The beauty of Indian cuisine


 
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The world is divided by borders, indeed! But do you know what brings us all
together? Food! Isn’t it? We all love food, and most of us like to explore
different cuisines of the world for the same reason. Thankfully, for us,
restaurants have made this easier. By offering foods from different cuisines of
the world, they have helped us experience various tastes to satisfy our taste
buds. One of such cuisines which always excites my taste buds is Indian cuisine. I
will share with you in detail about the beauty of Indian cuisine in this
article.

Origin and Adaptations of Indian Cuisine-

Indian cuisine is especially known for its spices and grains. It involves
vegetarian on a large scale. There are some foods that have been inspired by
places like Persia, Ancient Greece, Mongols, and West Asia. The items like
chillies, pepper, tomatoes, potatoes and squash have been introduced by Arab
and Portuguese traders.

Sesame, Eggplant and humped cattle were introduced in Indus Valley during
7000 BC. Due to Indias’ rich foresting and agricultural culture during the Vedic
period, most of the dishes. Indians highly believed in Ahimsa, which led
Indians to follow a mostly vegetarian diet.

According to Ayurveda, the food was
classified in three categories like Saatvic (pure), rajasic (active and
passionate) or tamasic (heavy, dull, slow, gluttonous) which were said to have
a powerful effect on both the body and the mind.

During the Islamic conquest of
medieval India, the introduction of fruits such as melons, peaches, apricots,
and plums,
and pilaffs, rich gravies and non-vegetarian fare such as kebabs, giving rise
to Mughlai cuisine happened. The Mughals were great fans of cooking; sumptuous
dishes were prepared during the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

When blending of Mughlai and Telangana cuisines took place in the kitchens
of the Nizams, historical rulers of Hyderabad State, it resulted in the
creation of Hyderabadi biryani, a traditional celebratory
the meal made using mutton or goat meat or chicken,
basmati rice, yoghurt, onions, and
spices, considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the finest of the main
dishes in India till date. The British introduced European recipes and cooking
techniques like baking which we all love.

Staples and spices-

Apart from these, the staples of Indian cuisine are
quite famous like atta (whole wheat flour), rice, and a
variety of pulses like masoor(red lentil), toor (pigeon
pea or yellow gram), urad (black
gram), chana (Bengal gram),
and mung (green gram).

Indian curries are mostly fried in vegetable oil.
In North and West Indian region, groundnut oil has been primarily used for
frying, while in Eastern Indian region, mustard oil is more commonly used. In the
South Indian region, coconut oil and sesame oil are standard. In recent times, sunflower oil and soybean oil have
gained popularity all over India. Hydrogenated vegetable oil, highly known as
Vanaspati ghee is also a highly used cooking medium that replaces Desi ghee.

The most essential and most frequently used spices in Indian cuisine are
chilli, black mustard seed, cumin,
pepper, turmeric, fenugreek, asafoetida, ginger, and garlic. A
trendy spice mix is a garam masala which is usually a powder of five or more
dried spices, commonly comprised of cinnamon,
cardamom, and clove.

Every region has its own mix of
Garam Masala. One such is Goda Masala which is a popular spice mix in
Maharashtra. Leaves like tejpat,
coriander leaf, fenugreek leaf and mint leaf are commonly used. The use
of curry leaves is something that is typical in all South Indian dishes. In
sweet dishes, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg, and rose petal essence are used.

There is more to say about Indian cuisine, and the
content is endless. Yet, I shall explain about beauty if Indian cuisine of each
region in-depth on an upcoming article.

THE SECRET TO A LONG HAPPY LIFE

Today, we are going to talk about everyone’s most favorite topic!
Any guesses there?
Sure, sex is cool but here we are talking about FOOD.
Firstly, let’s take a moment to thank for all the food we have had, have, and would be getting in the near future. Because even the very thought of food makes 90% of the population happy & calm.

But, today we are going to talk about good nutrition. As much as we love junk and unhealthy food that’s exactly what’s going to add up to your bad health and become one of the major reasons for your sufferings in the future.
Did you know?
India is No. 2 among countries with most deaths caused by poor food choices. Yes, that’s right number 2 and not very far from becoming number 1 if we don’t take our health and body seriously.
There’s a very simple logic behind this, you decorate your home with the best of things be it furniture, kitchenware, chandeliers, and what not to make it look the best. And now, how would you feel if someone comes and dirties it all up and throws garbage in every corner of your dream house? It would disgust you and make you angry, wouldn’t it?
So pause there with the anger thought and now apply the same thing for your body, wherein the garbage and dirtiness if being fed to your body (your home) by none other than you, yourself. Yes, that’s right!
And the poor body has no control of itself to get mad at you for you making it feed all the filth.
So someone’s got to take charge for it; so who’s that going to be?
It’s You! And your body deserves it for it’s your home till the day you lie on the deathbed; so why take it for granted?

