From Kashmiri gushtaba, fragrant with saffron to Chettinad chicken fired with black pepper — India’s culinary spread is as varied as its land and people

What you are holding in your hands is a delicious invitation to savour the unique flavours and foods of India. But this is merely an appetiser, because to serve up a full banquet is impossible. Indian food is eclectic, diverse yet distinct, changing its essence and taste as it travels north to south, east to west. Quite simply, there is no one such thing as ‘Indian food’.

Beyond the obvious curry, tandoori, biryani and idli-dosas lies a wealth of fabulous cuisines. While the south uses coconuts in almost every dish, the north will never use them. Mustard seeds are basic to eastern cooking while in the north they use mustard leaves to temper classic vegetable dishes. Like the language, culture and dress that change dramatically as one moves across India, so does the orchestra of spices, cooking mediums and ingredients.

Greeks, Chinese, Arabs, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Persians, Mughals and the British all brought unique edible gifts to India. Way before that, our texts waxed eloquent about food: Ayurveda (the science of life) explained that food is a philosophy. It is a therapy. A way to cure and cherish. Each region is distinct and even within each region there is a mosaic of cooking styles and recipes. Let’s begin at the top and lovingly work our way down and embrace all in between.

India’s crown, Kashmir, is a paradise on earth. Here, stamens of mauve flowers yield fragrant saffron; chillies are an intense red but not pungent and vegetables grow on gardens that float. The aromatic and rich cooking styles of the Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits are waiting to be sampled in this region. From the sheermal to

the bagerichani, the breads are varied and exquisite. By early summer, cherries ripen, mulberry trees release their sweet fruit, but at all times the traditional banquet of Kashmiri Muslims, the wazwan, is a must-eat.

In the Valley, rice is the staple and lamb or goat meat and chicken form the basis of many famous dishes like the gushtaba — spiced meat pounded into meltingly, firm meatballs and gently cooked in a yoghurt sauce — and the well-loved rogan josh and the nadru yakhni made with lotus roots.

‘God’s own country’ Kerala, snuggles in India’s mermaid-like tail. Each of its three cuisines — Syrian Christian, Mapla Muslim and Hindu — is distinct, though they all draw upon the abundant spices, coconut, rice and seafood. Appams — rice flour pancakes with toddy and coconut milk ingredients — their soft spongy centres and thin, Lacey edges perfectly partner gravy dishes like ishtewor stew (meat and potatoes simmered gently in a creamy, peppery white sauce). In the elaborate, multi-course, vegetarian Sadya feast, it is the avial, a happy blend of vegetables, coconut paste and green chillies, which rules while Mapla Muslim food is known by biryani, rice flour pancakes or pathris and rich kormalike dishes. In this land of oceans, lagoons and backwaters one can find fish of every kind — my favourite is the freshwater Karimeen.

And when I think of Goa my thoughts are invariably centred on fresh seafood, succulent pork, soft saunas and poee. Blame it on Alfonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese couldn’t quite conquer India but succeeded in influencing Goan food. So we have vinegary, spicy pastes, common to Goan Catholic cooking and the famous export, hot, spicy vindaloo. The bounty of the sea spills into the beach shacks that dot the red state’s coastline. Give me Pomfret stuffed with Recheado masala (a combination of red chillies, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, onion, garlic, ginger and vinegar) any day.

Intrinsic

Food is intrinsic to the ethos of India, so much so that even the flag of the ancient princely state of Hyderabad had a kulcha (a flatbread made from flour) embroidered on it. When in the city, walk to the Charminar, the heart of the Muslim city, and explore the food stalls that offer achaar gosht, nihari (a rich broth made by simmering goat’s trotters), haleem (a wheat porridge cooked with meat and spices) and kache gosht ki biryani. For dessert try the khubani ka meetha (stewed dried apricots topped with a dollop of cream) or the dubble ka meetha (a rich bread pudding).

Lucknow, capital of the ancient kingdom of Awadh, gifts us dum pukht, a Nawabi cuisine that distils the spirit of extravagance and graciousness, and irony of ironies, owes its existence to a famine. Over 200 years ago, when faced with a famine and unemployment, Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah ordered the construction of Bara Imambara; enormous containers were filled with rice, meat and spices, placed on hot coals and sealed to ensure that hot food was available day and night to the people working on the project, which came to be known as biryani. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah refined Lucknawi cuisine: from slow-cooked mutton chops, Nucklawi dum ki chaanp to kakori kebab (a mutton kebab with the consistency and texture of soft butter) and galouti kebab (with a meltin-the-mouth softness made for toothless nawabs) to fragrant biryani. In Lucknow, I’ve had the most delicious kormas, koftas, kalias and kebabs — the most famous made by the heirs of Tunde kebabchi, off the streets.

Sweet

Varanasi (also known as Benares) gifts us nimish, a magical sweet, delicate as a baby’s breath, divine and light as the food of the gods. Milk is left out at night to soak in dew and moonlight; the next day its froth is collected, gently sweetened and spiked with cardamom and eaten.

The city seduces you with delicate and gentle flavours of vegetarian food, be it tamater ki chaat, bharela karela, chiwra mutter ki khichdi and rasedar sabzi. Fragrant pulaos, raita, pooris and the Benaresi paan complete the experience. The Kachori gall in Benares is famous for methi-stuffed kachoris eaten with ghugni (black chickpeas tempered with mustard and cumin seeds) or aloo bhaji (fried potatoes) spiked with cumin, amchur(dried mango powder) and ginger.

From the hardy state of Punjab comes the tandoori chicken — a joke labels it as the national bird of India — made in a clay tandoor with its wraparound heat. Along with butter chicken, which is said to have originated in Delhi’s Moti Mahal restaurant, chicken tikkas and curry, it is one of our most popular exports. The most famous winter delicacy in Punjab, gift of the rolling green mustard fields, is sarson da saag and makke di roti made with ground corn.