Indian cookbooks are cookbooks written in India, or about Indian cooking. Some of the oldest cookbooks were written in India[1] Indian cooking varies regionally and has evolved over the centuries due to various influences. Vegetarianism has made a significant impact on Indian cooking.[2] Spices play a major role in Indian cooking.[3]
Left: Ayurvedic texts classifies rice varieties into 14 types of Śāli and different ways to cook them. Right: Yusha (lentil- dish) in ancient Ayurvedic texts was staple Dal dish.[4]
Examples of dishes that finds mentioned in ancient and medieval period cookbooks and are part of modern Indian tradition; clockwise from top left: Kachori, Mithai (confectioneries), Dhokla, Modak, Chakli, Sevai.[5]
The 12th-century Manasollasa describes foods that continue to be part of modern Indian tradition. Above clockwise from top left in Sanskrit: Dosaka (Dosa), Iddarika and Vataka (Idli and vada), Parika (pakoda) and Kshiravata (Dahi vada).[6][7]
Ayurvedic texts classifies food into three categories, namely; Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic foods. Tastes (rasa) is classified into six types known as Shadrasa according to their qualities for ideal meal. These six tastes include; sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent. Traditional meal presentation often includes all six of these flavors.[8][9] Several Samhitas from Ayurveda texts describes and discusses methods to cook food, it mentions recipes for cooking rice in different ways, Tāpaharī (seasoned-rice dish), Khichadi (rice-lentil dish), Takra (curd dish), Yusha (lentil dish), Vesavara (minced meat dish), different methods to cook grains, pulses, meats, milk products, vegetables, fruits, leafy greens, roots, oils, sugarcane products to prepare foods.[10] It describes varieties of meat recipes such as; the Ullupta (minced meat dish), Bharjita (fried), Pishta (made into balls or pattie), Pratapta (roasted with clarified butter over a charcoal fire), Kandupachita (dipped in mustard oil and powdered aromatic condiments and roasted and done to a honey colour over a charcoal fire), Parishushka and Pradigdha go by the general name of Shulya (meat cooked over charcoal fire), among others.[11]
Among spice blends, it lists "Trikatu"; mixture of long pepper, black pepper, dried ginger. "Trijataka"; mixture of cinnamomum tamala, cardamoms, cinnamon. "Pancakola"; long pepper, long-pepper roots, piper chaba, plumbago zeylanica, dry ginger. These spice blends are mentioned alongside turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried mango, mustard seeds, and edible champor.[12] These spice blends also appear in medieval cookbooks by the same name.[13]
A chapter in Sushruta Samhita is dedicated to dining etiquette, method of serving food and proper placement of each dish before the diner.[14] This dining and serving etiquette is also adopted in medieval cookbooks with some variations.[13]
Sangam literature (3rd century BCE to c. 3rd century CE)
Sangam literature offers references to food and recipes during Sangam era, whether it's a feast at king's palace, meals in towns and countryside, at hamlets in forests and the rest-houses during travels. It describes the cuisine of various landscapes and people who reside there, how they prepared food, and what they served their guests in details. Poet Avvaiyar for example describes her hearty summer lunch as "steamed rice, smoked and mashed aubergine and tangy frothy buttermilk", while poet named Mudathama Kanniyar describes "Skewered goat meat, crispy fried vegetables, rice and over 16 varieties of dishes" as part of the royal lunch he was treated to in the palace of the Chola king.[15]
Lokopakara (1025 CE)
Written by Chavundaraya, this cookbook is compilation of vegetarian recipes. It deals with methods of cooking rice, lentils, pulses, barely, wheat, vegetables, leafy greens, shoots, roots, and flowers. Different methods of using spices and making blends for recipes. Cookwares and different uses for them for different recipes. Preservation of food and fruits to make pickles and papad. Methods of making butter, ghee and different ways to season them. Ingredient substitutions. A chapter is also dedicated to making flavored yogurts and coagulated buffalo milk cheese for sweets. Sweets made from rice flour. Last chapter is dedicated to refreshments made from different types of fruits and ways to season them.[13]
Women having traditional meal from Thali, ca. 1712Men having traditional meal from Pattal, ca. 1712
