Indian Food Cuisine

Summary

Food from the Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan areas are classified as North Indian cuisine. Meat and vegetarian dishes in thick gravies, kebabs, tandoori preparations, biriyanis and delectable sweets are popular North Indian foods.

Content

The delectable cuisines of North India are characterised by their thick gravies enhanced with the liberal use of spices and saffron thickened with yogurt, nut paste and other ingredients. Dairy products are consumed liberally and included in the cooking as ghee and drunk as lassi, yogurt mixed with water, and served salted or blended with spices, sugar and fruit.

The many invaders of northern India have left their mark on the various types of cooking mirroring diverse cultures seen today in the cuisine referred to as north Indian, which includes foods from the Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan areas. The similarities rather than the differences in the food of the region have caused it to be classified as North Indian food which now represents Indian food.

North Indian cuisine features both vegetables and meat, except beef, and seafood is a recent addition. Some of the well known meat dishes are kebabs made from mutton and chicken grilled over an open flame; also Kofta made with a mixture of ground lamb, spices and onions grilled, fried, steamed or poached served with a rich spicy sauce. Korma is a mixture of ground coriander and cumin mixed with yogurt, mildly spiced or fiery according to preference, cooked on a low flame incorporating lamb or chicken. The lamb dish rogan ghost is also prepared in a similar way. Tandoori chicken is probably one of the most well known of any Indian food. However since Tandoori refers to the clay oven the food is cooked in, several other food from breads to kebabs and curries can be made this way.

Well known vegetarian dishes include the navaratna made with nine vegetables in a rich spicy sauce. The vegetables can be replaced with paneer or nuts. Palak paneer is cottage cheese in a thick sauce of pureed spinach. Cottage cheese or paneer in cream, tomato and spices called shahi paneer is a mainstay of many North Indian meals. Lentils a favourite with vegetarians and a tasty addition to any meal features regularly in North Indian cooking. It is served in rich spicy sauces or cooked in combination with vegetables. Other popular vegetables are cauliflower and peas also served in thick gravies.

Who can forget the aromatic smell of Biriyani, made with Basmati rice including chicken, lamb, goat and seafood versions. It is combined with loads of spices and vegetables and garnished with boiled eggs. Persian in origin it is now made to various North Indian tastes and is popular among south Asian and Arabic communities.

North Indian cuisine also has a delicious range of baked breads made mostly with unleavened dough. These are generally composed of whole meal flour mixed with water and a little salt, kneaded into a soft consistency and baked into different types of bread; the most well known being chapatti, paratha, naan and several forms of stuffed and unstuffed rotis.

No meal is complete without dessert of which there is a whole range under North Indian cuisine. The most well loved are Gulab Jamun, dumplings made with thickened or reduced milk and served with rosewater flavoured and scented sugar syrup. Other popular desserts include carrot Halwa, full of nuts and dried fruit and of course carrots cooked in milk; a delicious warm pudding, Kulfi, the north Indian version of ice cream delicately flavoured with cardamom; Jalebi, a crisp fried sweet in coiled rings dunked in sugar syrup; Ras Malai, a dumpling made from cottage cheese and soaked in cardamom flavoured thickened milk served with a dried fruit garnish; Kheer or rice pudding, a creamy desert full of crunchy nuts and flavoured with cardamoms; and Laddoo a gram flour based sweet served in balls, a festive favourite in India.

Sweet paan, betel leaf with coconut shavings, fruit preserves, rose petals and spices are served after meals to freshen breath and help with digestion.

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