Detailed study on Indian regional cuisine

GOAN CUISINE

Goan cuisine has a influence of mainly two religions the Hindus and Christians, not forgetting the Muslim and Portuguese influence.

Being a coastal region there is no Goan who is not familiar with eating fish and rice. Apart from rice the cereal consumed is wheat, mainly in the form of bread baked in ovens (by the Christian communities) and chapattis by the Hindus.

The other common meats consumed are Pork, Chicken, Lamb etc. the main characteristics or features that can be observed among goans are as follows:

1. The food consumed is too spicy and sour with a maximum consumption of red chillies.
2. Kokum is commonly used by the Hindus and vinegar by the Christians. Also consumption of pork is maximum by Christians.
3. Masalas ground freshly and fine (to the extent of grinding over and over again till the paste is clay fine)
4. Goans do not have a sweet tooth. The most popular sweet being Bibinka
5. Peculiarity of dishes are that they  consume pickles.
6. Most popular meats are seafood and pork

Few Goan dishes with their main ingredients are as follows:

                    I.      Goan Prawn Masalas: Red Chillies+ Cumin Seeds+ Turmeric+ Cloves+ Cinnamon+ Ginger+ Malt+ Vinegar

                 II.      Goan Curry: Onions+ Tomatoes+ Coconut Milk+ Red Chillies+ Coriander Seeds+ Cumin Seeds+ Turmeric+ Garlic+ Ginger+ Tamarind/ Kokum

               III.      Vindaloo Masalas: Red Chillies+ Cinnamon+ Cumin Seeds+ Coriander Seeds+ Turmeric+ Garlic+ Ginger+ Vinegar.

              IV.      Marinade: Vinegar+ Salt+ Clove+ Pepper+ Cardamom

                 V.      Sorpotel: Onions+ Tomatoes+ (Pork Blood-optional)+ Vinegar+ Red Chillies+ Pepper+ Cumin Seeds+ Cloves+ Cardamom+ Garlic+ Ginger.

              VI.      Bibinka: Coconut Milk+ Jaggery+ eggs+ Pancakes Baked, one over the other.

PUNJABI CUISINE

Punjabi cuisine was born with the partition of India where millions of Punjabi refugees paired into Delhi, giving Delhi a culture of adventures.

PUNJABI'S ARE BASICALLY FARMERS

Some of the best Punjabi food is hearty country fare based on good milk, butter milk, ghee and freshly harvested produce especially wheat which is their staple diet.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Punjabi refugees have brought their exquisite country fare to Delhi- the layered, stuffed radish, potato parantha, Channa bhatura and the over green sarson ka saag and makki Ki roti.

The best food especially traditional Hindu food is found only in houses.

The Dhaba in Punjab and North India are famous for their tasty reasonable food. Most of their cuisines have a touch of Mughlai cuisine. In villages all the houses have clay tandoor where housewives prepare unleavened breads daily.

SEASONAL VARITIES

The dishes eaten in North India also vary with season. In the winter season, when cold becomes unbearable, people relish sarson ka saag and makki ki roti with dollops of butter.

Similarly , in summer , they quench their thirst with huge glass of lassi or butter milk.

DISTINCT FEATURES:

1.      Punjab being the largest wheat growing state, wheat is the staple grain, though rice in the form of Pulaos and briyanis are eaten during special occasions.

2.      Milk is also in plenty, especially in the winter , hence the famous milk sweets like Kheer, Rasmalai, and use of cream, cheese or paneer in cooking.

3.      Punjabis use a lot of ghee i.e. Desi ghee.

4.      In Season, vegetables and fruits are in plenty. It is a real pleasure to see cauliflower, red sweet tender carrots, and sweetfull green peas in winter, as well as red rosy apple peas in season.

5.      Tandoor food, inherited from Moghals is now a part of Punjabi cuisine. The famous and very popular Tandoori Chicken and Naan are now considered a part and parcel of Punjabi Cuisine.

