indian food essay in english

Essay on Indian Food

Students are often asked to write an essay on Indian Food in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Indian Food

Introduction to indian food.

Indian food is a rich blend of various regional cuisines from India. It’s known for its bold, complex flavours and diverse ingredients.

Flavours and Ingredients

Indian cuisine uses a variety of spices like turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Ingredients like rice, wheat, and lentils are common, along with vegetables and fruits.

Regional Variations

India’s diverse regions each have unique food. Northern India enjoys creamy curries and tandoori, while Southern India is known for spicy dishes and rice-based meals.

Significance

Indian food is not just about taste, but also culture and tradition. It’s a crucial part of festivals and celebrations.

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250 Words Essay on Indian Food

Introduction.

Indian cuisine, a rich tapestry of flavors, is a testament to the country’s diverse culture and history. It is characterized by its sophisticated and subtle use of a multitude of spices and herbs, which vary by region due to differences in climate and soil.

The Diversity of Indian Cuisine

Indian food is not a monolith but a plethora of regional cuisines. Northern Indian dishes, like butter chicken and naan, are heavily influenced by Persian and Mughal cuisines. In contrast, Southern Indian cuisine, known for dosas and sambar, relies heavily on rice and lentils. Coastal areas, such as Goa and Bengal, offer a rich array of seafood dishes.

Spices: The Heart of Indian Cuisine

Spices are the lifeblood of Indian cuisine. Turmeric, cumin, coriander, and cardamom are just a few examples. These spices not only add flavor but also have medicinal properties, reflecting the ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda.

The Role of Vegetarianism

India has the highest percentage of vegetarians globally, influenced by religious beliefs and philosophies. This has led to a vast array of vegetarian dishes, including paneer tikka, aloo gobi, and chole bhature.

Indian food, with its rich flavors, diverse regional variations, and emphasis on spices and vegetarianism, offers a unique culinary experience. It is not just about feeding the body, but also about nourishing the soul, reflecting India’s cultural richness and spiritual depth.

500 Words Essay on Indian Food

Indian cuisine, a rich tapestry of flavors, is a testament to the country’s complex cultural heritage and geographical diversity. With its myriad regional dishes and culinary techniques, it offers a gastronomic journey that is as diverse as its people and traditions.

Historical and Geographical Influence

The evolution of Indian food is deeply intertwined with the country’s history and geography. The early Harappan civilization laid the foundation with its farming practices, later enriched by the Aryans’ dairy-based diet. Subsequent invasions, trade relations, and colonial rule introduced new ingredients and cooking methods, shaping the cuisine we know today.

India’s geography has also played a significant role. Coastal regions, with their abundant seafood, have developed distinct dishes like Goan fish curry. In contrast, the arid regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat have unique vegetarian cuisines, given the scarcity of water and fresh produce.

Ingredients and Flavors

Indian cuisine is characterized by its bold use of spices, which are typically toasted and ground into a blend known as masala. These spice blends vary regionally, with garam masala in the north and sambar powder in the south. Herbs, such as coriander, mint, and fenugreek, also play a significant role, adding depth and complexity to dishes.

Rice and wheat are staple grains, forming the base for dishes like biryani and roti. Lentils and pulses are also integral, providing protein in a predominantly vegetarian diet. Dairy, in the form of milk, yogurt, and ghee, is used extensively, especially in northern India.

Diversity of Indian Cuisine

India’s culinary diversity is striking. Northern Indian cuisine, influenced by Persian and Mughal cooking, features rich, creamy dishes like butter chicken and naan bread. Southern Indian cuisine, on the other hand, is characterized by its spicy, tangy flavors, with dishes like dosa and rasam. Western India offers a blend of sweet and savory dishes, while eastern India is known for its sweets like rasgulla and sandesh.

Indian Food Beyond Borders

Indian food has gained global recognition, with adaptations like chicken tikka masala becoming beloved dishes worldwide. This international popularity has led to fusion cuisines, blending Indian flavors with foreign culinary traditions. However, it’s important to note that these adaptations often represent only a fraction of India’s culinary diversity.

In essence, Indian food is a symphony of flavors, a reflection of the country’s cultural diversity and historical journey. It’s a cuisine that tells stories, celebrates regional diversity, and offers an array of flavors that continue to enthrall food lovers around the globe. As Indian food continues to evolve and influence global cuisines, it stands as a testament to India’s rich culinary heritage.

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Indian Cuisine: Personal Experiences Essay

Indian cuisine.

Like in any well-defined culture, food is an important aspect of the Indian way of life. Food is an important part of the Indian social fabric and families take pride in serving the best Indian cuisine and sharing it with their friends and kinsmen. The Indian cuisine has a wide variety of dishes and it is distinctly known for its reliance on spices. Nevertheless, Indian food encompasses diversity that comes from the vastness of its geographical origins. Furthermore, Indian food is influenced by climatic conditions of various areas, ethnicity, religion, culture, and economic class (Srinivas, 2011). Vegetarianism is a vital component of Indian food. This paper is an evaluation of the Indian culture through its cuisine.

The significance of food within the Indian culture dates back to about 7000 BC. However, by around this time most of the foods that make up the modern Indian cuisine were non-existent. Spices and most of the other condiments that characterize Indian food today were introduced to Indians at around 3000 BC. Some of the spices that became part of Indian food in 3000 BC such as pepper, mustard, and turmeric are still in existence today. Other types of food that have become staples in Indian cuisine were introduced to Indians through cultural interactions. For instance, foods such as potatoes, chilies, and tomatoes were introduced to India by immigrants but these items later became key components of Indian cuisine.

A typical traditional Indian meal is composed of about two or three main meals that are accompanied by several side dishes. Indian foods are often classified in accordance with their region of origin. Differences in Indian food are characterized by their areas of popularity namely eastern, western, northern, or southern. The most important components of Indian food are rice, flour, spices, and pulses. The most common spices in India are of the curry variety and they are often put in vegetables and other dishes.

Food in the Indian culture has a spiritual significance because it is understood to be a key component of all lives. For instance, the ancient texts of Rigveda contain a hymn that praises food and refers to it as the ‘Lord of all creatures’. Furthermore, “it is stated in the Prasna Upanishad that God created food and all the individuals, vigor, rituals and activities depend on it” (Narayan, 2005, p. 65). Within the Indian culture, breakfast is an important meal that mainly consists of a tea or coffee beverage. Dinner is the most ‘ceremonial’ meal of the day whereas families engage in social talks. It is common for Indians to engage in dietary restrictions in accordance with religious values. Most people eat Indian food when they are seated in the floor or on low-lying seats.

My research of Indian food revealed various cultural aspects about India that were hitherto unknown to me. One of the facts that appeared interesting to me was the age of most Indian cuisines. Through my research of Indian food, I discovered that some of the main foods that make up the Indian cuisine have been in existence for thousands of years. This ‘antiquity’ is quite uncommon among western cultures where most cuisines are almost ‘fads’ (Kittler & Nelms, 2011). For example, in my country the suitability of any cuisine depends on how ‘fashionable’ it is. It was also interesting to learn that ‘Indian food’ is not a term that applies to all the food that is found within the ‘sub-continent’ of India. I learnt that there are regional variations within Indian food in accordance with their area of origin.

Popular media such as the television show ‘Big Bang Theory’ often puts Indian food in competition with other foods such as Chinese and Italian cuisine whereas food from India always comes off as being inferior. My research into Indian food included eating Indian food for the first time. My experience with Indian cuisine showed me that people who consume it tend to overstate the effect that spices have on their digestive system. On the other hand, I found some of the breads that were served as part of Indian food to be quite tasty. After enquiring about what else was offered as part of Indian cuisine, the server informed me about sweets and other confectionaries that are popular in India.

