One of the most variant cuisines in the world is that of India. Spread across the length and breadth of country are the innumerable cultures, with their varied dishes. One of the common aspects of Indian food recipes is the spices that are used. Even though the spices are common, yet the food tastes so differently. These recipes are easy to prepare, in fact not too time consuming, as long as all the ingredients are put together.
Vegetarians around the world prefer Indian recipes, as there is so much more variety. For each vegetable there are at least seven to eight variable ways of preparing them. And with each recipe the vegetable tastes altogether different. It is considered as healthy food, as a number of vegetables can be cooked together, along with a serving of lentils and pulses. A complete meal is a wholesome meal.
For those who cannot eat very spicy food, there are some bland recipes, with slightest bit of spices that is added to bring flavor and taste to the food. Also, a meal is considered completely ready to serve and eat only once it is garnished with finely only adds taste to the food. One more dish on the table is the curds in form of raita. This is a side dish wherein the curds a are thinned and some vegetable or the other is added, along with salt and garnished with sprinkled spices.
There are also a number of sweets that are a part of the recipes of India. In fact, every place in the country has its own specialty sweets. And so people visiting friends and relatives living in a different city or town usually carry sweets with them. This is considered as auspicious.
When one thinks about Indian food the first thing that comes to mind are the curries. In fact, people in the world may not be aware of the various vegetable dishes that are made across the length and breadth of the country, but they definitely know about the curries of India. A proof of this is the number of restaurants serving this dish, as a specialty cuisine. World leaders have traveled to India and as part of the menu request is a variety of the curries made here.
In the coastal regions one would normally get to eat the coconut based curries. One can eat a plain coconut curry with rice, or then toss in the vegetables they like. This is simple to prepare. In the northern regions the Indian curry recipes are rather thick with cream and selective vegetables, especially potato and brinjal and carrot. Down south they are rather watery and tomato based, with some places serving coconut-milk based curries.
The curries can be eaten with a portion of rice, or with some bread or then simply had like one would sip a cup of soup. In south India, a curry known as rasam is had as a digestive after meals. In states such as Punjab and Gurjarat one would get to have curds curry. The Gujaratis’ have it slightly sweetened-cum-spicy and the Punjabis prefer it simply spicy with some bhajiyas thrown in.
The interesting part about the Indian curry recipes is that though they have the same ingredients put in, yet there is no common taste. Like most mother’s insist – “It’s all about the hand that cooks the food with all the love in the heart that makes the curry as delicious as it is’.
The variety of vegetable recipes in the Indian cuisine books are mind-boggling and the interesting part is that that even though there are numerous recipes brought down through the eras, yet contemporary food specialists have been able to provide more variety on the food map. And usually people think that vegetarianism can be boring, but the Indian recipes prove otherwise.
Firstly in India there are a variety of vegetables. So apart from the seasonal ones, there are those available all year through. There are also those that are imported and blended into the Indian dishes such as broccoli, asparagus, yellow and red bell peppers, etc. These can be used individually, or then blended in with a couple other vegetables. For instance, a tomato curry can have some broccoli and carrots floating in with some boiled potato.
The Indian vegetable recipes include the rice dishes, the dry and gravy recipes, the curries, the stuffed Indian breads known as parathas, as well as the appetizers. There are also the Indian vegetable soup recipes that can be served before the appetizers, or along with them.
One can source out Indian vegetarian recipes from various cookbooks. One can also learn the recipes from the various cookery shows hosted by renowned chefs of India. They not only show how to prepare the conventional dishes, but also innovative recipes that they have created and popularized at their hotels or restaurants.