Cuisine Of India – The History

By Author: Michael Swamy
Total Articles: 3
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Indian Food has seen the evolution across the ages with different immigrants bringing their traditions in the country and altering the taste. Indian food is greatly influenced by a history of several cultures interrelating with the country, leading to a vast assortment of flavours. This reflects not only huge variety of people who inhabit in India, but also the external influence of various cultures that migrated to the country and continued to exist in the form of cuisine and delicacies of various communities. Along with this, history of Indian food also depicts the evolution of Indian food in different stages, which can be largely divided into food in ancient India, medieval India and contemporary India. Overall the popularity of various food items in India specifically describes India’s notion of unity in diversity.

History of Indian food can be traced back to the prehistoric days when the culture of preparing food with proper preparation was introduced by the two earliest civilization of Indus valley Civilization -The Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Then afterwards, in Vedic times, a normal diet of an Indian consisted ...
... of fruit, vegetables, meat, grain, dairy products and honey. It also included beverages along with special kind of spices that was used by the Vedic people. Overall the food in ancient India greatly contributed to the development of mind, body and spirit which reflected the growing changes within Indian food habits. Food habits in Medieval India underwent changes with the advent of invaders from Central Asia which introduced Mughal cuisines. This was followed by the Chinese influence on Indian food that travelled along with the mongoloid race from Central Asia. The British introduced Western style of food styling tips in India which was gracefully accepted by the Indians along with their traditional past.

History of Indian Food in Modern India mainly carried the traditional trends of Indian cuisines including the traditional Hindu vegetarian food as well as Mughal delicacies of Medieval India along with Chinese and other foreign delicacies. Italian cuisines like pasta, pizzas, macaroni, Indianized version of Chinese, Mexican, and Thai etc is no more a far flung conceit, but within the physical and financial reach of middle class even. Thus, the history of food Indian food has been an assimilation of all cultures that inhabit in India. With all its exotic ingredients in top chef recipes, unfamiliar dishes, and tongue-tingling flavours, kid’s food recipes, Indian cuisine can be both exciting and intimidating. With its array of spices and condiments and experimental attitude, Indian cuisine allows home cooks to get creative and adventurous.