Food & Drink

Indian cuisine is distinguished by its sophisticated use of spices and herbs, and is also characterised by an assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. Food is an integral part of India's culture and different cuisines are present in different communities, regions and states. Furthermore, each religion and caste has left its own influence on Indian food. In general, there are more meat dishes in the north, generally served with breads - naan, chapatis or pooris, and mainly fish and vegetarian dishes in the south, served with rice.

North Indian Cuisine

North Indian cuisine is distinguished by the higher proportion-wise use of dairy products; milk, paneer, ghee (clarified butter), and yoghurt are all common ingredients. North Indian gravies are typically dairy-based and employ thickening agents such as cashew or poppy seed paste. Milk-based sweets are also very popular fare, being a particular specialty in Bengal and Orissa. Other common ingredients include chillies, saffron and nuts.

North Indian cooking features the use of the 'tawa' (griddle) for baking flat breads such as roti and paratha, and 'tandoor' (a large and cylindrical coal-fired oven) for baking breads such as naan, kulcha and khakhra; main courses like tandoori chicken also cook in the tandoor. Other breads like puri and bahtoora, which are deep fried in oil, are also common.

Some common North Indian foods such as the various kebabs and most of the meat dishes originated with Muslims advent into the country. The samosa is a typical North Indian snack. The most common (and authentic) samosa is filled with boiled, fried, and mashed potato, although it is possible to find other fillings.

There are several popular sweets (mithai), such as:

• gulab jamun (made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids - often including double cream and a little flour - in a sugar syrup flavoured with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron)
• peda (made from milk solids (khoya) and sugar and shaped into a thick biscuit)
• bal mithai (made by cooking khoya (evaporated milk cream) with cane sugar, until it becomes dark brown in colour, then cut into cubes which are then garnished with small white sugar balls)
• kulfi (a frozen boiled milk dessert, flavoured with pistachio, malai, mango, cardamom (elaichi), saffron (kesar), orange, peanut or avocado)
• ras malai (sugary, yellow-coloured balls (or flattened balls) of cottage or ricotta cheese soaked in sweetened, thickened, creamy milk flavoured with pistachios, saffron, and rosewater)
• laddu (flour and other ingredients formed into balls that are dipped in sugar syrup)
• barfi (made from condensed milk, cooked with sugar until it solidifies)
• halwa (made with semolina wheat, sugar or honey, and butter or vegetable oil).

The countries known as Pakistan and Bangladesh were a part of North and East India prior to the partition of India. As a result, the cuisines in these countries are very similar to northern and eastern Indian cuisine.

South Indian Cuisine

South Indian cuisine is distinguished by a greater emphasis on rice as the staple grain, the liberal use of coconut and curry leaves (particularly coconut oil), and the ubiquity of sambar and rasam (also called saaru) at meals. As opposed to North Indian cuisine, there is limited use of garam masala and other dried spices except cardamom, black pepper and turmeric.

South Indian cooking is more vegetarian-friendly than north Indian cooking. Traditional cooking is characterised by the use of local seasonal ingredients. The dosa (a savoury crepe), idli (a steamed rice cake), vada (a savoury snack shaped like a doughnut and made from lentil or potato) and bajji (cut vegetables dipped in gram flour batter and deep fried in oil) are typical South Indian snacks.

Beverages

Tea (Hindi: chai) is a staple beverage throughout India; the finest varieties are grown in Darjeeling and Assam. It is generally prepared as masala chai, tea with a mixture of spices boiled in milk. Other beverages include nimbu pani (lemonade), lassi (yogurt blended with water, salt, and spices), badam dood (milk with nuts and cardamom), sharbat (juice prepared from fruits or flower petals) and coconut milk.

India also has many indigenous alcoholic beverages, including palm wine, fenny (made from either coconut or the juice of the cashew apple), bhang (made from the leaf and flower of a female Cannabis sativa plant) and Indian beer.