Indian Food

Indian food is characterized by subtle use of spices and vegetables, Indian food vary from region to region.

The main staples of Indian food are rice, atta (whole wheat flour), and a variety of pulses, vegetables are cooked in vegetable oil. In North and West India, groundnut oil has traditionally been most popular for cooking, while in Eastern India, Mustard oil is more commonly used, in South India coconut oil is used.

The spices commonly used are chilli pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi, manjal), fenugreek (methi), asafoetida (hing, perungayam), ginger (adrak, inji), coriander, and garlic (lassan, poondu).

North Indian food uses a high propotion of dairy products like milk, paneer, ghee, and yoghurt. In South India there is great emphasis in rice and liberal use of coconut oil and curry leaves. The dosa, poori, idli, vada, bonda and bajji are typical South Indian favorites. In East India desserts are famous, sweets such as rasagolla, chumchum, sandesh, rasabali, chhena poda, chhena gaja, and kheeri. While Western India have Gujarati, Maharashtrian and Goan food as popular.

Tea is a staple beverage throughout India, 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, bhang and Indian beer.