Consequently, I became aware of the ‘fun’ side of the Indian culture where confectionaries are enjoyed by both adults and children. The manner in which Indian food is served is also a strong indicator of the importance of hosting within this culture. Food is presented with outmost care and as a precious commodity. For instance, even food stands that serve Indian food do not necessarily offer ‘rushed’ service to their customers. Nevertheless, my most important experience with Indian food was learning that it is strongly tied to the people of Indian ethnicity. This fact was realized because eighty percent of the people in the Indian restaurant that I visited including customers and servers had authentic connections to Indian culture. I also realized that there is a general lack of capitalist intentions surrounding Indian food as there are with other cultures and their foods such as Chinese, Mexican, and Italian cuisines.

Kittler, P. G., & Nelms, M. (2011). Food and culture . New York: Cengage Learning.

Narayan, U. (2005). Eating cultures: incorporation, identity and Indian food. Social Identities , 1 (1), 63-86.

Srinivas, T. (2011). Exploring Indian Culture through Food. Education About Asia , 16 (3), 38-41.

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Exploring indian culture through food.

Food and Identity

Food (Sanskrit— bhojana,“that which is to be enjoyed,” Hindi— khana, Tamil— shapad) presents a way to understand everyday Indian culture as well as the complexities of identity and interaction with other parts of the world that are both veiled and visible. In India today,with a growing economy due to liberalization and more consumption than ever in middle class life, food as something to be enjoyed and as part of Indian culture is a popular topic. From a 1960s food economy verging on famine, India is now a society where food appears plentiful, and the aesthetic possibilities are staggering. Cooking shows that demonstrate culinary skills on television, often with celebrity chefs or unknown local housewives who may have won a competition, dominate daytime ratings. Local indigenous specialties and ways of cooking are the subjects of domestic and international tourism brochures. Metropolitan restaurants featuring international cuisines are filled with customers. Packaged Indian and foreign foods sell briskly in supermarkets, and indigenous street food and hole-in-the wall cafés have never been as popular. Yet lifestyle magazines tout healthy food, nutritious diets, locally sourced ingredients, and sustainable and green alternatives. India’s understanding of its own cultures and its complex historical and contemporary relations with foreign cultures are deeply evident in public conceptualizations of food as well as in culinary and gastronomic choices and lifestyles.

As Harvard anthropologist Theodore Bestor reminds us, the culinary imagination is a way a culture conceptualizes and imagines food. Generally, there is no “Indian” food but rather an enormous number of local, regional, caste-based ingredients and methods of preparation. These varieties of foods and their preparation have only been classified as “regional” and “local” cuisines since Indian independence in 1947 yet have enjoyed domestic and foreign patronage throughout most of India’s history. Because of this diversity and its celebration, most Indians appreciate a wide array of flavors and textures and are traditionally discerning consumers who eat seasonally, locally, and, to a large extent, sustainably. However, despite some resistance in recent years, the entry of multinational food corporations and their mimicking by Indian food giants, the industrialization of agriculture, the ubiquity of standardized food crops, and the standardization of food and tastes in urban areas have stimulated a flattening of the food terrain.

Food in India is an identity marker of caste, class, family, kinship, tribe affiliation, lineage, religiosity, ethnicity, and increasingly, of secular group identification.

In the recurring identity crises that globalization seems to encourage, one would expect that food would play a significant part in dialogues about nationalism and Indian identities. But food in India has been virtually absent from the academic discourse because of the diversity and spread of the gastronomic landscape. Things are different on the Internet. In response to the forces of globalization and Indian food blogs both teaching cookery and commenting on food, are mushrooming in cyberspace.

India has several thousand castes and tribes, sixteen official languages and several hundred dialects, six major world religions, and many ethnic and linguistic groups. Food in India is an identity marker of caste, class, family, kin- ship, tribe affiliation, lineage, religiosity, ethnicity, and increasingly, of secular group identification. How one eats, what one eats, with whom, when, and why, is key to understanding the Indian social landscape as well as the relationships, emotions, statuses, and transactions of people within it.

The aesthetic ways of knowing food—of being a gourmand and deriving pleasure from it—as well as ascetic responses to it—are lauded in ancient scriptural texts such as the Kamasutra and the Dharmaśāstras . But historically in India, food consumption has also paradoxically been governed by under- standings that lean toward asceticism and self-control as well. Traditional Ayurvedic (Hindu) and Unani (Muslim) medical systems have a tripartite categorization of the body on its reaction to foods. In Ayurveda, the body is classified as kapha (cold and phlegmy), vaata (mobile and flatulent), or pitta (hot and liverish), and food consumption is thus linked not only to overall feelings of well being and balance but to personality disorders and traits as well. Eating prescribed foods ( sattvic foods that cool the senses versus rajasic foods that inflame the passions) and doing yoga and breathing exercises to balance the body, spirit, and mind are seen as very basic self-care and self-fashioning.

This appreciation and negation of gastronomic pleasure is made more complex by caste- and religion-based purity as well as pollution taboos. With some exceptions, since the early twelfth century, upper-caste Hindus, Jains, and some regional groups are largely vegetarian and espouse ahimsa (nonviolence). Often upper castes will not eat onions, garlic, or processed food, believing them to violate principles of purity. Some lower-caste Hindus are meat eaters, but beef is forbidden as the cow is deemed sacred, and this purity barrier encompasses the entire caste and religious system.

As the eminent pioneering anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss noted, there is a sharp distinction between cooked and uncooked foods, with cooked or processed food capable of being contaminated with pollution easier than uncooked food. For upper-caste Hindus, raw rice is deemed pure even if served by a lower-caste person, but cooked rice can carry pollution when coming in contact with anything polluting, including low-caste servers. Religion also plays a part in dietetic rules; Muslims in India may eat beef, mutton, and poultry but not pork or shellfish; Christians may eat all meats and poultry; and Parsis eat more poultry and lamb than other meats. However, as many scholars have noted, because of the dominance of Hinduism in India and the striving of many lower-caste people for social mobility through imitation of higher-caste propensities, vegetarianism has evolved as the default diet in the subcontinent. Most meals would be considered complete without meat protein.

History and the Culinary Imagination

India sought to define itself gastronomically in the face of colonization beginning in the twelfth century. First, Central Asian invaders formed several dynasties known as the Sultanates from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Then, the great Mughal dynasty ruled from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The British came to trade as the East India Company, stayed as the Crown from the eighteenth century until 1847, and then had their heyday as the British Raj from 1857 to 1947. The Mughals brought new foods to the subcontinent from Central Asia, including dried fruits, pilafs, leavened wheat breads, stuffed meat, poultry, and fruits. The Mughals also brought new cooking processes such as baking bread and cooking meat on skewers in the tandoor (a clay oven), braising meats and poultry, tenderizing meats and game using yogurt protein, and making native cheese. They borrowed indigenous ingredients such as spices (cardamom, pepper, and clove) and vegetables (eggplant from India and carrots from Afghanistan) to cook their foods, creating a unique Mughlai haute courtly cuisine.

