Antiquity – Indian Food.

In India, spices have been an integral part of civilization. Spices were traded from Indian from the time of Romans. For a very long time, Arab merchants use to supply spices to Europe, and the Arabs closely guarded the secret of the source of their spices in India. Europe set sail many voyages in search of India for its spices. It is often cited by historians that spice trade between India and Europe was the primary catalyst for the Europe’s ‘Age of Discovery’.

Traders from various countries have exploited spices commercially. Ayurveda considered that spices had medicinal properties and tried to infuse health into the diet. For decades, the social system of medicine was tightly linked with the culinary culture of ancient India.

In India, spices are not a supplement but the bases of cooking itself. Most of communities in India share certain traditions, and these traditions are very closely bound around the spices that were powder and put into a bottle. Herbs and spices play a vital role in Indian Cuisine. Masala is the word often used in Indian homes, meaning a blend of different spices. Which varies from dish to dish. Garam masala may be the most ubiquitous masala that has crossed all barriers of regions and can be found in any Indian home. Though each state has its own particular blend of Garam Masala, and each family may have their own blend.

Religion and Cultural Influence:

India has a rich and varied culture and traditions, and with these came the varied Indian culinary. Some of these culinary came from religious and cultural traditions, while some came from the population that meandered into the land and settled here. Some of it also came from those who invaded its territories, and still others were formed by the land, air, and climate.

Each of Indian cultural are so different from each other, and then there are religious traditions that are poles apart from each other. These differences are seen in their respective cuisines too. With such different and varied food, it is impossible to cap it under a single roof of Indian food.

Though popularly known as the ‘Curry House’ around the globe, India does not have any such thing as curry. ‘Curry’ is an English word. It can associated with the Tamil word ‘Kari’, which means sauce or gravy. But there are thousands of gravies and sauces in Indian cuisine that form the bases of thousands more dishes.

Foreigner’s Influence:

For a long time in ancient India, Indian cuisine was shaped immensely from the interactions with those who came to the land as wanderers, traders, and invaders – making it a unique blend of various cultures. The consequent fusion of foreigners has resulted in what is known today as ‘Indian Cuisine’.

Foreigners had an interesting and intriguing influence on Indian Cuisine. The first taste of foreign fusion came from Greek, Romans, and Arabs. They provided a large number of spices and herbs. Most important is saffron. Arabs were also responsible for introducing Coffee to India. Parsi cuisine was introduced by Persians. Some also believe Persians were the first ones to introduce biryani to India, before Mughals came and popularized it. Mughals influence on Indian cuisine was immense. Their elegant dinning style and rich food was quickly absorbed by India and came to be known as Mughlai Cuisine. Tomato, chili, and potato are staple food of modern India. These were introduced by Portuguese. Tandoori came through Afghanistan. And the British were responsible for introduction of Tea. Though India with its penchant for making everything Indian – took the British tea and made it into ‘Masala Chai’.

India is the land that celebrates food. The Mughlai cuisine, the traditional Kashmiri Wazawan cooking, the rich Awadhi cuisine of Lucknow, the Chettinad cuisine of Tamil, the Hyderabadi cuisine, the Bengali fish dishes, the diverse options offered by Rajasthani and Gujarati cuisines, and many more. All these form what is known as Indian cuisine. Though bond only by land and nothing else. As a food historians have very aptly said ‘No foreign food was rejected, it was just made Indian.'