It’s not wrong for you to treat & spoil yourself with junk once in a while, but always or very frequently? That’s not the right answer for it’s YOUR body and you have got to take care of it like a baby; who’s shouldn’t be fed with bad food.

Mother Nature has provided us with plenty of delicious as well as nutritive fruits & vegetables to keep us strong and healthy but we still choose junk and unhealthy food over it, why?
It’s true that it’s all in the mind, and you are as strong as you let your mind be. So take the stick and make your mind listen to you rather than listening to it. Have self-control over things that are bad for you; for it’s never too late to start doing something good.

Unhealthy & poor food choices will start poisoning you slowly and you won’t even realize it. Imagine, slowly, and gradually being poisoned by yourself to your own deathbed. There are enough diseases in the world to make you fall sick so why add to it by making yourself the reason for your poor food choices?

“Eating a balanced diet which includes cereals, pulses, vegetables, milk, milk products, fruits, nuts, chicken, fish, and lean meat in appropriate portion sizes is essential. Practicing long and slow eating habits can help in better digestion and improve health and well-being. By cutting down alcohol & foods that are high in saturated and trans-fat can help in avoiding cardiovascular disease. “

The trend of eating Dosa, aka, Indian Pizza

Dosa! Every Indian or a fan of Indian cuisine is aware of this infamous and notorious food. As simple as it is to make, it is also one of the light foods you can take as a snack! But why is it a trend in the modern era? How is it possible to make a 100 varieties of Dosa? Doesn’t it ever make you curious that people can make anything with dosas? I was astonished to see some vendors making Pizza Dosa! What a beautiful thought to fuse different cuisines! And these kinds of fusions and combinations are only possible with this simple and straightforward dish!

The Indian Pizza!

There is no hesitation in calling Dosas as Indian Pizzas. If you consider the amount of population that goes gaga for these varieties are more or equal in number with the people who love Pizzas. You need a lot of time and stuff to make a pizza. But all it takes to make a Dosa is the batter. You need to take time and your focus on mixing this batter. Once you mix the batter perfectly, the next thing is to spread it on the pan and fry the batter to crisp. Done! Yep, that’s all it takes to make a Dosa!

The proper way to eat this infamous dish is to eat it directly. But with the rise of Dosa, people figured out a way to make a lot of varieties with this batter-fry. Dosa became the base and adding toppings like spice, herbs, and fried vegetables made it tastier. This way of making a topping-dosa gave birth to the illegitimate child of Italy and South-India; the Pizza Dosa! You can add anything on top of it, cheese, paneer, chicken gravy, just onions or even potato mash!

Dosa with spices and potato mash is a famous dish and hailed as ‘Masala Dosa’. The raw quality of a Dosa is to blend in whatever you put over it. It tastes like anything you put over it. Like if you put stuffings over bread and call it a sandwich, Dosa can become anything you want. This adaptable taste made the younger people turn towards Dosa. It is tasty, and it takes less time to prepare one. With proper mixing, you can cook multiple dosas with the batter.

The only problem with the Dosa going wrong is over-frying or burning it. A burnt dosa tastes as bad as an un-burnt Taco! When you pour the batter on the pan, the timing should be right! Frying it less makes it taste like eating batter and frying it more tastes so bad. If you master your chi and maintain some inner peace while frying this battery semi-liquid like an omelette, you have the most famous Indian dish ready in your hands!

Wrapping up!

Ironically some even dare to call Dosa as Vegetarian Omelette, do not try to commit such heinous crimes. Accept the Dosa for what it is. It is an iconic food for vegetarians, and comparing it with another item will only make it lose its natural charm. The trend of Dosa has now reached overseas, and every South-Indian restaurant all over the world flaunts different types of Dosas on their main menu. No matter how tasty and easy these things are, they under shadow many other delicious South-Indian dishes. People have even started calling South-Indians as ‘Dosa’. The sad thing, I would feel happy if someone called me a ‘Mysore Bonda’ for one thing. Yeah, South-India is a place with varieties of foods and simple yet focused making processes. Just because it is easy to make, making Dosa the leading food of South-India does overrate Dosa and underrate all the other delicious foods like, Vada, Gaarelu Mirchi Bajji, Mysore Bonda and Idly, nope sorry, not idly.

Pizza Dosa is fine, but let’s not get stuck to Pizzas of India, and also try Spaghettis, Pasta and Tiramisus of India!