Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits.
Asian cuisine encompasses several significant regional cooking styles of Asia: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. Cuisine is a distinctive way of cooking practices and customs, usually associated with a specific culture. Asia, as the largest and most populous continent, is home to many cultures, each with its own characteristic cuisine. Asian cuisine, also known as Eastern cuisine, is considered the "culture of food within a society" due to the beliefs, cooking methods, and the specific ingredients used throughout the entire process. Asian cuisines are also renowned for their spices. A key taste factor in Asian cuisine is “umami” flavor, a strong savoriness prominent in Asian cooking, which can be achieved through fermented food or meat extract.
Pakistani cuisine can be characterized as a blend of regional cooking styles and flavours from across South, Central and West Asia. Pakistani cuisine is influenced by Persian, Indian, and Arab cuisine. The cuisine of Pakistan also maintains certain Mughal influences within its recipes and cooking techniques. Pakistan's ethnic and cultural diversity, diverse climates, geographical environments, and availability of different produce lead to diverse regional cuisines.
Bengali cuisine is the culinary style of Bengal, that comprises Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, and Assam's Karimganj district. The cuisine has been shaped by the region's diverse history and climate. It is known for its varied use of flavours including mustard oil, as well as the spread of its confectioneries and desserts. There is a strong emphasis on rice as a staple, with fish traditionally the most common protein. Freshwater fish are preferred to seafish, although barramundi, known as bhetki, is also common. Meat is also a common protein among Bengalis with chicken, mutton meat being the most popular. Beef is popular within the muslim community. In more recent times, lentils have begun to form a significant part of the diet. Many Bengali food traditions draw from social activities, such as adda, Poila Boishakh and Durga Puja.
Biryani is a mixed rice dish, mainly popular in South Asia. It is mainly made with rice, a choice of meat and lots of seasonings and spices. To cater to vegetarians in some cases, it is prepared by substituting vegetables or paneer for the meat. Sometimes eggs or potatoes are also added.
South Asian cuisine includes the traditional cuisines from the modern-day South Asian republics of Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, also sometimes including the kingdom of Bhutan and the emirate of Afghanistan. Also sometimes known as Desi cuisine, it has been influenced by and also has influenced other Asian cuisines beyond the Indian subcontinent.
Kerala cuisine is a culinary style originated in the Kerala, a state on the southwestern Malabar Coast of India. Kerala cuisine offers a multitude of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes prepared using fish, poultry and red meat with rice as a typical accompaniment. Chillies, curry leaves, coconut, mustard seeds, turmeric, tamarind, asafoetida and other spices are also used in the preparation.
Panta Bhat or Poita Bhat consists of cooked rice soaked and fermented in water. The liquid part is known as Toraṇi. It is a rice-based dish prepared by soaking rice, generally leftover, in water overnight. Traditionally served in the morning with salt, onion, chili and Aloo Makha/Alu Pitika. It is consumed in eastern Indian states of West Bengal, Odisha (Pakhala), Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tripura and in the country of Bangladesh. Panta Bhat with Ilish (Hilsha) is the National Dish of Bangladesh. It is a popular dish on the day of Pahela Baishakh or Bengali new year. It has been described in documents from 17th century. Panta bhat has more micronutrients than fresh rice. It is traditionally considered as beneficial in conditions.
Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed or popularised in the early-modern Indo-Persian cultural centres of the Mughal Empire. It represents a combination of cuisine of the Indian subcontinent with the cooking styles and recipes of Central Asian and Islamic cuisine. Mughlai cuisine is strongly influenced by the Turkic cuisine of Central Asia, the region where the early Mughal emperors originally hailed from, and it has in turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines of Northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Padang dish or Minangkabau dish is the cuisine of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is among the most popular cuisines in Maritime Southeast Asia. It is known across Indonesia as Masakan Padang after Padang, the capital city of Western Sumatra province. It is served in restaurants mostly owned by perantauan (migrating) Minangkabau people in Indonesian cities. Padang food is ubiquitous in Indonesian cities and is popular in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
The Thalassery cuisine refers to the distinct cuisine from Thalassery city of northern Kerala, which has blended in Arabian, Persian, Indian and European styles of cooking as a result of its long history as a maritime trading post.
Mutton curry is a dish that is prepared from goat meat and vegetables. The dish is found in different variations across all states, countries and regions of the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean.
Mughlai paratha is a popular Bengali street food consisting of a flatbread (paratha) wrapped around or stuffed with keema and/or egg. It is believed to have originated in the Bengal Subah during the time of the Mughal Empire as a derivative of the Turkish Gözleme or the Yemeni Motabbaq. The dish is believed to be prepared for the royal court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir.
