The
Essence of.....India
An exploration of the world through food and drink
Essence -ial Information
|
UK Tourist Office |
Government Of India Tourist Office |
|
Currency |
Rupee |
|
Capital |
New Delhi |
|
Language |
Hindi |
|
Main Airlines |
Air India, Jet, Virgin, British Airways |
|
Flying Time from UK |
12 hrs |
|
Visa |
Yes |
PROFILE
Indian cuisine is possibly the major global cuisine of the modern day mainly due to its depth and variety and the multitude of historical influences that have created it.
The cuisine of India is characterized by the use of a wide variety of spices, herbs and other vegetables grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism across many sections of its society. Each family of Indian cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, it varies from region to region and sometimes village to village, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse Indian subcontinent.
As a land that has experienced extensive immigration and intermingling through many millennia, India's cuisine has benefited from numerous food influences. The diverse climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily available to the many schools of cookery in India.
Around 7,000 BC, sesame, eggplant, and humped cattle had been domesticated in the Indus Valley. By 3000 BC, turmeric, cardamom, black pepper and mustard were harvested in India. Many recipes first emerged during the initial Vedic period, when India was still heavily forested and agriculture was complemented with game hunting and forest produce. In Vedic times, a normal diet consisted of fruit, vegetables, meat, grain, dairy products and honey.[ Later, invasions from Central Asia, Arabia, the Mughal Empire, Persia, and elsewhere had a deep and fundamental effect on Indian cooking. Influence from traders such as the Arabs and Portuguese diversified subcontinental tastes and meals. As with other cuisines, Indian cuisine has absorbed New World vegetables such as tomato, chilli, and potato, as staples and styles were further adapted with the influence of France and Britain.
The most important/frequently used spices in Indian cuisine are chilli pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi, manjal), fenugreek (methi), asafoetida (hing, perungayam), ginger (adrak, inji), coriander (dhania), and garlic (lassan, poondu). Popular spice mixes are garam masala, which is usually a powder of five or more dried spices, commonly including cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. Common knowledge indicates that Garam masala is a single iniform spice mix but, in fact, each region, and sometimes each individual chef, has a distinctive blend of garam masala.
Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe. The cuisine is popular not only among the many areas around South Asia but also among the mainstream population of North America and Europe.There are as many as 9,500 restaurants serving the cuisine of the Indian sub-continent in England, Scotland and Wales alone.(for details www.fedrest.com)
Tea is a staple beverage throughout India; the finest varieties being grown in Darjeeling and Assam. It is generally prepared as masala chai, wherein the tea leaves are boiled in a mix of water, spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger, and large quantities of milk to create a thick, sweet, milky concoction. India also has many indigenous alcoholic beverages, including palm wine, fenny and Indian beer. Wine is of increasing popularity but the sub-continent still has a huge market for beer as well as spirits (especially Johnnie Walker Black Label amongst the Punjabi community).
Regional cuisines include :
North India Awadhi - Punjabi - Mughlai - Kashmiri - Sindhi
Rajasthani - Uttar Pradeshi
South India Andhra - Karnataka - Kerala - Tamil - Hyderabadi - Udupi - Mangalorean
East India Bengali - Oriya - Bihari - Bhojpuri - Assamese
North-East India Meghalayan - Manipuri - Mizo - Naga - Sikkimese - Tripuri
Arunachalese
West India Goan - Gujarati - Marathi - - Malvani & Konkani - Parsi
Other Indian Chinese - Nepali - Jain (Satvika) - Anglo-Indian - Chettinad