Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in the Indus valley. It is commonly used in cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, Middle Eastern cuisine, traditional medicine, and religious rituals.
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.
Pakistani cuisine can be characterized by a blend of various regional cooking traditions from the Indian subcontinent, Central and Western Asia, as well as elements from its Mughal legacy. The country's various cuisines are derived from its ethnic and cultural diversity.
Bengali cuisine is the culinary style of Bengal, a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent encompassing Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley. The cuisine has been shaped by the region's diverse history and climate. It is known for its varied use of flavours, as well as the spread of its confectioneries and desserts. Bengali cuisine has the only traditionally developed multi-course custom in the South Asia that is analogous in structure to the modern service à la russe style of French cuisine, with food served in courses rather than all at once. There is a strong emphasis on rice as a staple, served with fish, meat, vegetables, and lentils. Many Bengali food traditions draw from social activities, such as adda, or the Mezban.
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.
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.
Biryani (/bɜːrˈjɑːni/) is a mixed rice dish originating among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is made with Indian spices, rice, either with meat, or eggs or vegetables such as potatoes.
Cuisine of the Indian subcontinent includes the cuisines from the Indian subcontinent comprising the traditional cuisines from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Bangladeshi cuisine is the national cuisine of Bangladesh. Bangladeshi cuisine has been shaped by the diverse history and river-line geography of Bangladesh. The country has a tropical monsoon climate.
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.
Indian breads are a wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Their variation reflects the diversity of Indian culture and food habits.
Shami kabab or shaami kabab, is a local variety of kebab, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is part of the a popular dish in modern-day Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisines. It is composed of a small patty of minced meat, generally beef, but occasionally lamb or mutton, with ground chickpeas, egg to hold it together, and spices. Shami kebab is eaten as a snack or an appetizer, and is served to guests especially in the regions of Dhaka, Deccan, Punjab, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Sindh.
Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed in the medieval 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.
Bakarkhani or Baqarkhani, also known as bakar khani roti, is a thick, spiced flat-bread Bangladeshi snack that is part of the Mughlai cuisine. Bakarkhani is prepared on certain Muslim religious festivals and is now popular as sweet bread.
Awadhi cuisine is a cuisine native to the Awadh region in Northern India. The cooking patterns of Lucknow are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India with the cuisine comprising both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. The Awadh region has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and the cuisine of Lucknow bears similarities to those of Central Asia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad. The city is also known for its Nawabi foods.
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.
Mughlai paratha is a popular Bengali street food which is believed to have originated in Bengal Subah during the time of Mughal Empire. The dish is believed to be prepared for the royal court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir. It can be a soft fried bread enhanced by a stuffing of keema, egg, onions and pepper; or a paratha stuffed with the same or similar ingredients.
Paratha is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, prevalent throughout the modern-day nations of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago where wheat is the traditional staple. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta, which literally means layers of cooked dough. Alternative spellings and names include parantha, parauntha, prontha, parontay, paronthi (Punjabi), porota, paratha, palata, porotha, forota, farata, roti canai, prata, paratha, buss-up shut, oil roti.
The Old Dhakaites are an Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group viewed as the original inhabitants of Dhaka. They are sometimes referred to as simply Dhakaiya. Their history dates back to the Mughal period with the migration of Bengali cultivators and merchants to the city. The cultivators came to be known as Kutti and they speak Dhakaiya Kutti, a dialect of Bengali and the merchants came to be known as Khoshbas and speak Dhakaiya Urdu. There are sizeable populations in other parts of Bangladesh. The Dhakaiyas maintain a distinct identity in addition to their Bengali identity, due to cultural, linguistic, geographical and historical reasons. 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.
Sylheti cuisine represents the food culture of Sylhetis. Hatkora is a common fruit and used to cook different dishes with fish and meat. Enriched with Vitamin C and antioxidants, Hatkora curry is best eaten with rice. Though Sylhetis are mainly rice and fish eaters, their culinary system is distinctly different to non-Sylhetis. Multicultural people of Barak Valley to Surma valley, and the Sylheti diaspora have influenced the Sylheti food and flavours practiced for ages. Among them, the culinary system of Khasi, Kuki and other tribes are noteworthy. The cuisine of Sylhet has grown up depending on the availability of plants and animals in the region. Mainly indigenous with some variety, food culture is performed among the Sylhetis that received some external influences as well. When the 360 disciples of Shah Jalal arrived in this region, they not only brought their distinct cultures but also brought distinct cooking styles of their own. Which included many meat dishes along with chicken, beef and goat cooked Mughlai, Middle-Eastern, and Northern Indian style. Mughlai Porota, Pilau, Korma, Kalia, Roast, Biriyani and Kofta for curry dishes while Zardah, Firni and Kheer for desserts have been also included.