From princely kitchens, the cuisine has made its way over the centuries to restaurants in major cities. In Delhi, the capital of Mughal India, as food writer Chitrita Banerji informs us, the Moti Mahal Restaurant claims to have invented tandoori chicken. In neighborhood Punjabi and Mughlai restaurants in metropolitan centers, the menu usually consists of dishes of meat and poultry that are heavily marinated with spices, then grilled and braised in thick tomato or cream-based sauces and served with indigenous leavened breads such as naan and rice dishes with vegetables and meats such as pilafs and biryani . These foods, in popular, mass-customized versions, are the staples of the dhabhas (highway eateries) all over India.

The British and other Western powers—including most importantly Portugal—came to India in search of spices to preserve meats, but the age of empire dictated culinary exchanges. India received potatoes, tomatoes, and chilies from the New World, and all became an integral part of the cuisine. The British traded spices and provided the technology and plant material and even transported labor to produce sugar in the West Indies.1 Indian food historian Madhur Jaffrey states that as the British Raj set roots in the subcontinent, the English-trained Indian cooks (Hindi— khansama ) to make a fusion food of breads, mulligatawny soup (from the Tamil mulahathani —pepper water) mince pies and roasts, puddings, and trifles. These dishes were later adapted to the metropolitan Indian table for the officers of the Indian army and British-Indian club menus. “Military hotels”— restaurants where meat and poultry were served primarily to troop members and often run by Parsis or Muslims—became popular as the new concept of public dining gained popularity in urban India between 1860 and 1900. The oldest known cafe from this era is Leopold’s Cafe in south Bombay (now Mumbai), where military hotel culture first took root. Other “hotels” or eateries primarily served, as they still do, vegetarian domestic cuisine in a public setting. In Bangalore, neighborhood fast food eateries called Darshinis serve a quick menu of popular favorites such as idli (steamed rice dumplings), dosa (rice and lentil crepes), and puri (fried bread), while neighborhood restaurants called sagars —meaning “ocean” but denoting a type of restaurant that has many varieties drawn from a commercial restaurant chain called Sukh Sagar, or “ocean of pleasure”—serve a wide array of dishes from both north and south India, as well as Indian, Chinese, and “continental food.”

“Continental food” in contemporary India includes a combination of English breakfast dishes such as omelette and toast; bread, butter, jam; meat and potato “cutlets;” an eclectic combination of Western dishes such as pizza, pasta, and tomato soup with croutons; bastardized French cuisine of vegetable baked au gratin with cheese and cream sauces, liberally spiced to make them friendly to the Indian palate; caramel custard, trifle, fruit and jelly; and cream cakes for dessert. Western cuisine is no longer just British colonial cuisine with these additions but a mosaic of specific national cuisines where Italian, and more recently, Mexican foods dominate, as these cuisines easily absorb the spices needed to stimulate Indian palates. Indian-Chinese food, another ethnic variant, owes its popularity to a significant Chinese population in Calcutta, who Indianized Chinese food and, through a number of family-run restaurants, distributed it throughout India, so it is now considered “local.” Street vendors serve vernacular versions of spicy hakka noodles, spicy corn, and “gobi Manchurian,” a unique Indian-Chinese dish of fried spiced cauliflower.

Despite this diversity, there are regional differences. Some observers con- tend that the Punjab—the Western region of the Indo-Gangetic plain of north India—is the breadbasket of the country. The region grows vast quantities of wheat that is milled and made into leavened oven-baked breads such as naan; unleavened griddle-baked breads such a chapattis , phulkas , and rumali rotis ; and stuffed griddle-fried breads such as kulcha and paratha . These breads are often eaten with vegetable or meat dishes. In the south, by contrast, rice is the staple grain. It is dehusked, steamed, and often eaten with spice-based vegetables and sometimes meat-based gravy dishes. The one cooking process that seems to be common to the subcontinent is that of “tempering,” or flash-frying, spices to add flavor to cooked food.

Contemporary India celebrates cuisine from local areas and culinary processes. The history of India, combined with its size, population, and lack of adequate transportation, left it with a heritage of finely developed local delicacies and a connoisseur population trained in appreciation of difference, seasonality, methods of preparation, taste, regionality, climate, diversity, and history though largely in an unselfconscious manner until very recently. Though many regional delicacies are appreciated nationally, such as the methi masala (fenugreek chutney) of Gujarat or the fine, gauze-like, sweet suther pheni (a confection that resembles a bird’s nest) of Rajasthan, regional delicacies such as the Bengal River carp marinated in spicy ground mustard and cooked in strong- smelling mustard oil often seem exotic and sometimes strange to outsiders. Train travel in India is a culinary tasting journey with stations stocking local delicacies, making it incumbent on the traveler to “stock up” on legendary specialties. Domestic food tourism creates and sustains a vibrant culinary imagination and a gastronomic landscape, both within and outside India.

The Indian Meal

The Indian meal is a complex and little-understood phenomenon. “Typical” meals often include a main starch such as rice, sorghum, or wheat; vegetable or meat curries that are dry roasted or shallow wok fried; cured and dried vegetable dishes in sauces; and thick lentil soups, with different ingredients. Condiments might include masalas (a dry or wet powder of fine ground spices and herbs) plain yogurt, or a vegetable raita (yogurt dip, also called pachchadi in south India), salted pickles, fresh herbal and cooked chutneys, dried and fried wafers and salted papadums (fried lentil crisps), and occasionally dessert (called “sweetmeats”). Indian meals can have huge variations across the subcontinent, and any of these components in different orders and with different ingredients might constitute an Indian meal.

Rice is a powerful symbol of both hunger and want as well as fulfillment and fertility. Until the late nineteenth century, however, only the wealthy ate rice, and most Indians consumed millet and sorghum.

When a multi-dish meal is served on a large platter in north India, the serving utensil is usually made of silver for purity. A banana leaf might be the main platter for a south Indian festival. In either case, there are various small bowls for each dish. This kind of meal is called a thali and is named for the platter on which it is served. The meal is eaten first with a sweet, followed by all the dishes served simultaneously and mixed together with the rice, based on the eater’s discretion. The meal ends with yogurt, which is thought to cool the body, and then followed by sweets and/or fruit. Festival meals usually end with a digestive in the form of a paan (betel leaf and nut folded together), which again has regional variations of style and taste.

Rice is a powerful symbol of both hunger and want as well as fulfillment and fertility. Until the late nineteenth century, however, only the wealthy ate rice, and most Indians consumed millet and sorghum. Nevertheless, the powerful symbolism of rice as a sign of fertility for many castes makes it part of marriage rites. Welcoming a new bride to the family home includes having her kick over a measure of rice to indicate that she brings prosperity to the household. A traditional test of a worthy daughter-in-law is her ability to “wash” the rice properly and to gauge the right amount of water it draws while cooking. Rice is still a symbol of wealth, and those families who have access to “wetland” where rice paddies grow are still thought to be wealthy and well endowed. Long grain scented basmati rice is India’s most popular variety and is valued in foreign markets as well. Efforts of the Indian government to protect Indian basmati rice failed, and now two types of American basmati exist, a situation many Indians consider shameful.

Gastronomic Calendars, Rituals, and Seasonality

In India as elsewhere, food culture is shaped by climate, land, and access to natural resources. The food system emphasizes eating agricultural and natural produce “in season,” such as mangoes and local greens during the summer, pumpkins during the rainy monsoon months, and root vegetables during the winter months. This emphasis is based upon a belief that in-season foods are more potent, tastier, and of greater nutritional value, although the yearround availability of many foods due to technology are beginning to change eating habits.