This notable text was compiled during the rule of Chalukya king Someshvara III in the 1130CE, and contains recipes of vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines. It also contains a range of cuisines based on fermentation of cereals and flours.[6][16] Among meat dishes, the text describes cuisines based on pork, venison, goat meat, wild fowls and fish among others.[17] It has been suggested that Vaddaradhane, the Kannada text of Jain Acharya Sivakoti written in 920 CE, the mention of iddalige may be the earliest mention of Idali, followed by Manasollasa.[18] This text also has a chapter dedicated to brewing various types of liquor beverages.[19]
Pakadarpana (1200 CE)
This recipe book deals with culinary art, this text is also known as Pākadarpaṇam, Pākaśāstra, Pākakalā, Nalapāka — It consists of 11 chapters known as Prakaraṇas. It lists both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food preparation. It provides details about several methods of cooking rice, meat, legumes, pulses, vegetables, fruits, refreshments, beverages and milk products. Among non-vegetarian rice preparations it includes several different kinds of Maṁsodana/Maṁsānna (meat rice), lāvaka maṁsodana (sparrow meat rice), and kukkuṭa maṁsodana (chicken rice) etc. Methods of preparing food according to seasons, seasoning food with spices according to season. Various vegetables prepared using different parts of the plants have been explained in the text. The method of sūpa (dehusked legumes cooked) preparation has been explained, horse gram (dolichos biflorus), black gram (vigna mungo), cow peas (vigna unguiculata), and chickpea (vicer arietinum) etc. Several Pānaka (refreshment) preparations made from mango, lemon, kokum, flowers and berries. Sweets made from milk products such as various types of flavored milk, flavored butter milk, pasyasam and flavored yogurts etc.[20]
Soopa Shastra (1508 CE)
Written by Mangarasa III, a follower of Jainism, this book is exclusively vegetarian. The ingredients and cooking methods are given detail, and even the types of utensils and ovens needed are mentioned. King Mangarasa III belonged to the Chengalvu dynasty, and was under the suzerainty of Hoysala kings The first chapter describes thirty five breads, sweets and snacks, now mostly obsolete. The second chapter describes drinks, salty, sour and sweet in taste. Third chapter discusses nine types of payasa (kheer), eight types of cooked rice and 24 mixed rice dishes. The remaining three chapters include recipes for 20 dishes with eggplant, 16 dishes with jackfruit and 25 dishes made with raw bananas (plantains) and banana flowers. The last chapter contains recipes using bamboo shoots and myrobalan.[21] Even though it was composed during the rule of a Jain ruler, some of the vegetarian ingredients mentioned, such as onions, are regarded inappropriate for strict Jains.
In the chapter, Pishtakadhyaya, food items made with flour like rotti (Roti), mandige, garige, dose (Dosa), iddali (Idli) have been mentioned. Ancient Kannada poetry has used the term 'rotika' even earlier.[22]
Kshemakutuhala (1549 CE)
Written by Ksemasarma, this cookbook deals with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes. Among non-vegetarian recipes it includes meat of boar, lamb, goat, venison, rabbit, wild and domesticated pigs, game birds, peacocks, fish and tortoise. It lists nine methods of cooking meat. Different methods of cooking rice, pulses and lentils. Spice mixtures and adding them at different points while cooking. Cookwares and their methods of use for different recipes. Milk products, their preparation and making sweets. Longest chapter is dedicated to edible vegetables, leafy greens, flowers, fruits, stalks, bulbs and roots and various methods of cooking them. Last chapter is dedicated to refreshments.[23]
Bhojana Kutuhala (1675 CE)
Written by Raghunatha[24] between 1675 and 1700, Bhojana Kutuhala describes numerous ingredients and dishes then common in the Maharashtra region. The text compiles knowledge about food and cooking described in the Sanskrit texts from the ancient period (up to 5th cent. CE) and the medieval period (5th cent. CE to 17th cent. CE). The second chapter is a historical study of dietetics and culinary art. The treatises like Kṣemakutūhala of Kṣemaśarman and Pākadarpaṇa of Naḷa which discuss exclusively the topics dietetics and culinary art are introduced in the third chapter. The sixth chapter mainly discusses the preparations of various dishes as explained in the Siddhānnaprakaraṇa. The last chapter is a resume of the study comprising discussions and observations.
