What is Indian cuisine

Speaking of a single cuisine in a country as vast as India is impossible: the myriad of regions, dialects, cultures and countless religious beliefs have shaped and influenced the development of distinct gastronomic traditions, making India a place where it is difficult to identify a national dish. Among the specialities are dal, made from lentils and vegetables, served with rice or chapati; curries — that is, sauce-based dishes — available in versions with chicken, mutton, fish and vegetables; tandoori meat or fish marinated in yogurt; paneer, a fresh cheese to be paired with vegetables; and finally, for an Indian-style breakfast, dosai, a kind of crêpe made from lentil and rice flour.

Indian cuisine and Ayurvedic nutrition

One of the oldest and most comprehensive forms of medicine, Ayurveda includes a theory of nutrition based on six fundamental tastes, calibrated to different individual temperaments. The six tastes it contemplates are sweet, bittersweet, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent; the three types of constitution (dosha) are Vata, Pitta and Kapha (or a combination of them), generated by the natural elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether. Every Indian defines their diet according to their own constitutional type: depending on the dominant dosha, foods and spices capable of restoring balance are recommended.

Three groups for typical Indian dish recipes

Indian tradition divides foods into three groups: wholegrain cereals, rice, nuts, sprouts, fruit, fresh vegetables and honey, which bring out the best capacities and highest faculties, do not weigh the body down and keep it in shape; cereals, fresh cheeses, dairy products, pulses, sweets, chocolate and sugars, which enrich with energy, increase strength and passion, and make one dynamic; and meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, mushrooms, onions and garlic, which instead weigh one down, cloud mental clarity and dull the senses.

Read also: Garam masala dalla tradizione indù

Differences in Indian gastronomy

For simplicity, texts on Indian cuisine distinguish between northern and southern gastronomy — two refined and artistic culinary traditions, permeated by social and religious rituals. Spices, tea and rice are among the most widely used foods everywhere, accompanying both vegetarian dishes and those with meat. In northern India the diet is predominantly non-vegetarian. Cooking in ghee, the clarified butter, is very popular. Many types of bread are used in place of rice, and the preferred cooking method for meats is grilling. Sauces are not particularly favoured, whereas yogurt is widely consumed and also used to temper the excessive spiciness of certain recipes. In the north, in Delhi, the famous tandoori was born — greatly appreciated by Western palates. Tandoori is the name given to foods cooked in the tandoor.

Indian vegetarian cuisine

Vegetarian cuisine characterises southern India. Based on rice and vegetables, dishes here are very spicy and heavily seasoned, in an explosion of colours. Vegetarian gastronomy can be strict — that is, without meat, fish or eggs (practised by Jainists, Brahmins and some followers of Vishnu) — or broader (excluding only certain types of meat and fish considered impure). Both variants offer a great variety of truly appetising recipes.

Our recipes for "typical" Indian dishes

The real golden milk recipe

Vegetarian biryani: ingredients and preparation

Lemon basmati rice

Potato and onion sabji

Sabji is best enjoyed with chapati (small golden flatbreads made from flour, butter and salt) and puri (fried flour breads).

Basmati rice with saffron and ginger

Gajar vada (spiced carrot croquettes)

Gajar vada is a typical Indian dish. These spiced carrot croquettes are to be served alongside a yogurt-based sauce or cooked vegetables.