Cooks who are native to India are aware of culinary cycles and of multiple-dish recipes using fruits and vegetables of the season, some deemed “favorites” within caste groups and families. For example, prior to the ripened mango harvest of May and June, tiny unripe mangoes are harvested and pick- led in brine. The ripe mango and the pickled mango are the same species but are clearly different culinary tropes with different characteristics that are some- times attributed with fortifying, healing, auspicious, and celebratory values, based on taste, color, and combination. Connoisseurs are aware of desirable foods in local areas and sometimes travel great distances to acquire the first or best product of the season. Seasonality and regionality are also part of wed- ding celebrations, funerary rites, and domestic feasts. The winter peasant menu of the Punjab sarson ka saag , a stew of spicy mustard greens believed to “heat” the body, and makki ki roti ( griddled corn flatbreads), are imported to haute tables in Delhi restaurants as “rustic” fare.

Religious festivals also align with culinary cycles, festivals, or sacred periods of the year that are often associated with offerings to the gods and feasting on certain foods. The south Indian Harvest festival of Pongal in February is accompanied by a feast of harvested rice cooked with lentils in three different dishes, shakkarai pongal (Tamil-sweet), ven pongal (Tamil-savory), and akkara vadashal (Tamil-milk), accompanied by a stew of nine different winter vegetables and beans, offered first to tutelary deities and then consumed as consecrated food. Temples, especially those dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, have a long history of developed culinary traditions and food- offering aesthetics. The Krishna Temple in the south Indian temple town of Udupi is known throughout India for the distribution of free seasonal meals to thousands of devotees. Other temples are known for offerings of certain sweets or savories of that region or enormous and detailed menus of offerings from the land.

The Globalization of Indian Food

Although it has never had a standardized diet, India has traditionally “imagined” its cuisine with respect to the incorporation and domestication of “foreign” influences. In the past two decades, with India becoming an economic powerhouse, a variety of multinational fast food companies have entered the previously protected Indian culinary landscape. They include Pizza Hut, Mc- Donald’s, KFC, Pepsico, and, most recently, Taco Bell. These companies have had to “Indianize” and self-domesticate to conquer the notoriously difficult-to-please Indian palate.2 Today, urban fast food chains in India have become common and are transforming the middle class diet.

At the same time, local food purveyors have taken complex regional recipes and modified them for ease of industrial production, leading to a pack- aged food boom in India.3 The Indian food market of $182 billion is believed to be growing at a rapid clip of 13 percent.4 Indian precooked packaged foods empires such as MTR, SWAD, Haldirams, and Pataks have gone global, avail- able wherever Indians now live, leading a quiet yet unrecognized revolution in eating habits. Formerly, the focus was upon rural, natural, fresh, and prepared on-site food. Now, there is a shift in emphasis to industrialized, processed food. These developments are partially reengineering local and caste-based special- ties for mass production, distribution, and consumption, changing past notions of what is traditional or valued.

Some scholars have suggested that Indian food is filtered through Great Britain to the world, though diasporic Indian groups have also contributed. North American eateries serve curries and rice, tandoori chicken , naan , and chicken tikka masala (said to be invented in Glasgow), while the Japanese make karai and rice, demonstrating the attractiveness of “exotic” India’s cultural power and reach.

The cultures of contemporary Indian cuisine, including the politics, food processes, production, and consumption, are simultaneously changing and exhilarating. Further innovation and increased attention to Indian cuisine will almost certainly occur and promises to be an exciting area of innovation and critical research in the future.

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• Sidney Mintz, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History (New York: Penguin Books, 1986).
• Krishnenu Ray and Tulasi Srinivas, eds., Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food, South Asia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012).
• Tulasi Srinivas, “Everyday Exotic: Transnational Spaces and Contemporary Foodways in Bangalore,” Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Re- search 10 1 (2007): 85–107.
• Aroonim Bhuyan, “India’s Food Industry on the Path of High Growth,” Indo-Asian News Service , 2010, accessed July 10, 2011, see http://www.corecentre.co.in/Database/Docs/Doc- Files/food.pdf.

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Jaffrey, Madhur. A Taste of India. London: Pavilion, 1989.

Khare, Ravindra S., ed. The Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists. Binghamton: SUNY Press, 1982. See also Mount Goverdhan in same volume.

Mintz, Sidney. W. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Olivelle, Patrick. From Feast to Fast: Food and the Indian Ascetic in Collected Essays of Patrick Olivelle . Firenze: Firenze University Press, 1999.

Ray, Krishnenu and Tulasi Srinivas, eds. Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food, South Asia . Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.

Sen, Amartya. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlements and Deprivation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982.

Sen, Colleen Taylor. Food Culture in India. London: Greenwood Press, 2004.

Srinivas, M.N. The Cohesive Role of Sankritization and Other Essays. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, 1962.

Srinivas, Tulasi. “Everyday Exotic: Transnational Spaces and Contemporary Foodways in Bangalore.” Food, Culture and Society 10 no. 1 (2007).

Srinivas, Tulasi. “As Mother Made It: The Cosmopolitan Indian Family, ‘Authentic’ Food and the Construction of Cultural Utopia.” International Journal of Sociology of the Family 32 no. 2 (2006): 199–221.

Toomey, Paul. “Mountain of Food, Mountain of Love: Ritual Inversion in the Annakūta Feast at Mount Govardhan.” Ravindra S. Khare, ed. The Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992.

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• Exploring Indian Food
• Indian Food
• Indian Cooking Basics

Discovering Indian Cuisine

A cuisine-focussed look at the regions of India.

• Indian Food Culture
• To Eat Meat or Not
• Culinary Influences
• Indian Regional Cuisine

Think of India and one of the first things that comes to mind is its diversity. A large country, its population is second only to China, its languages are numerous and every state (of which there are 28 and seven Union territories) is unique in its traditions and very importantly, its food. In fact, food from one region may actually be totally alien to a person from another region! The common thread that runs through most Indian food, though, is the use of numerous spices to create flavor and aroma.

The Culture of Food

Indians take their food very seriously. Cooking is considered an art and mothers usually begin to teach their daughters and pass down family recipes by show-and-tell, fairly young in life. Mealtimes are important occasions for family to get together. Most meals comprise of several dishes ranging from staples like rice and breads to meat and vegetables and rounded off with a dessert. In a lot of Indian homes, foods are made from scratch with fresh ingredients. For example, some families buy their favorite type of wheat, wash it, dry it in the sun and then take it into a flour mill to have it ground into flour exactly the way they like, as opposed to buying flour from a store! This is changing in bigger cities where people have increasingly hectic lives and are happy to use ready-to-eat, pre-made ingredients.

To Eat (Meat) or Not to Eat?

To the western mind, India is perceived as largely vegetarian. This is not necessarily true. To a larger extent, religious beliefs (as compared to personal preference) dictate what a person cannot eat. For example, Islam forbids its followers from eating pork while a lot of Hindus do not eat beef. Followers of the Jain faith abstain from all meats and even avoid onions and garlic!

The Matter of Influence

Throughout history, India has been invaded and occupied by other cultures and each has left its own mark on Indian cuisine. Some of the predominant influences have been:

• Aryan - which focused on the mind-, body-enhancing properties of foods;
• Persian and Arab - which led to the Mughal style of cooking with rich, thick gravies and the use of dry fruits like cashews and almonds in dishes;
• British - which gave India its love of tea and put the European twist into some dishes. Anglo-Indian cuisine was the delicious result;
• Portuguese – which left its mark on parts of India in the form of dishes like the world-renowned Vindaloo and Xacuti.

