History of Indian cuisine: Difference between revisions

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{{Indian cuisine}}
{{Culture of India}}
{{About|the culinary history of the [[Indian subcontinent]] with [[India]] in focus prior to the [[partition of India]] in 1947|the modern Republic of India|Indian cuisine|[[Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]] in focus|Pakistani cuisine|and|Bangladeshi cuisine}}
{{About|the culinary history of the [[Indian subcontinent]] with [[India]] in focus prior to the [[partition of India]] in 1947|the modern Republic of India|Indian cuisine|[[Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]] in focus|Pakistani cuisine|and|Bangladeshi cuisine}}
{{short description|Aspect of history}}
{{Short description|none}}
The '''history of Indian cuisine''' consists of [[cuisine from the Indian subcontinent]], which is rich and diverse. The diverse climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily available to the many schools of cookery in India. In many cases, food has become a marker of religious and social identity, with varying taboos and preferences (for instance, a segment of the [[Jainism|Jain]] population consume no roots or subterranean vegetable; see [[Jain vegetarianism]]) which has also driven these groups to innovate extensively with the food sources that are deemed acceptable.
The '''history of Indian cuisine''' consists of cuisine of the [[Indian subcontinent]], which is rich and diverse. The diverse climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily available to the many schools of cookery in India. In many cases, food has become a marker of religious and social identity, with varying taboos and preferences (for instance, a segment of the [[Jainism|Jain]] population consume no roots or subterranean vegetable; see [[Jain vegetarianism]]) which has also driven these groups to innovate extensively with the food sources that are deemed acceptable.


One strong influence over Indian foods is the longstanding [[vegetarianism]] within sections of [[India]]'s [[Hinduism|Hindu]] and Jain communities. At 31%, slightly less than a third of Indians are vegetarians.<ref name="JT_Thakrar_2007-04-22">{{cite news |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070422x4.html |title=Japanese warm to real curries and more |work=[[Japan Times]] |last=Thakrar |first=Raju |date=22 April 2007 |access-date=2007-04-23}}</ref>
One strong influence over Indian foods is the longstanding [[vegetarianism]] within sections of [[Hinduism|Hindu]] and [[Jainism|Jain]] communities. At 31%, slightly less than a third of Indians are vegetarians.<ref name="JT_Thakrar_2007-04-22">{{cite news |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070422x4.html |title=Japanese warm to real curries and more |work=[[The Japan Times]] |last=Thakrar |first=Raju |date=22 April 2007 |access-date=2007-04-23}}</ref>


==Historic developments==
==Historic developments==
Indian cuisine reflects an [[History of India|8,000-year history]] of various groups and cultures interacting with the [[Indian subcontinent]], leading to diversity of flavours and regional cuisines found in modern-day India. Later, trade with British and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] influence added to the already diverse Indian cuisine.<ref name="Dubey2011">{{cite book |author=Krishna Gopal Dubey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xiwkbgJbSQC |title=The Indian Cuisine |publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. |year=2011 |isbn=978-81-203-4170-8 |access-date=2 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="Achaya">{{cite book |author=K T Achaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bk9RHRCqZOkC |title=The Story of Our Food |publisher=Universities Press |year=2003 |isbn=9788173712937 |access-date=18 June 2015}}</ref>


===Prehistory and Indus Valley Civilization exchanges with Sumeria and Mesopotamia===
===Prehistory and Indus Valley Civilization exchanges with Sumeria and Mesopotamia===
{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}
{{See also|Meluhha|Indus–Mesopotamia relations|Indian maritime history}}
{{See also|Meluhha|Indus–Mesopotamia relations|Indian maritime history}}


