India is the perfect backdrop for chefs looking for an inspirational playground with the timeless culinary kaleidoscope of historical, religious and geographical influences. Throughout its history, India has been invaded by armies, traders and immigrants from all over the world, all adding culinary spectrum to India’s cuisine. The diverse geographical regions also provide a plethora of different cooking customs and nuances interspersed throughout the country’s many climates. Also adding to the complexity of India’s cuisine is the deep-rooted and profound influence religion has on how and what people eat.

India’s history underwent many significant invasions including the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Mogul invaders in the 16th century introduced meat and rice dishes to India. The regions of India with the longest history of their presence exhibit a strong Persian influence, using fresh and dried fruit, cashews, pistachios and almonds in their meat dishes, as well as many dairy products. Portuguese rulers brought chilies and the more recent rulers from Britain, in the 18th and 19th centuries, had an influence on chutney development. These were the major invasions, but there were also smaller conflicts which impacted the way Indians eat by Bactrian, Mongol, Scythian, Parthian, Kushan, Hun, Arab, Turk, Afghan, and the Dutch.

The cuisine of southern India with its Hindu practice of vegetarianism, is considered a traditional style which incorporates fresh cooked vegetables and strong spices with dishes becoming hotter closer to the equator. Rice is the predominant crop in the south followed by pulses (the dried seeds of any of several legumes including beans, peas, and lentils) seafood and tropical fruits. The food is mostly steamed and they prefer to start with their spices whole and grind them into a paste with cooked onions. Cooks in the tropical south make heavy use of coconut milk, an ingredient rarely seen in the North. In the jungle regions of India tropical fruits such as coconuts, guava, papaya, bananas and mangoes grow plentifully. Close to the Himalayas, in the mountainous north where the weather is temperate, wheat is the predominant grain followed by corn and nuts. Lamb and other meat dishes here can be extravagant. The food is mostly cooked in oil and they tend to grind their spices to a fine powder. Both India’s east and west coasts border the waters of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean offering plentiful bounties of fish and crustaceans.

The diversity and pervasive role religion plays in Indian society has shaped and influenced what and how people eat from region to region. For centuries, the practice of Hinduism, with its belief in reincarnation has resulted in very refined vegetarian cuisine. They rely on legumes; both whole and split for protein, mixed with grain and a variety of vegetables flavored with intense spice mixtures to provide a wholesome diet. The Brahmins and other members of the merchant caste observe strict vegetarian rules, while people in other castes eat meat. Hinduism, on the other hand, takes an active role in deciding what types of animals people can eat. Killing cows for beef is strictly prohibited because Hindus realized from ancient times the life-giving role cows played in their society, producing dairy products, pulling the plows in the fields as well as providing fertilizer for crops. They rely on the meats from goat, lamb and chicken. The Muslims who conquered a large area of India in the 12th century did not have many dietary restrictions with the exception of pork and the consumption of alcohol. They brought a vast array of dishes with them. Most notably; kabobs, kormas, briyani (rice with meats) and items prepared in the one-thousand degree tandoori oven which can cook bread, fish and meat in seconds.

Though every region of India has its own diverse cooking style, there are still several threads of similarity that bind Indian cuisine together, the intense combination of spices known as Masalas. This is a word used throughout India to describe a spice blend with a myriad of combinations. It can refer to a simple combination of two or three spices or a complex blend of 10 or more ingredients. The principal spice combination is known as Garam Masala having countless variations depending on the cook and the dish being seasoned. Whether they are whole, ground, roasted or stewed, the use of spices marks a unifying characteristic of an otherwise highly diverse culture. It is the only place in the world that incorporates this breadth of flavors into its meals.

Indian cooking makes use of more dairy products, including milk, cream, yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream and cheese, than anywhere else in Asia. Unleavened or flat bread is also a dietary staple of all the regions of India. The breads are made from wheat, rice and ground legumes, depending on the part of the country. During meals, most Indians still prefer sitting on a straw mat on the kitchen floor, generally eating with their fingers. The foundation of an Indian meal is a grain eaten with a pulse, vegetable and a fish, meat or poultry. The dishes are seasoned with custom spice blends, clarified butter, chutneys, savory pickles and yogurt based salads. Also served with meals is unleavened bread and a sweet milk-based dessert usually completes the meal.

In the United States, Indian food is gaining popularity as a cuisine of intense and unique flavors. Chefs across the country are using the spices and techniques to add complexity to Western dishes while others are cooking authentic Indian cuisine in restaurants in most metropolitan areas. These include; Oona Settembre, Corporate Executive Chef of Dave and Buster’s in Dallas, Texas, RoxSand Scocos, Executive Chef/Owner of RoxSand in Phoenix, Arizona and Raghan Iyer, owner of the Essences of Thyme in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have been cooking authentic and fusion Indian dishes in their own restaurants and have won recognition from the most prestigious culinary institutions in the country.