Delving Deeper

As far as food is concerned, India can very roughly be divided into four regions. Each region has several states in it and each state its own unique food. Here’s a brief look at the cuisines of North , South , East and West India . One must of course, always remember that no such description can entirely cover the huge variety of Indian food. The true discovery of it can take years of patient and very pleasurable gastronomic experimentation. If you're ready to delve into cooking Indian cuisine, getting a good Indian cookbook is a great way to start.

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I've rarely felt comfortable with my culture. This summer, that changed

I’ve never had the privilege of knowing where I belong.

I’ve always had each foot in a different country — I’m too Indian for America and too American for India. But unlike most of my other first-generation friends, I have one more nuance to my relationship with my culture: language.

For the first time in twelve years, both of my grandmothers from India came to visit my family in Maryland at the same time this summer. They primarily speak Tamil, a South Indian language, and though they could get by speaking in English, they have a hard time understanding American accents.

It doesn’t get any easier if I try to communicate in our language. I’m fluent, but when I speak Tamil, it’s accompanied by an accent with sharp corners that makes the words sound all wrong coming out of my mouth. Instead, I end up speaking in slow, simple and articulate English to my grandmothers, with what I would approximate is an 80% success rate on basic subjects.

When I speak Tamil, it’s accompanied by an accent with sharp corners that makes the words sound all wrong coming out of my mouth.

But what I’ve come to realize, especially after seeing my maternal grandmother again for the first time in five years, is that there is one language we can all communicate freely in: food.

When I was in preschool in suburban Baltimore, my mom would say everything to me twice, once in Tamil and once in English, so I could begin learning English translations to speak to my classmates and teachers every day. But what never had to be said twice were the names of foods. Paneer is just paneer, and as my English vocabulary began to take precedent over my Tamil vocabulary, paneer remained without me even realizing.

One morning after my grandmothers arrived, I went to the kitchen for an early lunch. My maternal grandmother was watching the cricket match in the family room — West Indies was batting, and it wasn’t looking good for India. My paternal grandmother was sitting in the kitchen, likely scrolling through endless WhatsApp messages from family in India. I began to talk to my mom about the meetings I had that morning and how they went.

“Ni yenna sollirai?” my paternal grandmother asked. What are you saying? But I didn’t have the vocabulary to translate “figuring out a lede for the article I’m writing” into Tamil.

My maternal grandmother turned away from the cricket match to ask me what I’m going to eat. "Yenna sappida porai?"

I shrugged and browsed through the freezer.

“Adhu ennadu?” she asked, gesturing from across the room to the frozen Trader Joe’s box I had picked. What is that?

“Noodles!” I replied. Immediately, a connection was formed. My grandmothers came to sit near me, and we started to recall the time they cooked spaghetti for me when I was little, visiting Bombay and refused to eat Indian food for another day.

While it’s hard to explain to my grandmothers the nitty gritty details of my job or the classes I plan to take at college in the fall, food has allowed me to find a special connection with them. Both were married by the age of 17, thrown into the world of housewives and learning to cook for their husbands. One of them even likes to say that cooking is her meditation. But deeper than that — and perhaps she doesn’t even realize it — cooking is her communication.

As my grandmothers’ visit went on, my discomfort in my own culture began to lessen. Each morning, our first conversation was about breakfast: idlis or upma? Halfway through breakfast, we were already discussing lunch plans: I’d heat up a frozen meal, and the grandmothers would eat leftovers from last night. By the afternoon, the smell of spicy sambar or crisp dosa would be wafting into my room, and we’d spend dinner talking about how the dish was made and family stories it reminded us of.

At the dinner table, “that’s enough” or “I’m full” is almost never an accepted response for my grandmothers. My paternal grandmother’s love language is to pile more food onto my plate after I’ve had multiple helpings. Even if she doesn’t have anything to talk to me about, just watching me eat provides her the utmost joy and satisfaction. Most of my grandmothers’ conversations between each other also revolve around food: how their recipes differ in each family and which dishes they cook most often back home in India.

For the first time since my childhood, I’ve felt a sense of belonging in my hyphenated identity. Making a naan pizza for lunch bridges my disparate experiences without compromising my rich culture. Talking about the reasons we make appams for a holiday lets me find a meaningful connection with my grandmothers even when I don’t feel comfortable speaking my native language.

Making a naan pizza for lunch bridges my disparate experiences without compromising my rich culture.

In South Asian communities in particular, food is often seen as a source of connection, with meals being important times of coming together and focusing on your bodies.

This summer, I was able to see just how much this rings true with my family. Cooking food, eating food and talking about food connects me to my grandmothers in a way that English or Tamil — or even a mix of both — can’t quite seem to do. It’s given me small windows into my grandmothers’ lives and minds, and I’m incredibly grateful that it provides me moments of invaluable connection that transcend the normal boundaries of language.

On top of that, it’s shown me that there is one way in which my relationship with my native language isn’t as complicated as I thought it was. And on that note, I’ll just go check what’s for dinner.

Laya Neelakandan is a reporter for CNBC.

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Indian History, Festivals, Essays, Paragraphs, Speeches.

Indian Food: Short Essay on Indian Food

Category: Essays and Paragraphs On March 8, 2019 By Ananda

Indian food is liked and eaten by masses around the Globe. It includes a large list of Indian Cuisine which is consumed by the locals of India.

Indian subcontinent is rich in spices, herbs and flavours. Indian Food is also affected by the religion i.e. Hindu and its cultural choices of the people.

Breadfruit, Chillies and potato which is considered as a staple food in Indian diet is brought here by the Portuguese.

Ingredients of Indian Food:

Pearl Millet, Rice, Whole wheat flour, Lentils like masoor, tuer, urad, mong, Pulses, Rajma, Chickpeas, Chana and moong into besan.

Indian oils for cooking:

Different regions of India use different oils for cooking. Some of the most common oils are:

• Vegetable oil e.g. peanut in East India
• Mustard oil
• Soya bean oil in South India Mostly
• Hydrogenated oil

Indian Spices for Cooking:

A large list of spices is available and is used by the Indian people for cooking. Some of them are:

• Chilli pepper
• Black Mustard
• Turmeric powder
• Ginger paste for making a special spice.
• Cumin and Gujarat leaves.

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• History of Mughal Empire
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• Indian Culture and Tradition Essay

Essay on Indian Culture and Tradition

As students grow older, it is important for them to improve their understanding and hold over the language. This can be done only through consistent reading and writing. Writing an essay is a task that involves cooperation and coordination of both the mind and body. Students must be able to think as well reproduce their thoughts effectively without any confusion. This is important when it comes to writing answers and other important documents as ones go to higher classes. The art of writing effectively and efficiently can be improved by students through writing essays. To help students in this domain, Vedantu provides students with numerous essays. Students can go through the same and learn the correct manner of writing the essay. 

Indian Culture and Tradition

India enjoys a wide variety of cultural and traditional presence amongst the 28 states. Indian origin religions Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are all based on dharma and karma. Even, India is a blessed holy place which is also a native place for most of the religions. Recently, Muslim and Christianity also practised working amongst the whole India population. The pledge also added the line, ‘India is my country, and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.’  

Indians are great with cooking; their spices are special for medicinal purposes, so visitors are difficult to adjust to with such heavy spices. The cricketers touring Indian pitches are out due to such food. Frequently, it's been observed that the sportsperson arrived in India either with cooking skills or with a cook. Spices such as cumin, turmeric and cardamom have been used for a long period, to make the dishes more delicious and nutritional. Wheat, rice and pulses help to complete the meal. The majority of the population is a vegetarian one due to their religious aspects.