After 9000 BCE, a first period of indirect contacts between [[Fertile Crescent]] and [[Indus Valley Civilization|Indus Valley]] (IV) seems to have occurred as a consequence of the [[Neolithic Revolution]] and the diffusion of agriculture.{{refn|group=note|According to [[Ahmad Hasan Dani]], professor emeritus at [[Quaid-e-Azam University]], [[Islamabad]], the discovery of Mehrgarh "changed the entire concept of the Indus civilisation […] There we have the whole sequence, right from the beginning of settled village life.", ref "Chandler 34–42"}} Around 7000 BCE, agriculture spread from the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley, and wheat and barley began to be grown. [[Sesame]], and [[zebu|humped cattle]] were domesticated in the local farming communities.<ref>{{citation |last=Diamond |first=Jared |title=Guns, Germs And Steel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BrB7kg19RgC |year=2013 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4481-8020-2 |page=101}}</ref> Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in [[South Asia]].<ref>UNESCO World Heritage. 2004. [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1876/"]. ''Archaeological Site of Mehrgarh''</ref><ref>Hirst, K. Kris. 2005. [http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/g/mehrgarh.htm "Mehrgarh"]. '' Guide to Archaeology''</ref><!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="Bhirrana"|Excavations at [[Bhirrana]], Haryana, in India between 2006 and 2009, by archaeologist K.N. Dikshit, provided six artefacts, including "relatively advanced pottery," so-called [[Hakra]] ware, which were dated at a time bracket between 7380 and 6201 BCE.<ref name="indusmilleniumold">{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/121116/indus-civilization-2000-years-old-archaeologists|title=Archaeologists confirm Indian civilization is 2000 years older than previously believed}}</ref><ref name="milleniumold">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/indus-valley-2-000-years-older-than-thought/article1-954601.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209053815/http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/indus-valley-2-000-years-older-than-thought/article1-954601.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2015|title=Indus Valley 2,000 years older than thought|date=2012-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indus-era-8000-years-old-not-5500-ended-because-of-weaker-monsoon/articleshow/52485332.cms|title=Indus era 8,000 years old, not 5,500; ended because of weaker monsoon &#124; India News - Times of India|website=The Times of India}}</ref><ref name="oldestbhirranna">{{cite web | title=History What their lives reveal| url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/ljfXtPZHUSi5eG8Di1n9YO/History--What-their-lives-reveal.html | date=2013-01-04 }}</ref> These dates compete with Mehrgarh for being the oldest site for cultural remains in the area.<ref name="oldest">{{cite news | title=Haryana's Bhirrana oldest Harappan site, Rakhigarhi Asia's largest: ASI | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Haryanas-Bhirrana-oldest-Harappan-site-Rakhigarhi-Asias-largest-ASI/articleshow/46926693.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |date=15 April 2015}}</ref><br /><br /> Yet, Dikshit and Mani clarify that this time-bracket concerns only charcoal samples, which were radio-carbon dated at respectively 7570–7180 BCE (sample 2481) and 6689–6201 BCE (sample 2333).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dikshit |first=K.N. |year=2013 |title=Origin of Early Harappan Cultures in the Sarasvati Valley: Recent Archaeological Evidence and Radiometric Dates |url=http://server2.docfoc.com/uploads/Z2015/11/21/vESLakMBYz/45a03572f94e7a873d7c350293cca188.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology |issue=9 |pages=131–132 |issn=0974-1747 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032736/http://server2.docfoc.com/uploads/Z2015/11/21/vESLakMBYz/45a03572f94e7a873d7c350293cca188.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mani |first=B.R. |year=2008 |title=Kashmir Neolithic and Early Harappan: A Linkage |url=http://archaeology.up.nic.in/doc/kneh_brm.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Pragdhara |volume=18 |page=237 |issn=0973-5003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118050909/http://archaeology.up.nic.in/doc/kneh_brm.pdf | archive-date=2017-01-18 |access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref> Dikshit further writes that the earliest phase concerns 14 shallow dwelling-pits which "could accommodate about 3–4 people."{{sfn|Dikshit|2013|p=129}} According to Dikshit, in the lowest level of these pits wheel-made Hakra Ware was found which was "not well finished,"{{sfn|Dikshit|2013|p=129}} together with other wares.{{sfn|Dikshit|2013|p=130}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> [[Jean-François Jarrige]] argues for an independent origin of Mehrgarh who notes "the assumption that farming economy was introduced full-fledged from Near-East to South Asia,"<ref name="Jarrige">Jean-Francois Jarrige [http://www.archaeology.up.nic.in/doc/mn_jfj.pdf ''Mehrgarh Neolithic''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221610/http://archaeology.up.nic.in/doc/mn_jfj.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}, Paper presented in the International Seminar on the "First Farmers in Global Perspective," Lucknow, India, 18–20 January 2006</ref><!--**START OF NOTE**-->{{refn|group=note|name="Near East"|According to Gangal et al. (2014), there is strong archeological and geographical evidence that neolithic farming spread from the Near East into northwest India.