Akhni is a mixed rice dish with its origins among the Bengali Muslims of Chittagong and Sylhet, in eastern Bangladesh. It is often considered to be a particular variation of biryani or polao. The dish is especially popular in restaurants throughout Bangladesh, as well as among the diaspora across the world. The dish is a staple in Chittagong, where it is said to be consumed every week by the average Chittagonian person. During Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, the dish is popularly eaten at Iftar meals across Sylhet too.
Mezban, locally known as Mejjan is a popular social festival held in the Chittagong region by Bengali Muslims of Bangladesh. Historically Mezban is a traditional regional Bengali feast and nowadays refers to both the regional tradition and the feast that results in common usage. The famous Mezbani meal consisting of steamed white rice and hot beef, usually along with other dishes like 'chonar daal' or curry of mung bean and beef fat chunks, 'nolar kanzi' or beef bone marrow soup, and the kala bhuna or dried beef with onions. The feast is held on occasions such as death anniversary, birth anniversary, launching of a new business, the birth of a child, marriage, aqiqah and circumcision, and ear piercing of girls among others. The invitation of the Mezban ceremony generally remains open for all and various people to different places and neighborhoods convey the invitation for the feast. The invitation cards are printed and distributed among the guests only in urban areas. Usually, the consumption of food at Mezbani takes place from morning to afternoon.
Soft Khichuri, also known as Norom Kisuri is one kind of rice-based meal which is similar in consistency to porridge, a popular dish in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh. It is a traditional food in Sylheti cuisine that is served most dinner tables during the holy month of Ramadan. Being a staple food for iftar, Soft Khichuri at home and Akhni for serving the guest is a tradition of Sylhet. Aromatic rice mixing with various spices including ghee, kalozira and fenugreek to cook Kisuri. There are two types of Soft Khichuri; white soft khichuri (jau/zau) and yellow soft khichuri (kisuri). Chana, Chickpea, piyaju, Bakarkhani, potato chops, egg chops, Beguni, vegetables and leaf pakora, Jalebi, Sharbat, phirni are the side dishes of Sylheti Iftar items. Among the sweetmeats, Sylhet's specialty is Imarti. It is specially made of without any food color for Iftari. Though it looks like jilapi, there is a difference between them in size and taste.
The Old Dhakaites are an Indo-Aryan cultural group viewed as the original inhabitants of Dhaka. They are sometimes referred to as simply Dhakaites or Dhakaiya. Their history dates back to the Mughal period with the migration of Bengali cultivators and North Indian merchants to the city. The Bengali cultivators came to be known as Kutti and they speak Dhakaiya Kutti, a dialect of Bengali and the North Indian merchants came to be known as Khoshbas and they speak Dhakaiya Urdu, a dialect of Urdu. There are sizeable populations in other parts of Bangladesh. They have been described as a wealthy but very closed-off community; evidently being a minority in their own hometown. It is said that some people living in Greater Dhaka are even unaware of the existence of an Urdu-speaking non-Bihari minority community although their presence dates back centuries.
Kala bhuna is a meat curry made of beef or mutton, originated in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Different types of spices are needed to prepare this traditional dish of Chittagong. In Bengali, the word kala or kalo means black and bhuna means Curry. Kala bhuna gets its name from its appearance, as the meat goes blackish during a long process of deep frying it with a plenty of spices. It has become popular also in other Bangladeshi cities like Sylhet, Khulna, Dhaka etc. Nowadays, this dish is also a favorite delicacy in mezbans, weddings, eids and in sehri or iftar during the time of Ramadan. Usually, Kala bhuna is eaten with plain rice, polao, porota, naan or ruti.
Beef Satkara is a part of Bengali cuisine consisting of rice, satkara citrus, and beef curry. Whilst having its origins in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, the dish has now gained popularity across the country and among the British Bangladeshi diaspora in the United Kingdom. At the time of Eid-ul-Adha, it is a famous dish. The presence of a citrus fruit makes the dish unique among Bangladeshi curries in terms of taste and aroma. A soupy variant of the dish is made with the bones of cow feet, and in other variants, the beef is sometimes replaced with fish or other meats.
Indian Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Indian cuisine with local Indonesian-style. This cuisine consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Indonesia. Indian influence can be observed in Indonesia as early as the 4th century. Following the spread of Islam to Indonesia and trading, Muslim Indian as well as Arab influences made their way into Indonesian cuisine. Examples include Indian biryani, murtabak, curry and paratha that influenced Acehnese, Minangkabau, Malay, Palembangese, Betawi and Javanese cuisine.