Bhojana Kutuhala records and credits many earlier culinary cookbooks like "Pākādhikāra of Vaidaksara", "Takravidhi of Rudrayāmala", "Bhimabhojanakutuhala of Vaidyadesika", "Rucivadhugalaratnamala of Paraparnava", "Tambulakapasamgraha of Narasimhabhatta", "Vyañjanavarga of Suṣeṇa", "Pakadhikarana", "Kriradiprakarana", "Vastugunahuna", "Sakaguna", "Annapanavidhi", "Takrapanavidhi", "Pakamartanda", "Vividha Pakabhasmatailadiniramana", "Yogacintamani", "Takrakalpa", "Tambulamanjari" and "Pakavali". Among important treatises it mentions "Paroygaparijata", "Kriyasara Vaidyakasabdasindhu", "Hrdayadipaand Vyanjanavarga". The majority of these have not been published in English, while those that have been published lack critical studies.[25]
Sivatattva Ratnakara (1699 CE)
This work by Basava Bhoopāla is an encyclopedic treatise in Sanskrit. The sixth chapter in this text is dedicated to culinary art, it is an extensive chapter containing twenty seven subdivisions known as tarangas. This chapter deals with kitchen and how it should be built, different types of stoves, organizing kitchen, kitchen implements and how to make them, cooking utensils and types of pots and pans and their benefits. Describes types of rice and different methods of cooking rice, mixed rice recipes, contains both vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes, confectioneries made from dairy products, and refreshments.[26]
Sultanate and Mughal period cookbooks
Samosas being prepared for the Sultan Ghiyath al-Din, the Sultan of Mandu. The Ni'matnama-i Nasir al-Din Shah, 1495-1505Babur at Dastarkhan, Mughal painting, 1590 CE.
The Ni'matnama is a collection of the recipes written during the rule of Malwa Sultanate, Ghiyath Shahi, and his son and successor, Nasir Shah. It contains recipes for cooking as well as providing remedies and aphrodisiacs.[28] It also includes a sections on the preparation of betel leaves.[29] Unique pickles made from edible flowers are also mentioned in Ni'matnama cookbook.[30] It includes recipes for preparation of minced meat (qīma), samosas, halva, sherbets.[31]
Ain-i-Akbari (1590)
The first book of Ain-i-Akbari (the third volume of the Akbarnama), written in 1590, gives several recipes, mainly those prevailing among the Mughal elite.[32] Ain-i-Akbari divides recipes into three categories of Sufiyana; meat-free dishes, meat-and-rice dishes, and meats cooked with spices.[33]
Alwan-e-Nemat (17th-century)
A book of 101 recipes from the kitchen of Mughal emperor Jahangir.[34][35] A chapter in Alwan-e-Nemat cookbook is also dedicated to dining etiquette. It describes method to lay out Dastarkhan, with leather mat spread over the ornate carpet to protect it, and then cloth spread over the mat before arranging prepared foods at the center. They ate together from large common plates similar to their Central Asian custom.[36][37]
Curry as known today emerged during this period when New World ingredients like chili peppers and tomato became popular.
The British rule saw publication of several cookbooks, some intended for the British elite, others for locals, often in languages like Gujarati, Bangla and Hindi. These include
Recipes-Of-All-Nations 1923, Countess Morphy, has an Indian section which mentions gulgula, Halwa and khoa etc.
Pak Chandrika, Maniram Sharma 1929, Hindi
Indian Cookery, Veeraswamy 1930s, who established the oldest existing Indian restaurant in England.
Vrahad Pak Vigyan, Pandit Nrisinghram, 1939, Hindi
Navin-Pak shastra
"English vegetables" (cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, turnip etc.) as they were at one time termed, became common.[43]
Vrahad Pak Vigyan cookbook (1939) in Hindi has a special section on "Angreji" (i.e. English) cooking that includes biscuits, breads ("double-roti"), tomato and mushroom dishes in addition to meat/egg (termed "non-vegetarian" in India) dishes.
During freedom struggle and after Indian independence
Dalda Cookbook, 1949? [44] An illustrated best seller published in English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali by Dalda Advisory Service. Its Pakistani counterpart is still being published.
With large scale migration of Indians to North America, and with arrival of international influence in India, a new set of cookbook authors emerged.
An Invitation to Indian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey, (1973),[47] who has since then written a series of popular cook books.
Classic Indian Cooking, by Julie Sahni, 1980, she is the founder of the Indian Cooking School, established 1973 in New York City.[48]
Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking Hardcover, Yamuna Devi, 1987
With the advent of TV and the internet, new food authors have emerged in the past few decades. There is significant international influence because International travel has become common. These include
The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking, Tarla Dalal, 1974, followed by 170 other cookbook titles.
Curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.
A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to enable dishes unique to a region.
Gravy is a topping or sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes. Powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts. Canned and instant gravies are also available. Gravy is commonly served with roasts, meatloaf, rice, noodles, chips (fries), mashed potatoes, or biscuits.
