Indian cuisine has developed over 5,000 years as various groups have interacted with the subcontinent, leading to significant regional diversity. A typical ancient Indian diet included legumes, vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and sometimes eggs and meat, with Buddhism and Jainism influencing a shift toward vegetarianism. During the Middle Ages, northern India was influenced by Central Asian cultures like the Mughals. Indian cuisine features many regional styles defined by local cultures and geographies, and incorporates a variety of spices. Popular Indian dishes include biryani, butter chicken, dosa and many desserts like jalebi, barfi and kheer made with milk, nuts and spices.

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Table of Contents
Indian cuisine....................................................................................................................................2
History..............................................................................................................................................2
Antiquity...........................................................................................................................................2
Middle Ages......................................................................................................................................3
Regional cuisines:...............................................................................................................................3
Indian spices......................................................................................................................................5
Desserts...........................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................13
***Indian cuisine***
Indian cuisine encompasses a wide variety of regional cuisines native to India. Given the
range of diversity in soil type, climate and occupations, these cuisines vary significantly from
each other and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits. Indian food is also
heavily influenced by religious and cultural choices and traditions.
History
Indian cuisine reflects a 5,000-year history of various groups and cultures interacting with the
subcontinent, leading to diversity of flavors and regional cuisines found in modern-day India.
Later, mughals, British, and Portuguese influence added to the already diverse Indian Cuisine.
Antiquity
A normal diet in early India consisted of legumes, vegetables, fruit, grain, dairy products, honey,
and sometimes eggs and meat. Over time, segments of the population embraced vegetarianism.
The advent of Buddhism and Jainism affected this shift, as well as an equitable climate
permitting a variety of fruit, vegetables, and grains to be grown throughout the year. A food
classification system that categorized any item as saatvic, raajsic or taamsic developed in Yoga

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tradition. The Bhagavad Gita prescribes certain dietary practices. During this period,
consumption of beef became taboo, due to cattle being considered sacred in Hinduism.[11] Many
Indians continue to follow this belief, making the use of beef in Indian cuisine somewhat rare.
Beef is generally not eaten by Hindus in India.
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, several North Indian dynasties were predominant, including the Gupta
dynasty. Travellers to India during this time introduced new cooking methods and products to
the region, including tea and spices. Northern India was later invaded by Central Asian cultures,
which led to the emergence of Mughlai cuisine, a mix of Indian and Central Asian cuisine.
Hallmarks include seasonings such as saffron.
Regional cuisines:
Cuisine differs across India's diverse regions as a result of variation in local culture, geographical
location (proximity to sea, desert, or mountains) and economics. It also varies seasonally,
depending on which fruits and vegetables are ripe.
North India
 Awadhi
 Bhojpuri
 Punjabi
 Kumauni
 Mughlai
 Kashmiri
 Rajasthani
 Uttar Pradeshi
 Bihari
South India
 Main article
 Telugu
 Karnataka
 Kerala

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 Tamil
 Hyderabadi
 Udupi
 Mangalorean
 Saraswat
 Mangalorean Catholic
East/North EastIndia
 Bengali
 Assamese
 Meghalayan
 Manipuri
 Naga
 Sikkimese
 Tripuri
 Arunachalese
 Oriya
WestIndia
 Goan
 Gujarati
 Marathi
 Malvani & Konkani
 Sindhi
 Parsi
Other
 Indian Chinese
 Nepali
 Jain (Satvika)
 Anglo-Indian
 Chettinad
 Fast food
 Malaysian Indian cuisine
 Indian Singaporean cuisine

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Indian spices
Indian spices include a variety of spices grown across the Indian subcontinent (a sub-region of
South Asia). With different climates in different parts of the country, India produces a variety of
spices, many of which are native to the Subcontinent, while others were imported from similar
climates and have since been cultivated locally for centuries.
Basic Spices
 turmeric (manjal, haldi)
 cumin (jheeragam, jheera)
 black pepper (milagu)
 mustard (kaduggu, rai)
 coriander (kotthamalli, dhania)
 fenugreek (vendhayam, methi)
 red chilies (millakai vatthal, lal mirch)
 green chilies (pachai millakai, hari mirch)
 asafoetida (perungayam, hing)
 fresh ginger (injhi, adrak)
 curry leaves (karuveppilai, curry pattha)
 fennel seeds (Sombhu, sounf)
 dried ginger (ingi, adrak)
 nigella seeds (karum jheeragam, kalonji )
 caraway (omam, ajowain)

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 mango powder (amchoor)
 garam masala (blend of spices)
SweetSpices
 cardamom (yelakkai, elaichi)
 nutmeg (jhadhikkai, jaiphal)
 saffron (kunkuma Poo, kesar)
 poppy seeds (khasa khasa, khus khus)
 mace (javitri)
Other Spices & Ingredients
 cloves (kraambu, lavangam)
 cinnamon (pattai)
 mint (podhina)
 yogurt (thayir, raita)
 jaggery (vellam)
 gur (sugarcane juice)
 black salt (kaala namak)
 tamarind
 garlic
 coconut

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Popular Cuisines:
Biryani
Butter Chicken
Chaat

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Chana masala
chole bhature
Dum Aloo

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Dhokla
Idli
Medu Vada

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Dahi Vada
Sambar
Dosa

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Khandvi
Panipuri
Pav Bhaji

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Desserts
Many Indian sweets, or mithai, are fried foods made with sugar, milk or condensed milk.
Ingredients vary by region. In the eastern part of India, for example, most sweets are based on
milk products. See sections or articles on specific regional cuisines for their preferred types of
sweets.
Some common Indian sweets and desserts include:
 Barfi: A sweet made of dried milk with ground cashews or pistachios, often served with a
thin layer of edible silver foil as decoration.
 Chikki: A sweet made out of peanuts and molasses.
 Gulab jamun: A dessert consisting of fried milk balls soaked in sweet syrup, such as rose
syrup or honey.
 Jalebi: Dough fried in a coil shape dipped in sugar syrup, often taken with milk, tea,
yogurt, or lassi.
 Mysore pak: A sweet dish of Karnataka, made of generous amounts of ghee (clarified
butter), sugar and gram flour.
 Jauzi Halwa: Once upon a time, this was the Nizam of Hyderabad's favourite sweet.
Made from germinated wheat milk and khoya, this sweet is elegantly flavoured with
nutmeg and saffron.
 Kulfi: An Indian ice cream in a variety of flavours such as mango, saffron, or cardamom.
 Kheer: A sweet rice pudding, usually made with rice and milk.
 Malpoa: A type of pancake, made of wheat or rice flour, deep fried and dipped in sugar
syrup.

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 Rasgulla: A popular sweetmeat, produced by boiling small balls of casein in sugar syrup.
 Sandesh: A sweet made from cheese, kneaded with fine ground sugar and molasses.
 Shrikhand: A creamy dessert made out of strained yogurt, often served with dried fruits
such as mangoes.
 Kaju Katli: Similar to barfi, mainly comprises cashew powder along with ghee,
cardamom powder and sugar.
 Rabri: Rabri is a sweet, condensed milk based dish made by boiling the milk on low heat
for a long time until it becomes dense and changes its color to pinkish. Sugar, spices and
nuts are added for flavour. It is chilled and served as dessert.
Bibliography
Wikipedia:IndianCuisine