The Great Indian Food Symphony

Cuisines from different regions of our country are like musical notes that create a mesmerizing melody

- Pushpesh Pant

THE POLITICAL MAP of India demarcating different states— carved out on a linguistic basis, strategic reasons or political expediency—isn’t perhaps the best prism to appreciate the colourful spectrum of Indian cuisines. A better access to this resplendent inheritance is provided by the concept of ‘zones of taste’ roughly corresponding to the geographical regions celebrated in our national anthem: “Punjaba, Sindhu, Gujarata, Maratha, Dravida, Utkala, Banga”, and so on. India’s identity, its gastronomic footprint, can’t be confined by boundaries drawn by man.

The diversity of streams that have intermingled to create a delightful confluence, resembling a great river system, is remarkable. It is futile to look for a mainstream or to arrange cuisines of different regions in a hierarchy. For millennia, ingredients and influences (cooking techniques) have travelled across the length and breadth of this land with intrepid traders, soldiers of fortune, marching armies, pilgrims and scholars. The Indian genius lies in imbibing diverse influences without losing its own moorings. India is no ‘melting pot’ homogenizing all that is put in it; Indian foods from different regions are best seen like musical notes that contribute to a mesmerizing melody.

The zones of taste are easily identified by the staple cereals: rice, wheat or millets; preferred cooking mediums— mustard, sesame, peanut or coconut oil; most popular souring and sweetening agents. Using these ‘filters’, we will discover that the food footprint of any state extends to the adjacent districts of its neighbouring state.

While it may appear that food reinforces separate identities, at times leading to discord, a closer look reveals that the strength of our socio-cultural fabric is strengthened by the diversity of threads with which this rich tapestry is woven. Saffron from Kashmir is used to prepare