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HISTORYThe name Punjab means "land of five rivers", and literally
translates from Persian into the words Panj, related to Sanskrit
Pañca, meaning "five", and Āb ,related to Sanskrit Āp, meaning
"water" respectively.
The rivers are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. The
five rivers, now divided between India and Pakistan, merge to
form the Panjnad, which joins the Indus.
Agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab. Bhangra is one of
the many Punjabi musical art forms.
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Punjabi
people.
Punjabi cuisine can be non-vegetarian or completely
vegetarian.
The main masala in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic and
ginger and usually mildly spiced.
Tandoori food is a Punjabi specialty especially for non-veg
dishes.
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INTRODUCTION
The history of Punjab dates back
to 5000 years back when the
Aryans came and settled here.
Richly influenced by all invaders
such as Alexander to Nadir shah,
the Persians to Sher shah, the
Afghans to Barbar to the
Mongols.
The land of five rivers also called
as the granary of the sub
continent.
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FESTIVALS & DANCES
Sikhism is the main religion and
Baisakhi is the harvest festival, which is
celebrated on a grand scale.
Other festivals are Lohri, Dusherra,
Diwali, Holi, Gurpurab etc..
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THE FOOD
Wheat and maize are the staple food grains.
All lentils especially black gram and yellow
gram are the part of Punjabi cuisine.
Food of Punjab is wholesome and is rich in
taste and texture.
Tandoor is a much more than a versatile
equipment.
It is used to cook breads such as roti, naan,
paranthas, kulchas and for non vegetarian
dishes such as tandoori chicken, tandoori
jinga etc.
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Food have a thick creamy consistency.
Use of ghee and white butter is almost in all
dishes.
Milk and milk products are available in
abundance like paneer, curd, cream etc..
Land of agriculture and one of the main crop
is mustard. This is used in the famous veg.
preparation of Punjab such as Makki ki roti,
Sarson ka saag.
Basically consists of chapattis, parathas,
stuffed parathas et. Served with milk or milk
products such as curd, paneer or butter.
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Most Punjabi menus are made according to the
season. The universal favorite is chole-bathure
which is a round-the-year item and is available
at every wayside dhaba anywhere in Northern
India.
The other popular dishes, which belong
exclusively to Punjab, are mah ki dal, rajma
(kidney beans) and stuffed parathas.
Punjabi cuisine is characterized by a profusion
of dairy products in the form of malai (cream),
paneer (cottage cheese) and curds.
Though chicken is a favorite with non-
vegetarians, fish is also considered a delicacy,
especially in the Amritsar region, which is also
known for its kulcha, baked bread made of
refined flour.
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Almost all the preparations are cooked on a
slow fire to coax out that perfectly robust taste.
Sarson ka saag is cooked on a slow fire for
hours with a minimum of spices so that the
fresh taste can be retained. In fact, the longer
it takes to cook the saag, the better it tastes.
The dals are a specialty of Punjabi cuisine.
Made of whole pulses like black gram, green
gram and Bengal gram, they are cooked on a
slow fire, often simmered for hours till they
turn creamy and then are flavored with spices
and rounded off with malai for that rich finish.
The basic gravy used for vegetables and meat
dishes is onion-tomato-garlic-ginger
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Punjabi food is wholesome and full of
rustic flavor. The custom of cooking in
community ovens or tandoors prevails
in rural areas even today.
Tandoori dishes are popular all over the
country today. Nans and parathas, rotis
made of maize flour (makke di roti) are
typical Punjabi breads.
Of course, over the years the roti has
been modified to add more variety, so
there is the rumali roti, the naan and
the laccha parathas, all cooked in the
tandoor.
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Tall glasses of lassi, made of yogurt,
tempered with either salt or sugar, is a
popular cooling drink of Punjabi origin but
it is quite popular all over the country.
Phirni, a sweet dish made of milk, rice
flour and sugar and chilled in
earthenware bowls is a typical Punjabi
dessert.
Punjabi sweet dishes like gulab jamuns
and burfi have a strong percentage of
khoya again made from milk.
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paneer-a must in the vegetarian
Punjabi menu. Several
delectable items are made out
of this rather bland derivative of
milk.
Creations like the Kadai Paneer,
and Makhani Paneer are
basically Punjabi but are well
loved all over the country.
One thing that makes Punjabi
cuisine so special is the tandoor.
Besides being a versatile kitchen
equipment it is much more - a
social institution.
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In rural Punjab, the community tandoor, dug in the
ground, is a meeting place, just like the village well, for
the women folk, who bring the kneaded atta (dough)
and sometimes marinated meats to have them cooked
while chit-chatting. Until a few years ago, this
phenomenon existed in urban neighborhoods too. Even
today, a few neighborhoods have a communal tandoor.
Punjab's other grand contribution is the dhaba - the
roadside eatery that has become a prominent feature
on the national and state highways. Earlier frequented
only by truck drivers, today it is in vogue to eat at a
dhaba-urban or roadside.
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A predominantly wheat eating people, the
Punjabis cook rice only on special occasions.
