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Traditional Indian menus are based on ayurvedic principles. The menu will include the six tastes, namely, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.A balanced diet takes into account body tissues, water and salt levels in the body, properties of the food, properties of the individual and food assimilation by the body.
The essence of Indian cuisine lies in the aroma of spices blended together and added to enhance the flavour and nutritional as well as medicinal value of each dish..
Apart from spices, yoghurt (curd) and ghee form two main ingredients in Indian cuisine.
Often, no two people will agree on the exact recipe of a dish. Recipes are handed down from generation to generation, and often are closely guarded secrets.
Indian cuisine as such is an amalgamation of the kitchen of the various cultures, regions within India and those of the early settlers and invaders who left an impression on history. There are 27 different states in India and each state has its own variation and diversity is the beauty of India, her culture and her cuisine. India has underwent several invasions from the Greek to British, and all these have added to the culinary spectrum of India. Khus khus was introduced in India by the Greeks, the meat dishes by the Mughal invaders, dried fruits and nuts by the Persians, chillies by the Portugese and the soup and chutney tradition by the British.
India is well know for its traditional vegetarianism. There is a contradicting belief that during the Vedic period (B.C. 1500 - 500) the priestly class used to consume flesh after performing animal sacrifices, and that it was with the advent of Jainism and Buddhism that vegetarianism became a popular and more widely accepted. We do not want to enter into an argument, but would like to point out that even within India, cultural evolution has always influenced the Indian kitchen.
Often, it can very broadly be classifed into South Indian and North Indian. But there are a lot of different varieties even with these, depending on the region and climate. Here, in this site it is given more generically, with the South Indian dishes under one section and all others in another.
An attempt to reproduce Indian cuisine will be a herculean task. So with apologies to an eager learner who is looking for a large number of dishes and due respects to the motherland of such a vast culinary culture, a very few recipes are presented here.
A word to those who are first timers with cooking - the first time may not give excellent results, but a little care, practice and lot of patience will always help.
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