Talking about the language, India is blessed with a wide range of languages used. Each state has its own language. A major part of the state is unable to speak other languages than the native one. Gujrathi, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu and many more are the representative languages of the respective state. It's easy to recognize the person with the language he spoke. There are 15 regional languages but almost all of them Hindi is the national language of the country. Sanskrit is considered an ancient and respected language. And most of the legendary holy texts are found in Sanskrit only. Along with these, most of the people are aware of plenty of foreign languages. 

Indian clothing is adorable to most of the foreigners. Woman wearing a sari is the pride of a nation. These create a pleasant effect and she looks so beautiful that a majority of foreign country’s female want to be like her. The origin of the sari is from the temple dancers in ancient times. Sari allows them to maintain modesty and freedom of movement. On the other hand, men traditionally wear a dhoti and kurta. Actually, Dhoti is a type of cloth without any further attached work done on it. The great Mahatma Gandhi was very fond of it and in their dignity, most of the people used to wear the same. 

Apart from all the above facts, Indians are legends with arts and studious material. Shah-rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhirubhai Ambani, Amitabh Bachchan Rajnikant, Sundar Pichai are many more faces of India who are shining and representing India on a global scale. There are 20-30 grand festivals celebrated every year in which every festival pops up with history and respect to the respective religion. Even in terms of business, India is not behind. Agriculture is the best occupation of 70% of people in India. It’s our duty to protect the wonderful culture that we have. 

Indian culture is one of the oldest and most unique cultures known across the globe. It has various kinds of traditional values, religion, dance, festivals, music, and cloth, which varies from each state or town even. Indian art, cuisine, religion, Literature, Education, Heritage, Clothes etc has a huge impact on the whole world where everyone admires and follows it. It is known as the land of cultural diversity.  India thrives on a variety of languages, religions, and cultures due to the diverse race of people living in the country. It can be referred to as one of the world’s most culturally enriched countries. When one thinks of India, they picture colors, smiling faces of children running in the streets, bangle vendors, street food, music, religious festivals etc. 

Religion 

India is a land where different religious beliefs are followed. It is the land of many religions such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism.  Four Indian religions namely Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism were born in India while others are not of Indian origin but have people following those faiths. The people of India keep a solid belief in religion as they believe that following a faith adds meaning and purpose to their lives as it is the way of life. The religions here are not only confined to beliefs but also include ethics, rituals, ceremonies, life philosophies and many more.

Families 

Family plays a vital role in every Indian household. Indians are known to live together as a joint family with their grandparents, uncles and aunts, and the next generation of offspring as well. The house gets passed down from family to family throughout the generations. But with the new modern age, nuclear families are starting to become more common as children go out of town into cities for work or studies and get settled there, also everyone now prefers to have their own private life without any interference. But still, the concept of family get together and family gatherings are not lost as everyone does come together frequently. 

Indian Festivals

India is well known for its traditional festivals all over the world. As it is a secular country with diversity in religions, every month some festival celebration happens. These festivals can be religious, seasonal or are of national importance. Every festival is celebrated uniquely in different ways according to their ritual as each of them has its unique importance. National festivals such as Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day and Republic Day are celebrated by the people of India across the entire nation. Religious festivals include Diwali, Dussehra, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Zuha, Christmas, Ganesh Chaturthi, etc. All the seasonal festivals such as Baisakhi, Onam, Pongal, Bihu etc are celebrated to mark the season of harvest during two harvesting seasons, Rabi and Kharif. 

Festivals bring love, bond, cross-cultural exchange and moments of happiness among people.

Indian cuisine is known for a variety of spicy dishes, curry, rice items, sweets etc. Each cuisine includes a wide range of dishes and cooking techniques as it varies from region to region. Each region of India cooks different types of dishes using different ingredients, also food varies from every festival and culture as well. Hindus eat mostly vegetarian food items such as pulao, vegetables, daal, rajma etc whereas people from Islamic cultural backgrounds eat meat, kebabs, haleem etc. In the southernmost part of India, you will find people use a lot of coconut oil for cooking purposes, they eat a lot of rice items such as Dosa, Idli, Appam etc with Coconut chutney, sambhar.

Indian Clothing is considered to be the epitome of modesty and every style is very different in each region and state. But the two pieces of clothing that represent Indian culture are dhoti for men and saree for women. Women adorn themselves with a lot of bangles and Payal that goes around their ankles. Even clothing styles varied from different religions to regions to cultures. Muslim women preferred to wear salwar kameez whereas Christian women preferred gowns. Men mostly stuck to dhoti, lungi, shalwar and kurta.In modern days, people have changed their sense of style, men and women now wear more modern western clothes. Indian clothes are still valued but are now in more trendy and fashionable styles. 

There is no single language that is spoken all over India; however , Hindi is one common language most Indians know and can speak or understand. Every region has a different language or dialect. As per the official language act, Hindi and English are the official languages in India. Other regions or state wise languages include- Gujarati, Marathi, Bangla, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Kashmiri, Punjabi etc. 

FAQs on Indian Culture and Tradition Essay

1. What are the Popular Spices in India?

Popular spices in India include - Haldi(Turmeric), Chakri Phool(Star Anise), Til (Sesame seeds/ Gingili seeds), Saunf(Fennel Seeds), Kesar(Saffron), Laal Mirch(Red chilli), Khas(Poppy seeds), Jayphal(Nutmeg), Kalonji(Nigella Seeds), Rai/Sarson(Mustard Seeds), Pudina(Mint), Javitri(Mace), Patthar ke Phool​(Kalpasi), Kala Namak/ Sanchal/ Sanchar powder(Black salt/ Himalayan rock salt/ Pink salt), Sonth(Dry ginger powder), Methi dana(Fenugreek seeds), Suva Bhaji/ Sua Saag(Dill)

Kadi Patta(Curry Leaves), Sukha dhania(Coriander seeds), Laung(Cloves), Dalchini(Cinnamon), Sabza(Chia seeds), Chironji(Charoli), Ajwain(Carom seeds, thymol or celery seeds), Elaichi(Cardamom), Kali Mirch(Black Pepper (or White Pepper), Tej Patta(Bay Leaf), Hing(Asafoetida), Anardana(Pomegranate seeds), Amchoor(Dry mango powder)

2. What is the Language Diversity Available in India?

The Indian constitution has 22 officially recognized languages. Apart from it, there are around 60 languages that are recognized as smother tongue with more than one million speakers. India also has around 28 minor languages spoken by over one hundred thousand and one million people. Apart from these, there are numerous dialects spoken by a various sect of people based on their region of origin. 

3. Who are Some of the Most Famous Indian Celebrities Popular Across the Globe? 

India has people excelling in all aspects of art and activities. Few prominent celebrities to garner global fame include - Sudha Murthy, Amitabh Bacchan, Virat Kohli, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Priyanka Chopra, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohanlal, A R Rehman, Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Narayana Murthy, Kiran Majumdar Shah, Narendra Modi, Amith Shah. all these people have received great accolades in their respective area of expertise globally and getting recognition to India on a global level. 

4. How to Improve Writing and Reading Skills for Producing Good Essays?

Writing an essay becomes a tedious task when the mind and hand do not coordinate. It is important for you to be able to harness your mental ability to think clearly and reproduce the same on paper for a good essay. Always remember the first few thoughts that you get as soon as you see an essay topic is your best and purest thoughts. Ensure to note them down. Later you can develop your essay around these points. Make sure your essay has an introduction, body and the final conclusion. This will make the reader understand the topic clearly along with your ability to convey the any information without any hesitation or mistake. 