Rice is rarely cooked plain or steamed and is
always made with a flavoring of cumin or fried
onions, which is the served with rajma (kidney
beans) or kadhi (curd curry).
In winter, rice is cooked with jaggery - gurwala
chawal or with green peas or as a delicacy
called Rao ki kheer, which is rice cooked on a
slow fire for hours together with sugar cane
juice.
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To go with their fine cuisine, the Punjabi's
follow a very simple code of eating. A meal
of vegetables and lentils is eaten with
phulka or tandoor parathas (wheat bread)
spread with desi-ghee or butter. On the
other hand, a meat delicacy is usually
eaten with a plain phulka or tandoor roti
(without ghee or butter), accompanied by
nothing more than a raita and muthi-piaz
(onions split open by smashing them with
a fist).
Punjabis believe in eating out of a big
brass thali using their fingers and drinking
out of a 12-inch-long brass glass.
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Tall glasses of lassi,
made of yogurt,
tempered with either
salt or sugar, is a
popular cooling drink
of Punjabi origin but
it is quite popular all
over the country
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METHIWALI MAKKI DI ROTI
A bread made from makki da
atta (Yellow
Cornmeal/flour),finely chopped
fresh Methi(fenugreek) leaves,
oil, onion very finely chopped,
green chillies finely chopped
(optional), salt or to taste,hot
water to knead the flour, cumin
seeds crushed slightly, lemon
juice, sugar.
Some Ghee/melted butter to
brush on the rotis after cooking
them.
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SAAG
Mustard leaves with
spinach, green chillies,
and ginger are cooked,
pureed and cooked in
butter for longer time
on a slow flame so that
the mustard leaves a
pungent, but robust
and delicious aroma.
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PALAK PANEER
Palak is spinach and
Paneer is Indian cheese
usually home made, used
to make various Indian
dishes. Spinach is
cooked with light spices
and ground coarsely and
Paneer is added just
before serving,makes a
nutritious side dish as
well for Rotis.
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JalebisA crispy fried sweet dish, usually prepared from refined flour,
soured with curd and flavored with saffron.
The batter is fermented for 8 hours and then deep fried in ghee
and soaked in sugar syrup just before service.
Jalebis are bright orange or yellow in colour, but are also
available in white. It is sometimes called honion or honyun
rings.
It can be served warm or cold. It has a somewhat chewy
texture with a crystallized sugary exterior coating. The sugars
get partly fermented which adds flavor to the dish.
A similar sweet is imarti, which is red-orange in color and
sweeter in taste, made in Uttar Pradesh. Jalebis in Orissa are
also sometimes made of chhena.
Jalebi is one of the most popular sweets in Pakistan. Similarly,
it is popular in India as well, having being served as the
Celebration Sweet of India especially during the national
holidays like Independence Day and Republic Day in the
government offices, defence and other organisations.
Jalebi is similar to the sweet referred to as "Zangoola",
popular in the middle east. The Persian word for Jalebi is
"zoolbiah," while it is called "jeri" in Nepal, derived from
jangiri, and the Mogul Emperor Jahangir
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GAJAR KA
HALWA
Grated carrots
cooked in milk,
khoya and
sweetened with
sugar.
Finished with ghee
and flavored with
saffron and
cardamoms.
Garnished with nuts.
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TANDOORI CHICKEN
Tandoori chicken is one of
India’s most popular dishes.
Tandoori chicken is originated
from Mughals and now widely
known as part of Punjabi
cuisine famous for its wide
range of tandoor recipes .This
particular dish has a nice blend
of sour curd/yogurt and masala
blended well in the chicken
when marinated. The spice
mixture gives this crisp nice
taste to the chicken. All of its
work goes into how we
marinate and how we cook
them.
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SOME SPECIALTY DISHES
Channa bathura
Channa masala
Rajhma curry
Aloo gobi
Channa pindi
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BAIGAN KA BHARTA -
Charcoal smoked
aubergines delicacy
cooked with onions
and tomatoes.
KADHI – a soupy stew
made of yogurt and
chickpea flour with
various flavorings filled
with dumplings made
of besan flour.
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DHAL MAKHANI
A rich lentil
preparation,
authentically made from
urad, channa dhal and
rajhma.enriched with
butter and flavored with
ginger, garlic, methi,
hingh and jeera,
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LOHE KA
TANDOOR
Iron tandoor. It is
kind of dome
shaped iron oven
used for making
most breads such
as sheermal,
taftan, bakarhani
etc.
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['Chole Batura' - spicy chana [chole] (chick peas) with
yummy puffed, deep fried batura (type of bread made
of super-refined flour). Served with Raita (salted
curd) , papad and a garnish of onions and mint.]
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Samosa –
A famous snack preparation served round the clock,
with wide variety of filling ranging from vegetables
to mince meat. Served with an appropriate
chutney.
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[Top left: Bhaigan ka bhurta [mashed brinjal cooked on an open
flame],Bottom Right: Rajma ,Cente: Dal fry, Raita and an Aloo
[potato] and Mulli[radish] Paratha [stuffed bread]. Not in picture:
2 Salted Lassis and hot pulkas/rotis]
