Indian cuisine is considered as one of the most diverse cuisine in the world- which each regions and states has its own food habits, culture and customs,reflecting the varied demographics of ethnically diversed sub-continent. The cuisine is charecterised by the abundant use of spices , herbs and vegetables which grows locally. The religious believes and customs has played an integral role to shape its traditional cuisine and eating habits. It also influenced by the neighbouring countries such as Middle East, Central Asia and Mediterranean- results into a unique blend of various cuisines.
Indian cuisine is believed to be as old as mankind. As a land that has experienced extensive immigration and interaction through the millennia, India's cuisine is originated and shaped from the various influences. The strong vegetarian habit which follows by many religion such as hindus, Jains and Budhists influenced the cuisine a lot to stay as a natural food habit with its use of vegetables,pulses and grains. Planting and harvesting of many spices such as turmeric, cardomom, black pepper, mustard etc recorded back to 3000Bc. Most of the recipes and eating habits are formed by the vedic period. The main diet was vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy products and honey due to the heavily farmed agricultural lands. The Ayurveda was developed by this time and a food classification system was formed. As per Ayurveda the food has classified into three- Satvika, Rajasika and Tamasika ansd deemed to have a powerful effect on body and mind. And also Ayurveda says the food to be consumed should be balanced in the five tastes- salt, sweet,sour,bitter and astringent.
Later invasions from Central Asia, Arabia, Persia and Mughal and others bring a deep impact on Indian cooking. Influences from traders such as Portuguese and Arabs diversified the taste and meal ,and also the customs of serving the Indian food. Mughal rule introduced rtich dishes, Pilafs and non-vegetarian delicacies such as Kebabs and Biryanis . The extensive use of dry fruits and nuts such as cashew, almond, pista, apricots in their food and resulted into Mughlai cuisine. The Mughlai cuisine is flourished in the reign of Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjehan- the court of these emperors were the test kitchens of the modern and innovative dishes and that bring a great change to the Indian cuisine.
Most of these impacts were happened in Northern India,and still the southern cuisine was untouched by these foriegn influences. The states of Tamil nad, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra were sticked with their traditional eating habits and food,except Hyderabad and Goa. The mughal rulers were ruled Hyderabad for a long time and the Nizam and Nawabs (emperors of Hyderabad) mixed these rich north indian cooking with the traditional south style and they created a new cuisine- south Indian dishes with a rich mughal effect. Goa was ocuupied by Portuguese for quite a long time and their cuisine is strongly influenced by them-resulted into a cuisine which predominantly balanced with sweet, sour , spice and color.
Finally, the Indian cuisine has gone through all these changes by a timeline of centuries-where the geographical boundaries has changed, the tradition and culture has changed, and leads to give an identity as the base of the cuisine of the sub-continent and emerged as the most diverse cuisine in the world.
