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indian cuisine

Indian cuisine begins and ends with curry, get ready for a big surprise. The character of cuisine in India is essentially regional; reasons for this must be found in the sheer size of the country which forced every area to develop a style of cooking of its own. In times gone by transportation was a problem, and this meant that each area had to come up with a style of food which made do with the locally available materials. As a result, not only dishes, but flavors, colors, methods of cooking, down to even the style of cutting the vegetables prior to be cooked changes as often as the landscape does.

India is a land of diverse culture and ethnicity. This diversity is also reflected in the cuisine of India. Every culture of India has its unique and exclusive style of cooking. Over the centuries, each new wave of settlers in India brought with them their own culinary practices which, with time, blended into the Indian cuisine as it is known today.

Indian cuisine has also been influenced by environmental, social, religious and political factors from within. Most Indian cuisine are related by significant usage of spices, and by the use of a larger variety of vegetables than most other culinary traditions. Within these recognizable similarities, there is an enormous variety of local styles.

Typically, North Indian meals consist of chapatis or rotis (indian breads) and rice as staples, eaten with a wide variety of side dishes like dals, curries, yogurt, chutney and achars (pickles). South Indian dishes are mostly rice-based, sanbhar, rasam and curries being important side dishes. Coconut is an important ingredient in most South Indian food.

Besides the main dishes, various snacks are also widely popular in Indian cuisine, such as samosa and vada. Among beverages, tea enjoys heavy popularity, while coffee is mostly popular in South India. Buttermilk (lassi),coconut milk and lemonade (Nimbu Pani) are also popular, while India also has many indigenous alcoholic beverages like Fenny and Indian Beer.