Food of India

•Indian cuisine is known for its large assortment of

dishes
•India is quite famous for its diverse multi cuisine
which is reminiscent of unity in diversity
•The staple food in India includes wheat, rice and
pulses with chana being the most important one
•There is an amalgamation of food styles
•Some are authentic, some are inspired and some are
discovered accidentally
•The traditional food of India has been widely
appreciated for its fabulous use of herbs and spices
 Cooking style of different region
 North Indian Food
 Staple food crop is wheat.
 Traditional North Indian diet would consist of Roti/Parathas, dal & vegetable.
 North India also uses milk and other dairy products in their daily diet.
 South Indian Food
 Staple diet is rice.
 Main ingredient used in most dishes is grated coconut/coconut oil.
 A meal consists of rice served with piping hot sambhar, vegetables, rasam,
curd&pickles, pappadam.
 Other popular dishes: Dosa, Idli, Vada.
 Non-vegetarian dishes: sea food.
 Cooking style of different region
 East Indian Food
 Rice & fish dominates the main meals
 Cooking medium is usually mustard oil
 Some popular dishes are jhaal muri, macherjhol, thukpa
 Famous for sweets made of cheese, viz; sandesh, rosogulla
 West Indian Food-
 The western region of India has a wide range of dishes to offer.
 The Rajasthani cuisine has less of vegetables because of the desert
like conditions but they have a wide variety of spicy chutneys and
pickles.
 The people in Gujarat add a pinch of sugar to almost every dish.
 The people of Maharashtra prepare a dish called "puran poli" that is
famous throughout the country. Most of the items are steamed and
roasted that make it easily digested.
 Regional Cuisine

• India is a diverse country with many regional cultures,

each region has its own food speciality.
• The differences can come from a local culture and
geographical location whether a region is close to the
sea, desert or the mountains, and economics.
• Indian cuisine is also seasonal with priority placed on
the use of fresh produce.
 Punjabi Food
 The cuisine of Punjab has an enormous variety of mouth-watering vegetarian as well
as non vegetarian dishes
 The spice content ranges from minimal to pleasant to high
 Punjabi food is usually relished by people of all communities
 Wheat is the staple food of Punjabis; however, they do enjoy eating rice on festivities
and other special occasions
 In the preparation of Punjabi food, onion, ginger and garlic are used extensively to
enhance the taste of the food

 Punjabi Breads:
 Baked in tandoor: tandoori roti, lachha paratha, naan and kulcha
 There is another fabulous variety of roti called rumali roti

 Shallow Fried: parantha

 Deep Fried: puri and bhatoora

 Popular Punjabi Dishes

 Non Vegetarian
• Butter Chicken
• Chicken Curry with Tomatoes (Murgha Kari)
• Chicken Biryani
• Chicken Tikkas
• Fried Garlic Pepper Chicken
• Amritsari Fish
• Murgh Musallam Chicken Curry
• Tandoori chicken
 Popular Punjabi Dishes
 Vegetarian
• Amritsari Aloo
• Makki ki roti & Sarson ka saag
• Channa Masala
• Dal Makhani
• Handi Biryani
• Malai Kofta

 Sweets
• Carrot Halwa
• Gulab Jamoon
• Kaju Barfi
• Imarti
• Jalebis
• Pinni
 Mughlai Cuisine
 Mughlai cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines, whose
origin can be traced back to the times of Mughal Empire
 Mughlai food is quite spicy and has a very unique aroma
 Mughlai food is especially preferred in Northern parts of the
country
 The rich preparation of Mughlai food consisting of flavored
sauces and butter based curries
 Mughlai food offers an amazingly delicious variety of food
ranging from hot spicy shorba or soup to ginger based
roasted meats to kulfi with rose petals sprinkled on it
 Popular Mughlai Dishes
• Chaamp Masala (Lamb Chops Curry)
• Chicken Biryani
• Chicken Korma
• Chole or Chane
• Jhinga Malai Curry
• Kesar Chawal
• Murgh Achaari
• Naan (Indian Bread)
• Paneer Tamatari
• Seekh Kebabs & Tikka
• Tandoori Chicken Legs (Grilled Chicken Drumsticks)
• Biryani
 Rajasthani Food
 The cuisine of Rajasthan is primarily vegetarian
 The spice content is quite high in comparison to other Indian cuisines
 Rajasthanis use ghee for cooking most of the dishes
 There is an enormous variety of sweets
 Sweet dishes are had before the meal, with the main course and after the meal
unlike other desserts.
 Therefore, sweet dish is never called dessert in Rajasthan.
 Self service concept is considered
 Scarcity of water and fresh green veggies hence it is preferred to use milk, butter
milk and butter in larger
 Dried lentils and beans like sangria are used extensively
 Gram flour is the major ingredient in the making of a couple of delicacies such as
pakodi and gatte ki sabzi
 Popular Rajasthani dishes:

• Bail-Gatte
• Balusahi
• Besan-Chakki
• Chaavadi
• Dal-Bati Churma
• Mawa Kachori
• Malpuas
• Ghevar
• Raabdi
 Gujarati Food
 The traditional Gujarati food is primarily vegetarian and has a high
nutritional value.
 The traditional Gujarati thali mostly encompasses rotli, dal or kadhi,
sabzi also known as shaak and rice
 People in Gujarat eat one or the other type of curry along with rice
and roti in almost every meal
 Gujarati dishes usually have a very subtle taste that makes it truly
distinct from other Indian cuisines.
 Most of the Gujarati dishes are sweet,
 The staple food of Gujarat consists of homemade pickles, chhaas
(buttermilk), salad, vegetables which are usually steamed and dal.
 Gujarati food is more often served on a silver platter.
 Popular Gujarati Dishes
 Sweets
• Basundi
• Ghari Ghebar or Ghevar
• Halvasan
• Keri no ras
• Malpua
• Shrikhand

 Snacks
• Dhokla
• Fafda
• Ganthia
• Kachori
• Khandva
• Khakhra
• Muthia
 Bengali Food
 The staple food of people in Bengal is rice and fish
 The specialty of Bengali food lies in the perfect blend of sweet and spicy flavors
 Panchphoron, a term used to refer to the five essential spices: mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin seed,
aniseed, and black cumin seed

 Popular Bengali Sweets

• Chumchum
• Pantua
• Pitha
• Rasgulla
• Sandesh
 Popular Bengali Snacks
• Muri
• Jhal-Muri
• Moa
 Kashmiri Food
 Kashmiri food has evolved over the years.
 Influenced by the traditional food of the Kashmiri pundits
 Taken some of the features of the cooking style adopted in Central Asia, Persia
and Afghanistan.
 Makes an extensive use of turmeric and yoghurt.
 Superb preparation and fabulous aromatic flavor
 Garlic and onion are not used much
 Traditional Kashmiri thali consists of Wazwan t
 which demands lot of preparation. Infact, preparing Wazwan in itself is
considered a great art. Substantial time and encompasses near about 36 dishes.
 Spices mainly used are asafoetida (Hing), saffron, dry ginger, Saunf
& dry fruits
 Popular Kashmiri Dishes
• Gushtaba
• Dum Aloo
• Hak (with Nadeir/Vangan)
• Nadeir Yakhean
• Nadier Palak
• Razmah dal aanchar
• Aab Gosht
• Daniwal Korma
• Gaad kufta
• Kabaab
• Martswangan Korma
• Rogan Josh
• Shami Kabab
• Tabak Maaz
• Yakhni
 South Indian Food
 The cuisine of South India is known for its light, low calorie appetizing dishes.
 The cuisine is famous for its wonderful mixing of rice and lentils.
 Sambhar is a must in the main course.
 Coconut chutneys is the most liked.
 Dals cooked in the South Indian style are also quite different from that of North
Indian preparation.
 South Indians do not make much use of garam Masala and other dried spices.
However, turmeric, black pepper and cardamom are an exception.
 South Indians usually prefer drinking coffee after having their meals.
 Coconut milk is also quite common in South India.
 Andhra Food
 Andhra food is the spiciest and the hottest of all the South Indian
cuisines.
 There is a liberal use of oil, tamarind and chilli powder (Guntur).
 Though Hyderabad is the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, its cuisine
is absolutely distinct from that of Andhra cuisine.

 Popular Vegetarian Food: Pesarattu, gongura, pulihora, avakkai

(cut raw mango) pickle

 Popular Non-vegetarian Food: Kodi iguru(fry), Kodi pulusu(gravy),

Chepa pulusu etc
 Karnataka Food
 There is a higher percentage of vegetarians in Karnataka; therefore, their
cuisine mainly consists of vegetarian dishes.
 The food of Karnataka is the mildest of all.
 Here, the use of chilli powder is done sparingly.
 They make a liberal use of palm sugar or brown sugar.
 Udupi food forms part of the cuisine of Karnataka. In Karnataka, lunch is
mostly served on a plantain leaf.

 Popular dishes: Ragi rotti, Akki rotti, Khara Bisi bele bath, Kesari Bath,
Vangi Bath, Saaru, Bath, Davanagere Benne Dosa, Ragi mudde, and
Uppittu. Rava Idli, Mysore Masala Dosa and Medhu Vada are extremely
popular.
 Popular sweet dishes: Karnataka is well known for its wonderful
preparation of Mysore Pak, Dharwad pedha, Pheni, Chiroti.
 Kerala Food

 Kerala cuisine mainly consists of coconut based foodstuff

 Since, Kerala is the chief exporter of coconut; therefore coconut is
used liberally over here
 Kerala is a place well known for its beautiful backwaters and thus, this
place is a paradise for seafood lovers
 There is an abundance of seafood specialties

 Popular Vegetarian Food: Aviyal, olan

 Popular Non-vegetarian Food: Shrimp coconut curry, fish poriyal

 Tamil Food

 The cuisine of Tamil Nadu consists of plenty of mouthwatering vegetarian and

non vegetarian dishes. Tamil Nadu has a lot to offer, when it comes to food.

 Popular Vegetarian Food: Idli, sambhar, rasam, vada, thayir sadam (yogurt
rice), thayir vadai, murukku, kootu, poriyal, uthappam, appalam and papadum
and thayir pachadi

Popular Non-vegetarian Food:, Chettinad pepper chicken and karuvadu

kozhumu (dried preserved fish flavored curry)