population in North India, Kebabs and other meat dishes have become very popular.

For more complete information on the regional food in India follow the link below