Indian cuisine, a myth and a misnomer

India is a country that boasts of unity in diversity and history with its cuisine is somewhat similar. The term “Indian cuisine” is a very misnomer because Indian cuisine is not just one type of cuisine. The much commented ‘Indian cuisine’ is rather the identification of the different cuisines inherent to the states, regions, cultures, climatic conditions and to some extent the religions that compose it.

It is interesting to know that Indian food cuisine can be divided in terms of the state or region where it comes from, for example, Maharashtra cuisine, Gujrati cuisine, Odiya cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine, Andhra Pradesh cuisine, Bengali cuisine, etc. It can also be segregated as North Indian, Northeast Indian, and South Indian cuisine. North Indian cuisine takes into account the cuisine of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and west-central and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Also includes Bhojpuri and Mughlai cuisine. Whereas Northeast India is the collective term used for Assamese cuisine, Arunachali, Tripuri, Manipuri, Meghalayan, Naga, Mizoram and Sikkimese. Tribal cuisines such as Garo, Khasi, and Bodo are part of this. South Indian cuisine, on the other hand, includes the cuisine of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

Things like vegetarianism, non-vegetarianism, eating beef (beef is considered taboo by Hindus; it is considered sacred and worshiped by them) and eating pork (this is no less taboo for Muslims, since which is ‘haram’). ‘or forbidden in Islam) also have a role to play.

The common linking factor is perhaps the spiciness of most of the subcontinent’s cuisines. Indians love to eat and most of the people here like food with a generous dose of masalas and some ‘tikhapan’, spicy and spicy food.

Another thing that is almost synonymous with Indian cuisine is “curry powder”, which again is largely a misnomer. All Indian ‘curry’ dishes (the word got its origin from the Tamil word ‘kari’, which means sauce) do not contain curry leaves and coconut milk, two key ingredients of South Indian cuisine, or for that matter, the ‘curry powder’, which is a mixture of different spices and in variable proportions. The spices used in the mix vary from place to place and can be used alone or in conjunction with another set of spices. In addition, a variety of cooking methods are often adopted to achieve the desired taste, texture, aroma, and appearance.

Therefore, Indian cuisine is a general term and should be used with great care and attention.