Indian Diet

Indian Diet

An Indian diet is eaten by billions of people around the world. Indian cuisine has a reputation as being sophisticated and subtle, using many spices and herbs to flavour the dishes that are grown across India . Indian cuisine is also known for its vegetarian dishes. Indian cuisine one of the worlds most diverse diets.

The main food ingredients in an Indian diet are rice, breads, lentils and beans, vegetables, meats and seafood. Most curries are fried in vegetable oil, though dishes vary across India depending on the region.

Nothern Indian Diet

Northern dishes are known for their use of dairy products (milk, butter and yoghurt). Naan breads and tandoori chicken are often used as well as goat, lamb and other meats. The samosa is a popular Northern snack which can consist of meat, vegetables and potatoes wrapped in pastry. Other than meats including chicken, goat and lamb the main ingredients in Indian dishes are different varieties of lentils, vegetables and roti (wheat bread) kebabs are also popular in the Northern Indian diets.

North Eastern Indian Diet

Northeastern Indian cuisine is influenced mainly by Burma and the Peoples Republic of China . The dishes use less spices that any of the other regions and yak is the main source of meat.

Eastern Indian Diet

Eastern cuisine is known for its desserts and sweet dishes and also for its delights of Posta (poppy seeds). Dishes are typically rich in taste but not spicy. Curries are typically served with plain boiled or spiced rice. Fish is a commonly used ingredient in Eastern dishes; rice is also served with every dish. A typical meal will be made up of a main meat dish, served with many side dishes consisting of vegetables which are either deep-fried or shallow-fried. A vegetarian dish would have fish instead of meat in the main dish.

Southern Indian Diet

Rice is seen as the main staple grain in Southern India , the use of coconut, coconut oils and curry leaves are used in liberal amounts for cooking. Typical Southern Indian dishes include:

 

  • Dosa – a type of crepe made from rice and lentils
  • Poori – bread
  • Idli – a type of savoury cake
  • Vada – a savoury doughnut shaped snack made with dried beans, lentils and potatoes
  • Bonda – a sweet or spicy snack and Bajji (a fried snack). These are often eaten at breakfast time.

Western Indian Diet

There are three main food groups in Western cuisine. Gujarati, Maharashtrian and Goan. The Maharashtrian has two sections; these are determined by the geographical regions.

The coastal region is very dependent upon rice, coconut and fish. The hilly regions of the Western Ghats and the Deccan plateau use groundnuts instead of coconuts and sorghum and millet instead of fish. The Saraswat cuisine plays an important role in Indian cuisine and the Gujarati cuisine is mainly vegetarian dishes which are sweet due to the common use of brown sugar.