PECULIARITIES:

1.      Wheat is the staple food.

2.      Raita is served as an accompaniment to Rice, made out of curd, vegetable like potato, onion and mint.

3.      Vegetable curries are popular. Use of paneer in vegetable preparation is common.

4.      Lentils or Dals are another favorite of North Indians. The makhani Dal, rajmah and delicious mixture of dals, cooked in curd and spices is relishing.

5.      Varieties of pickles especially pickled vegetables like carrots, turnips, cauliflower and chutneys are served with meals.

6.      Desserts or sweet drinks are mainly made of milk.

7.      Unlike the south where coconut oil is used, Punjabis either use DESI GHEE or MUSTARD OIL for cooking

8.      Non- Vegetarian especially lamb, mutton, poultry, is abundantly eaten, cooked in rich gravy eaten with leavened/ unleavened bread.

SPECIALTIES:

Ø      SARSON KA SAAG/MAKKI KI ROTI

Ø      CHANNA BHATURA

Ø      KHEER

Ø      CARROT HALWA

Ø      GULAB JAMUN

Ø      SAMOSA

Ø      PARANTHAS

GUJARATI CUISINE

Gujarati cuisine brings into our mind Dhoklas, Khandvi, Oondhiya, Doodh Pak and of course a list of other items. Though most of the Gujarati's are pure vegetarians, some non Hindus like the bohri community from surat have also contributed to the cuisine, so also the Parsi community.

HISTORY:

Though majority of Gujaratis are Jains who do not even touch onion and garlic, the use of millet, Jaggery, vegetables, grains is in the plenty.

The Bohris who are the oldest Muslim community in Gujarat are famous for their Soups. Their Speciality is in serving food in “THAL” or a large plate are for 8 to 10 people set on a stool with people sitting around on the floor. This style of eating is unique to them.

Parsis are another Gujarati speaking minority. Those who have fled Iran and hence their cuisine is a combination of Persian Gujrati and English cuisine.

UNIQUENESS

Gujrati Cuisine:-----

1.      A typical Gujrati vegetarian meal consist of Indian bread made with millets like bajra, which is staple food for Gujaratis. It is made plain or in combination with green spinach called as dhebra or methi thepla and baked on cast iron griddle.

2.      The abundant use of grains, pulses, vegetables and roots may be due to the vast stretches of fields in Gujrat. The Gujrati cuisine has a unique combination of all taste like sweet, sour, bitter, etc especially sweet and sour. The use of jaggery is because of the abundantly grown sugar-cane.

3.      One of the important flavoring used by many is a garlic spice mixture of garlic, red chillies and salt pounded together or even eaten as a chutney.

4.      The snacks like Dhoklas, Khandvi and kachori are also famous which generally known as Farsan or snack is loved by everyone. This includes small tidbits even sev, ghatia, papdi made with chick pea flour and deep fried.

5.      The Bohri community from Surat specializes in soups and sweets. They alternate sweet dishes with salty food for the first half of their meals.

6.      The Parsis are other minorities from Gujrat who love good food. One has to attend a Parsi wedding to enjoy the flavor of their cuisines

7.      The meal starts with a sweet pickle and then chapattis. Then comes the fish course. Then chicken, mutton, egg followed by ice creams or other sweet. Their dishes have a western influence, the sweet and sour combination adopted from Gujrati cuisine as well as the Parsian blend of exquisite flavors like meat and dried fruits.

SPECIAL DISHES:::::::

1.      Methi Thepla: Dough made from whole wheat flour, bajra, besan, methi and spices rolled using as thin as possible and baked on a griddle.

2.      Dhoklas: Batter made from Channa Dal, curds, spice-fermented and then steamed and tempered.

3.      Khandvi: Small rolled crepes, made with cooked batter of besan, curds and ginger, green chillies served tempered with chutney.

4.      Oondhiya: A delicious blend of stuffed vegetables cooked in oil. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, banana, brinjal, methi stuffed with mixture of coconut, ground chillies, lime, sugar, lots of garlic, dhania powder, and cooked on a slow fire till vegetables are cooked.

