Indian Cuisine…

mmmm or aa….ahhh….depending on whether you are a native or a foreigner who has just been served a piping hot dish floating in spices!

When in India, i had had the opportunity to travel throughout the length and the breadth of the country, for personal and business reasons…This also gave me an opportunity to try out various Indian cuisines…though i must admit that being a vegetarian limits my choices and experimentation to know the true character of the place…as many places, as many distinct styles of cooking…

a north-Indian sambhar is a poor variation of its original south-Indian counterpart, which too, i later discovered, had its own variations…a tamilian sambhar is different from the one you would get in Bangalore or Andhra Pradesh…though to my very non-gourmet character, a mere difference in taste would suffice, never delving deeper into the whys and wherefores…similarly, i would almost die longing for the authentic chaat and samosa while staying in Bangalore, such available only at a handful of spots…In Gujarat, i would have to contend with sweet ‘main- course’ dishes and in Maharashtra, i found the cuisine to be relatively dry and poor-looking…whereas in Rajasthan, it would rather have rustic connotations to it, reminiscent of a cold, night in a desert camp, food cooked over charcoals….even though Rajasthan remains the seat of the royalties for the West and truly so, because its name means ‘abode of the king’…While Kerala would boast the extensive use of coconut in its stews seasoned with pepper, it is not uncommon to find oneself reeling under the pungent smell of cooking with mustard oil coming from a west Bengali kitchen….North-eastern cuisine is more closely related to its oriental counterparts….The best food experiences i remember have to come from Lucknow…the lucknawi cuisine, royal in taste and texture…deliciously perfumed dishes, simmered over low fire over hours at end, delicately wrapped in a creamy concoction of aromatic (and often expensive) spices and herbs…smooth on tongue as silk…insatiably tantalizing…One thing is certain, if you like to experience different cuisines, you would never get bored in India…having home-grown variations of certain landmark dishes every few hundred kilometers or so and local sumptuous fare will keep the gourmet in you as happy as can be…We Indians love to eat and love to feed, it shows and how…

Though i have no culinary training except for a short cookery course my mom sent me to attend when i was fourteen, i can remember being in the kitchen helping my mother since as long as i can remember.

For recipes, click here Indian Cooking Recipes