5. How many religions are there in India? 

As of now, there are a total of 9 major religions in India with Hinduism being the majority. The remaining religion includes- Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Baha'i Faith. 

6. Which is the oldest language in India? 

Indian classical oldest language is Sanskrit, it belongs to the Indo- Aryan branch of Indo- European languages. 

7. What are the few famous folk dances of India? 

Folk dances are the representation of a particular culture from where they are known to originate. Eight famous classical dances are- Bharatnatyam from Tamil Nadu, Kathakali from Kerala, Kathak from North, West and Central India, Mohiniyattam from Kerala, Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh, Odissi from Odisha, Manipuri from Manipur, Sattriya from Assam. 

8. How many languages are spoken in India? 

Other than Hindi and English there are 22 languages recognised by the constitution of India. However, more than 400 languages and dialects in India are still not known as they change after every town. Over the years, about 190 languages have become endangered due to very few surviving speakers. 

9. Describe the Indian Culture. 

Indian culture is very diverse and the people of India are very warm and welcoming. They have a strong sense of family and firmly believe in unity in diversity. In India, there's a saying saying 'Atithi Devo Bhava'  means 'the guest is equivalent to god'. So if one visits India, they will never feel unwanted.

Indian Food

Indian food  is different from rest of the world not only in taste but also in cooking methods. It  reflects a perfect blend of various cultures and ages . Just like Indian culture, food in India has also been influenced by various civilizations, which have contributed their share in its overall development and the present form.

India has a rich culinary heritage. Indian cuisine has a 5000-year-old history. Mythological beliefs and traditions have played an important role in its evolution and development. The main Indian food was based on Hinduism but the Islamic influence during the Mughal era, the Persian exchanges with the Middle East and the British colonial system have all contributed immensely towards laying the foundation of the Indian cuisine.

India is a big country with many states and regions. Each region   offers a unique assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. Each regional cuisine uses its own locally grown herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables. These regional cuisines collectively combined together form the very delightful Indian Cuisine.

The staple Indian foods are Rice, Wheat and Lentils. And no Indian dish is complete without spices. Indian food is a combination of all six tastes like sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy and astringent. In India different dishes are prepared for different festivals. Every festival tends to be complete only when special food associated with that festival is cooked on that day. Like Holi can not be complete without Gujhiya and Eid without Sewai. India is the only country in the world where there is Unity in Diversity not only its culture & religion but also its cuisine.

Foods of India are better known for its spiciness.  Throughout India, be it North India or South India, spices are used generously in food . But one must not forget that every single spice used in Indian dishes carries some or the other nutritional as well as medicinal properties.

Food in the north India, to begin with, Kashmiri cuisines reflect strong Central Asian influences. In  Kashmir , mostly all the dishes are prepared around the main course of rice found abundantly in the beautiful valley. Another delicious item cooked here is the ‘ Saag ‘ that is prepared with a green leafy vegetable known as the ‘ Hak ‘.

But on the other hand states like the Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh show high consumption of chapatis as staple food. Again, these chapatis are prepared with a variety of flours such as wheat, rice, maida, besan etc. Besides chapatis other closely related  breads  baked in these regions include  Tandoori ,  Rumaali  and  Naan  etc. However in the northern region impact of Mughlai food is quite obvious.

West Indian Food

In western India, the desert cuisine is famous for its unique taste and varieties of food.  Rajasthan  and  Gujarat  are the states that represent the desseert flavor of Indian food. Here an immense variety of dals and achars (pickles/preserves) is used that simply substitutes the relative lack of fresh vegetables in these areas.

East Indian Food

In the eastern India, the Bengali and Assamese styles of cooking are noticeable.  The staple food of Bengalis is the yummy combination of rice and fish.  Usually the Bengalis love eating varieties of fishes. A special way of preparing the delicacy known as ‘ Hilsa ‘ is by wrapping it in the pumpkin leaf and then cooking it. Another unusual ingredient that is commonly used in the Bengali cooking is the ‘Bamboo Shoot’. Various sweets prepared in this region, by using milk include the ‘ Roshogollas ‘, ‘ Sandesh ‘, ‘ Cham-cham ‘ and many more.

In the states like  Maharashtra , the food is usually a mix of both north as well as south cooking styles. Here people use both the rice and the wheat with same interest. Along the coastline of  Mumbai  a wide variety of fishes is available. Some of the delicious preparations include dishes like the  Bombay Prawn  and  Pomfret .

In  Goa , that is further down towards south, one can notice  Portuguese influence  in the cooking style as well as in the dishes. Some of the major dishes of this regiun are the sweet and sour  Vindaloo ,  duck baffad ,  sorpotel  and  egg molie  etc.

South Indian Food

In the southern India, the states make great use of spices, fishes and coconuts, as most of them have coastal kitchens. In the foods of Tamil Nadu use of tamarind is frequently made in order to impart sourness to the dishes. It simply distinguishes the Tamil Food from other cuisines.

The cooking style of Andhra Pradesh is supposed to make excessive use of chilies, which is obviously to improve the taste of the dishes.

In  Kerala , some of the delicious dishes are the lamb stew  and  appams ,  Malabar fried prawns ,  Idlis ,  Dosas , fish molie and  rice puttu . Another famous item of this region is the sweetened coconut milk. Yet another dish is  Puttu , which is  glutinous rice powder steamed like a pudding in a bamboo shoot .

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• Essay On Indian Farmer

Indian Farmer Essay

500+ words essay on indian farmer.

Farmers are the backbone of the Indian Economy. More than half of the Indian population relies on Agriculture as a source of income. Farmers not only make the country secure by providing food, fodder and other raw materials as feedstock for industries, but they also serve as a source of livelihood for the majority of the Indian population. Sadly, though farmers feed the entire population, they sometimes sleep without having their night meals. In this essay on an Indian Farmer, we will be discussing the role of farmers and the problems faced by them. Students must go through this CBSE essay to get ideas so they can write essays by themselves.

Importance and Role of Indian Farmers

Farmers are the soul of the nation. Agriculture is the only means of living for almost two-thirds of the employed class in India. Farmers produce crops, pulses and vegetables which are needed by everyone. They work extremely hard so we can have food on our table every day. So, whenever we have a meal or eat food, we should thank the farmer.

Farmers in India are the largest producer of pulses, rice, wheat, spices and spice products. They are also involved in other small businesses such as dairy, meat, poultry, fisheries, food grains etc. According to the Economic Survey 2020-2021, the share of agriculture in the gross domestic product (GDP) has reached almost 20 per cent. India has also emerged as the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.

Issues and Challenges of Indian Farmers and their Current Situation

Farmers face various issues and challenges related to agriculture. Some of them are poorly maintained irrigation systems and a lack of good extension services. Farmers’ access to markets is hampered by poor roads, rudimentary market infrastructure, and excessive regulation. India has inadequate infrastructure and services for farmers because of low investment. Most farmers hold small areas of land due to which they are restricted to use traditional methods of farming and limit productivity. Whereas farmers with large pieces of land implement modern agricultural techniques and boost productivity.

If small farmers want to increase their production, they have to use good quality seeds, proper irrigation systems, advanced tools and techniques of farming, pesticides, fertilizers etc. For all this, they need money, due to which they have no choice but to take debt or loans from banks. They have immense pressure to produce crops so as to yield profit. In case their crop fails, all their effort goes in vain. In fact, then they are not able to produce enough to even fill the stomachs of their families.