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.
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 1,300 ethnic groups.
Thali or Bhojanam is a round platter used to serve food in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Thali is also used to refer to an Indian-style meal made up of a selection of various dishes which are served on a platter. Thali is also used in south Asia for ceremonial purposes.
Pilaf or pilau is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some technique for achieving cooked grains that do not adhere to each other.
Korma or qorma is a dish originating in the Indian subcontinent, consisting of meat or vegetables braised with yogurt (dahi), water or stock, and spices to produce a thick sauce or gravy.
Arab cuisine is the cuisine of the Arab world, defined as the various regional cuisines of the Arab people, spanning from the Maghreb to the Mashriq. These cuisines are centuries old and reflect the culture of trading in ingredients, spices, herbs, and commodities. The regions have many similarities, but also unique traditions. They have also been influenced by climate, cultivation, and mutual commerce.
Mithai (sweets) are the confectionery and desserts of the Indian subcontinent. Thousands of dedicated shops in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka sell nothing but sweets.
Maharashtrian or Marathicuisine is the cuisine of the Marathi people from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It has distinctive attributes, while sharing much with other Indian cuisines. Traditionally, Maharashtrians have considered their food to be more austere than others.
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.
Sindhi cuisine refers to the distinct native cuisine of the Sindhi people from Sindh, Pakistan. Sindhi cuisine has been influenced by Central Asian, Iranian, Mughal food traditions. It is mostly a non-vegetarian cuisine, with even Sindhi Hindus widely accepting of meat consumption. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of wheat-based flat-bread (phulka) and rice accompanied by two dishes, one gravy and one dry with curd, papad or pickle. Freshwater fish and a wide variety of vegetables are usually used in Sindhi cuisine. Restaurants specializing in Sindhi cuisine are rare, although it is found at truck stops in rural areas of Sindh province, and in a few restaurants in urban Sindh.
South Indian cuisine includes the cuisines of the five southern states of India—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana—and the union territories of Lakshadweep, Pondicherry, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There are typically vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes for all five states. Additionally, all regions have typical main dishes, snacks, light meals, desserts, and drinks that are well known in their respective region.
Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its continuation in the cuisines of Turkey, the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East and Northern Africa.
Hyderabadi cuisine, also known as Deccani cuisine, is the native cooking style of the Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The haute cuisine of Hyderabad began to develop after the foundation of the Bahmani Sultanate, and the Qutb Shahi dynasty centered in the city of Hyderabad promoted the native cuisine along with their own. Hyderabadi cuisine had become a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad as it began to further develop under their patronage.
Konkani cuisine is the cuisine of the Saraswat Brahmins from the Konkan region on the western coast of India. Konkani cuisine differs within the Saraswat Brahmin subsects and within the Konkan-Canara region. Konkani cuisine originally hails from the Konkan region including Uttara Kannada, Udupi district, Dakshina Kannada, Damaon, and Goa, India. Konkani cuisine is popular served in many restaurants throughout the western coast of India, and especially in the cities of Bombay and Bangalore. Each variation has its unique flavour and makes uses of different vegetables and fruits available in the region. Konkani cuisine is usually pesco-vegetarian, except acharyas and purohits who follow a strictly saatvik vegetarian diet. According the Konkani folklore, fish, meats are regarded as sea vegetables. Historically, they have refrained from eating any terrestrial animals in general.
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.
Bihari cuisine is eaten mainly in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, as well as in the places where people originating from the state of Bihar have settled: Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, South Africa, Fiji, some cities of Pakistan, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Jamaica, and the Caribbean. Bihari cuisine includes Angika cuisine, Bhojpuri cuisine, Maithil cuisine and Magahi cuisine.
The Thalassery cuisine refers to the distinct cuisine from Thalassery town 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.
↑ Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India, pg171, Colleen Taylor Sen · 2015
↑ Gode, P. K. (1941). "A Topical Analysis of the Bhojana-kutuhala, a Work on Dietetics, composed by Raghunatha — Between A. D. 1675 and 1700". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 22 (3/4): 254–263. JSTOR43975952.
↑ "Dietetics and culinary art in ancient and medieval India - A study with special reference to bhojanakutíhala"- Chapter 1, pages 2-4. Department of Sanskrit, University of Calicut, 2016.
↑ Appadurai, Arjun (January 1988). "How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 30 (1): 3–24. doi:10.1017/S0010417500015024. S2CID55081853.
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