Cuisine in India

Indian cuisine has evolved from its remarkable past, acquiring varied tastes and traditions brought by numerous conquerors and traders, all of them adding one thing or the other to enhance the diversity in flavors of rich Indian Cuisine. Indian Culinary Art has a long and interesting history.

Indian Cuisine is basically known for its snacks, appetizers and Mughlai preparations. The huge variety of rich desserts is also worth noticing. All throughout the Indian sub-continent one can notice the diversity in cooking style, use of spices, preparation methodologies and use of sauces and ghee (clarified butter).

The Mughlai Cuisine style emerged as it crossed Indian borders via West Asia, way back in 12th Century with Babar’s reign. The use of rich spices, low flame and good ingredients is a cooking style that is mostly influenced by Central Asia, namely the Turkish and Persian cuisines. Mughlai cuisine is popular in northern India, with its aromatic and rich spices, cream, nuts and curd. A typical earth oven is used to prepare Kababs and Rotis. One of the most popular Mughlai preparations is Biryani, which is prepared from rice.

Rasogulla, a very popular Indian sweetmeat originates in the eastern part of the subcontinent.
The dish is prepared using small portions of casein with sugar syrup, and then cooling it off.
Another dessert that is prevalent in South Indian households is Payasam (also known as Kheer). In some parts of India it is an integral part of a wedding feast. Yet another Indian sweet is Gulab Jamun, which is the fried ball of milk in sweet syrup. Other dishes that constitute Indian sweets are, Halwa (made with sugar and semolina), Mysore Pak (chick pea flour, ghee and sugar), Kulfi (an indian Ice cream made of boiled milk with flavors to requirement), Jalebi (a sweet pretzel shaped batter fried and then soaked in syrup), and Jangiri (a south Indian Jalebi).

Thus, the cusine in India consists of a number of flavors, and cooking styles – all replete with rich spices and sauces (or curries) which please the palette and have been long savored across the globe.