Change is happening in rural India but it still has a long way to go. Farmers have benefited from improved farming techniques but the growth is not equitable. The effort should be to stop the migration of farmers to urban areas. To make agriculture successful and profitable, it is vital that proper thrust be given to the improvement of the condition of marginal and small farmers.

Keep learning and stay tuned with BYJU’S for the latest updates on CBSE/ICSE/State Board/Competitive Exams. Also, download the BYJU’S App for interactive study videos.

Frequently asked Questions on Indian farmer Essay

What is the role of farmers.

A person is someone who is engaged in agriculture and raising livestock for a living.

What is the latest bill that has been passed in India for farmers?

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill is the newest bill passed for farmers in 2020.

Are there different types of farmers in India?

Yes, the main types of farmers in India are Marginal farmers, Small farmers and Semi-medium farmers.

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Food Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on food.

Food is the basic human need to stay alive. Moreover, it is the need of every living organism . Therefore it is important that we should not waste food. Our world consists of different types of cultures. These cultures have varieties of dishes of food in them.

Thus, all the dishes have different taste. Furthermore, our nature provides us a variety of food. From fruits to vegetables, from Dairy food to seafood everything is available. Different countries have their own specialty of dishes. Therefore some of them are below:

World-famous Cuisines

Italian Cuisines – Italian cuisines is one of the most popular cuisines around the world. Moreover, it is widely available in our India too. Dishes like pizza, pasta, and lasagna own a special place in the hearts’ of people.

Furthermore, restaurants like Dominos and Pizza hut are available all over the country. People of every age love the taste of these Italian dishes. Also, Italian dishes are famous for their’ cheese filling. Every dish is load with cheese. Which enhances the taste of these Italian dishes.

Indian cuisine – Indian cuisine is always filled with a lot of herbs and spices. Furthermore, the specialty of Indian dishes is, it is always filled with curries. Whether veg or non-veg the dishes are in curry form. Moreover, Indian cuisine has so many varieties of food that has further branches. The Branch consists of Mughal cuisine which is mostly of non-vegetarian dishes. Also, almost every Indian love Muglia dishes.

Chinese Cuisine – Chinese cuisine in India is also very popular. There are many Chinese theme-based restaurants here. Moreover, in these restaurants Chinese are preferable chefs because they can only give the perfect Chinese blend. Chinese cuisines have a wide variety of dishes. Some of them are Chinese noodles, fried rice, Dumplings, etc. Dumplings have a different name here. They go by the name of momos in India and people love the taste of it.

These were some of the favorites of Indian people. Moreover, these are in almost every part of the city. You can find it anywhere, whether be it in 5-star restaurants or at the side of the street as street foods.

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Importance of Food in Our Life

We cannot deny the importance of food in our lives. As it is the basic need to survive. Yet some people waste not thinking that there are still some people that do not get any of it. We should always be careful while taking a meal on our plates.

In other words, we should take only that much that our stomach can allow. Or else there will be wasting of food . In India there are many people living in slums, they do not have proper shelter. Moreover, they are not able to have even a one-time meal. They starve for days and are always in a state of sickness.

Many children are there on roads who are laboring to get a daily meal. After seeing conditions like these people should not dare to waste food. Moreover, we should always provide food to the needy ones as much as we can.

Q1. Name any two different types of cuisines available in India.

A1. The two different types of cuisines available in India are Italian and Chinese cuisine. These are famous apart from Indian cuisine.

Q2. How can we not waste food?

A2. You cannot waste food by taking only a sufficient amount of it. Moreover, people should seal pack the leftover food and give it to the beggars. So that they can at least stay healthy and not starve.

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Parts of Gaza Are in Famine, World Food Program Chief Says

The remarks by Cindy McCain do not constitute an official declaration of famine, but she said the assessment was based on “what we have seen” on the ground.

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By Liam Stack

• May 4, 2024

The director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, says that parts of the Gaza Strip are experiencing a “full-blown famine” that is rapidly spreading throughout the territory after almost seven months of war.

Ms. McCain is the second high-profile American leading a U.S. government or U.N. aid effort who has said that there is famine in northern Gaza, although her remarks do not constitute an official declaration, which is a complex bureaucratic process.

“There is famine — full-blown famine in the north, and it’s moving its way south,” Ms. McCain said in excerpts released on Friday of an interview with “Meet the Press .” The interviewer, Kristen Welker, asked Ms. McCain to repeat herself.

“What you are saying is significant,” Ms. Welker said. “You are saying there is full-blown famine in northern Gaza?”

“Yes, I am,” Ms. McCain replied. “Yes, I am.”

The first American official to say there was famine in Gaza during the conflict was Samantha Power, the director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, who made her remarks in congressional testimony last month.

Ms. McCain was appointed by President Biden as the American ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture in 2021 and became head of the W.F.P., a U.N. agency, last year.

An official declaration of famine typically involves both the United Nations and the government of the country where the famine is taking place, and it is unclear what local authority might have the power to do that in Gaza.

In the interview, Ms. McCain did not explain why an official famine declaration has not been made. But she said her assessment was “based on what we have seen and what we have experienced on the ground.”

“It is horror,” she said. “It is so hard to look at, and it is so hard to hear, also. I am so hoping we can get a cease-fire and begin to feed these people, especially in the north, in a much faster fashion.”

Gaza has been gripped by what experts have called a severe human-made hunger crisis as a result of Israeli bombardment and restrictions that have made delivering aid to the territory extremely challenging. The amount of aid entering Gaza has increased recently, but aid groups say it is far from adequate.

For the first several weeks of the war, Israel maintained what it called a “complete siege” of Gaza, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying that “no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel” would be allowed into the territory. The Israeli military also destroyed Gaza’s port , restricted fishing and bombed many of its farms.

Israel eventually loosened that siege but instituted a meticulous inspection process that it says is necessary to ensure that supplies do not fall into the hands of Hamas. Aid groups and foreign diplomats have said the inspections create bottlenecks , and have accused Israel of using them to turn away aid for spurious reasons , including water filters, solar lights and medical kits that contain scissors.

Volker Türk, the U.N. human rights chief, said in a statement last month that Israel’s policies regarding aid in Gaza could amount to a war crime.

Israel has faced increasing pressure in recent weeks to allow aid into Gaza after its military killed seven international aid workers from World Central Kitchen in an airstrike.

Liam Stack is a Times reporter covering the Israel-Hamas war from Jerusalem. More about Liam Stack

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

News and Analysis

The Israeli military said that it had  sent tanks into Rafah  and established control over the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt in what it called a limited operation.

Before the Israeli incursion into Rafah, the military told about 110,000 people sheltering in the southern Gaza city to evacuate .

Hours earlier, Hamas said it had agreed to a cease-fire plan  that Israel said did not meet its demands, the latest in a long series  of negotiating stumbles. Officials said that the proposal was mostly similar to one Israel had previously endorsed .

Hobbling Education for Years: Most of Gaza’s schools, including all 12 of its universities, have severe damage that makes them unusable , which could harm an entire generation of students, the U.N. and others say.

No Palestinian Flags at Eurovision: The organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, a glitzy singing contest, said that attendees would be allowed to wave  only the flags of participating nations — including Israel’s.

Nonviolent Resistance in the West Bank: Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist who has been arrested and beaten for simple acts of defiance, is aiming to emulate Gandhi  at a time when violence is inescapable.

Campus Protests in the U.S.: On quads and lawns from coast to coast, U.S. colleges are grappling with a groundswell of student activism  over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Administrators are having to make controversial decisions .