West, East, North And South Indian Food
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Many people know Indian food for its sumptuousness as well as the fact that it’s clearly one of the most appetizing and also wide-ranging cuisines anywhere in the whole world. Many people have confirmed that what they love most about the Indian food is the flavor as well as the aroma, all of which help to make it one of the most common foods that you can find in practically any restaurant in the world.
Indian cuisines are divided into four based on the four geographic regions and each of them has distinct characteristics. These four cuisines of India are categorized as South, North, West as well as East Indian cuisines. We will take the time to briefly explain these four cuisines in this article.
We will begin this brief explanation with the North Indian cuisines. Everyone knows North India to have climate that is intense and plentiful supply of vegetables and even fruits. Central Asia had some degree of influence on the food and even the culture of North India. Nuts as well as food that are dried seem to be used mostly here and there’s constantly that adding of cream, ghee and even yoghurt in the sweet dishes of North India. North Indian region is abundantly rich with vegetables and this is responsible for the lots of vegetarian dishes available here. Rice is not consumed in this region as much as it is in other parts of India. Bread, naans, rothis, parathas and kulchas are more prevalent. The spices that are most commonly used here include red chillies, coriander, turmeric and even garam masala. Some of the popular North Indian cuisines are Punjabi Chole, Tandoori Chicken, Lassi Patial and Dal Makhani.
South India is the region which has a hot and even humid weather and with lots of the regions being coastal, there’s an abundance of rainfall during monsoons. This, along with a soil that is fertile, is what helps in the production of generous supply of fruits as well as vegetables. The main food that is eaten in this part is rice and the complementary food is rothis. Two of the very common soups that can be found in just about any meal mixed in rice in the Southern part of India include Sambhar and Rasam. The food in some southern regions like Andhra Pradesh tends to be very pungent and spicy. Curry leaves, tamarind, chillies and even mustard are clearly the more ideal spices. Examples of the popular snacks in South India are vada, dosa, payasam and idli. Made from rice and even black lentils, Dosa is that Indian dish which is said to be the version of a thin pancake. It’s abundantly rich in proteins as well as carbohydrates and is mostly eaten as breakfast. The thicker version of the Indian pancake is Idli and it’s made out of a batter of rice as well as black lentils that are fermented. Chutney as well as sambhar are used to serve both dosa and even idli.
The East Indian Cuisines are somewhat influenced by the Chinese and Mongolians. East India is known for its sweet dishes and the number of dessert recipes in this region is huge. People here like to steam and fry their food and the staple food is rice. Milk and yoghurt are used in abundance while the spices used are similar to that used in South India. Sandesh, Momos and Thukpa are popular vegetarian dishes in this region.
West India has a dry and hot weather and the variety of vegetables is limited, but that does not limit the varieties of cuisines, which are plenty. Rajasthani dishes are spicy while Gujurat is renowned for its delicious sweet dishes. Staple food in this region depends on the cuisines and both rice and bread/rothis are consumed equally well.
This is really a basic discussion of Indian Recipes and we have hardly touched the surface. For additional information on Indian recipes and in particular the south Indian recipes please visit South Indian Recipes. The web page contains South Indian Food recipes and videos.