5.      Doodh Pak: Rice cooked in flavoured milk, served hot or cold garnished with nuts.

6.      Patra-na-machl: Fish covered with chutney made using green coriander, green chillies wrapped in banana leaves and steamed.

BENGALI CUISINE

Bengali cuisine brings to our minds fish and sweets. But not only does it includes fish and sweets but also vegetables, meat and snacks. One cannot but agree that the three great passions for any Bengali are rice, fish and sweets. Fish especially the sweet water, which is even given as an offering to the goddess and the passion for sweets especially milk sweets like rasogulla and sandesh, as milk is available in plenty.

TRADITIONS:-

Bengali cuisine is a combination of vegetarian and non vegetarian cuisine. Bengali's are on the whole an infectiously passionate lot and few things unite them more than their common passion of food especially for fish. No meat is considered complete without it.

A Bengali’s day begins with big bowl containing moori (puffed rice) thick creamy and healthy dollops of freshly mashed fruits such as sweet ripe mangoes or musky jack fruit.

A lunch time favorite is sukto. It starts the meal consists of a melange of diced and fresh vegetables, some are bitter (little bitter gourd), some pungent(white radish), some starchy(like potatoes), some stiff(like besan) and other soft such as delicious stem and leaves which only Bengali's seems to eat.

At the same time lunch would follow some rice and Dal accompanied by fried bhajas made out of vegetables and fish. There might be some rui macher jhol. This would be followed by sweet and sour chutney, aam jhol, a thin watery soup made out of green mangoes flavored with  mustard seeds. Since Bengali's must have a sweet, there might be mishti doi, a thick sweetened yoghurt set in earthen cups.

Early evening they enjoy snacks like jhal moori, a spicy combination of puffed rice, potatoes and cucumber. They also enjoy the evening with poochka, a fried crisp poori stuffed with potatoes, cumin and red chilly flavoured with tamarind water.

Millions of sweets that are consumed hourly in Bengal are rasogulla, sandesh and Singhara Rasmalai.

SERVICE:-

The leisurely meal, would start originally with rice, Dal and bhaja. The rice might be an elegant pilaf, the dal flavoured with fish head, and the bhaja. Next would come fish, perhaps prawns simmered in coconut milk(chingri malai) and vegetables and kopirdantar dalna chingri macher diye(cauliflower stems cooked with tiny shrimps). Heat would follow perhaps mangsho jhol, the chutney course would be the next-this could be made with tomatoes studded with bits of preserved sweet mangoes accompanied with looches, then would come sweet dessert bhapa doi. Finally would come the sweets- rasmalai, kalajamuna and rasogulla.

Bengali never gave up his language, neither he gave up his Bengali food and his passion for fish, rice and sweets. Elisa or Hilsa is a fish for them. Most Bengalis will not touch sally water fish, complaining that they lack sweetness. Seasoning that could be classified as BENGALI would have to include two, used in the steamed HILSA dish, mustard oil and mustard seeds to do triple duty- as an oil, as the popped nutty seed and as a firely seed as well. Date jaggery is quite a delicacy and made by tapping the date palm.

In family factor, rasogulla are still mass produced by hand enormous karahis even discarded bathtubs are used to contain the result. Moisture dozes out of the curds through muslin. The resulting cheese dough (chenna) is the raw material of Bengali sweets.

       PANCH PHORAN:-

It is a spice mixture used only in Bengal and consist of CUMIN, FENNEL, KALONJEE,METHI SEEDS & WHOLE RADHUNI.

SPECIALTY DISHES:-

1. BHAJA: It could be fish or better still tender fish roe or it could be vegetable seasoned with salt and turmeric dipped into batter and deep fried.
2. MACHER JHOL: Bengal’s everyday fish dish. Flat fish is cooked with the gravy made up of mustard seeds, cumin, coriander seeds, ginger, turmeric, chilly powder, kalonjee, green chillies and served with plain boiled rice.
3. TOMATO CHUTNEY: Made up of ginger, panch phoran,red chillies, chopped garlic, chopped tomatoes, sugar and green chillies.