Indian food or Indian cuisine includes a very wide range of foods. All these are native to India and have been discovered in India. There is a lot of diversity in India in terms of climate, soil types, occupations and these cuisines also vary because of such factor. The Indian food is also influenced by the herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits that are available based on the location of the place. This location influences the climatic changes as well. The growth and evolution of Indian food has not ended because India continues to interact with other societies even today. For example the North Indian food is influenced by the Mughal rule.
The history
Many historical incidents like trade relations, foreign invasions and also colonialism have played a very huge role in introducing a certain type of food to India. For example, Potato was bought to India through the Portuguese people. These Portuguese people also bought breadfruit and chilies to India. Indian cuisine is responsible in spreading trade relations between India and Europe. The trade of spices between India and Europe strengthened the relations between both these parties. The spices that originated from India were traded all over around Europe and also Asia. This should be remembered next time you are in an Indian Restaurant.
Typical ingredients
A normal Indian diet consists of vegetables, legumes, grains, fruits, honey, dairy products, meat, eggs and also fish. As time passed, various segments of the Indian population embraced vegetarian food because of Hinduism and Jainism. Indian cuisine has a lot of spices included in its food. These spices include cumin, cardamom, turmeric, coriander, ginger and also garlic. Garam masala is a very popular mix of spice and is very commonly used by the Indians.
Overall
It must be understood that India cuisine usually differs from the region in which you are living in. North Indian food is a lot different from South Indian food. One main difference is that North Indians prefer wheat or atta over rice. South Indians prefer rice over anything. The sweets also differ a lot. Lunch, breakfast and dinner are different. Also, they differ on the basis of the region mostly. However the food that the Indian eat is not limited to their region. They can behave flexibly and eat any type of food. Indian cuisine has grown in popularity in recent years and there is no doubt that Indian food is appreciated all over the world because of its extraordinary taste and flavour easily.