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gangal |first1=Kavita |last2=Sarson |first2=Graeme R. |last3=Shukurov |first3=Anvar |title=The Near-Eastern Roots of the Neolithic in South Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |date=7 May 2014 |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=e95714 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |pmid=24806472|pmc=4012948 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...995714G |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Sakshi |last2=Singh |first2=Ashish |last3=Rajkumar |first3=Raja |last4=Kumar |first4=Katakam Sampath |last5=Samy |first5=Subburaj Kadarkarai |last6=Nizamuddin |first6=Sheikh |last7=Singh |first7=Amita |last8=Sheikh |first8=Shahnawaz Ahmed |last9=Peddada |first9=Vidya  |last10=Khanna |first10=Vinee |last11=Veeraiah |first11=Pandichelvam |last12=Pandit |first12=Aridaman |last13=Chaubey |first13=Gyaneshwer |last14=Singh |first14=Lalji |last15=Thangaraja |first15=Kumarasamy |display-authors=4 |year=2016 |title=Dissecting the influence of Neolithic demic diffusion on Indian Y-chromosome pool through J2-M172 haplogroup |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=6 |pages=19157 |doi=10.1038/srep19157 |pmid=26754573 |pmc=4709632 |bibcode=2016NatSR...619157S}}</ref> Gangal et al. (2014):{{sfn|Gangal|Sarson|Shukurov|2014}} "There are several lines of evidence that support the idea of connection between the Neolithic in the Near East and in the Indian subcontinent. The prehistoric site of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan (modern Pakistan) is the earliest Neolithic site in the northwest Indian subcontinent, dated as early as 8500 BCE.[18]<ref>Possehl GL (1999) Indus Age: The Beginnings. Philadelphia: Univ. Pennsylvania Press.</ref>
After 9000 BCE, a first period of indirect contacts between [[Fertile Crescent]] and [[Indus Valley Civilization|Indus Valley]] (IV) seems to have occurred as a consequence of the [[Neolithic Revolution]] and the diffusion of agriculture.{{refn|group=note|According to [[Ahmad Hasan Dani]], professor emeritus at [[Quaid-e-Azam University]], [[Islamabad]], the discovery of Mehrgarh "changed the entire concept of the Indus civilisation […] There we have the whole sequence, right from the beginning of settled village life.", ref "Chandler 34–42"}} Around 7000 BCE, agriculture spread from the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley, and wheat and barley began to be grown. [[Sesame]] and [[zebu|humped cattle]] were domesticated in the local farming communities.<ref>{{citation |last=Diamond |first=Jared |title=Guns, Germs And Steel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BrB7kg19RgC |year=2013 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4481-8020-2 |page=101}}</ref> Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.<ref>UNESCO World Heritage. 2004. [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1876/"]. ''Archaeological Site of Mehrgarh''</ref><ref>Hirst, K. Kris. 2005. [http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/g/mehrgarh.htm "Mehrgarh"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118071157/http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/g/mehrgarh.htm |date=2017-01-18 }}. '' Guide to Archaeology''</ref><!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="Bhirrana"|Excavations at [[Bhirrana]], Haryana, in India between 2006 and 2009, by archaeologist K.N. Dikshit, provided six artefacts, including "relatively advanced pottery," so-called [[Hakra]] ware, which were dated at a time bracket between 7380 and 6201 BCE.<ref name="indusmilleniumold">{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/121116/indus-civilization-2000-years-old-archaeologists|title=Archaeologists confirm Indian civilization is 2000 years older than previously believed |work=GlobalPost |date=16 November 2012 }}</ref><ref name="milleniumold">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/indus-valley-2-000-years-older-than-thought/article1-954601.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209053815/http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/indus-valley-2-000-years-older-than-thought/article1-954601.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 9, 2015|title=Indus Valley 2,000 years older than thought|date=2012-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indus-era-8000-years-old-not-5500-ended-because-of-weaker-monsoon/articleshow/52485332.cms|title=Indus era 8,000 years old, not 5,500; ended because of weaker monsoon &#124; India News - Times of India|website=The Times of India|date=29 May 2016 }}</ref><ref name="oldestbhirranna">{{cite web | title=History What their lives reveal| url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/ljfXtPZHUSi5eG8Di1n9YO/History--What-their-lives-reveal.html | date=2013-01-04 }}</ref> These dates compete with Mehrgarh for being the oldest site for cultural remains in the area.<ref name="oldest">{{cite news | title=Haryana's Bhirrana oldest Harappan site, Rakhigarhi Asia's largest: ASI | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Haryanas-Bhirrana-oldest-Harappan-site-Rakhigarhi-Asias-largest-ASI/articleshow/46926693.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |date=15 April 2015}}</ref><br /><br /> Yet, Dikshit and Mani clarify that this time-bracket concerns only charcoal samples, which were radio-carbon dated at respectively 7570–7180 BCE (sample 2481) and 6689–6201 BCE (sample 2333).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dikshit |first=K.N. |year=2013 |title=Origin of Early Harappan Cultures in the Sarasvati Valley: Recent Archaeological Evidence and Radiometric Dates |url=http://server2.docfoc.com/uploads/Z2015/11/21/vESLakMBYz/45a03572f94e7a873d7c350293cca188.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology |issue=9 |pages=131–132 |issn=0974-1747 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032736/http://server2.docfoc.com/uploads/Z2015/11/21/vESLakMBYz/45a03572f94e7a873d7c350293cca188.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mani |first=B.R. |year=2008 |title=Kashmir Neolithic and Early Harappan: A Linkage |url=http://archaeology.up.nic.in/doc/kneh_brm.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Pragdhara |volume=18 |page=237 |issn=0973-5003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118050909/http://archaeology.up.nic.in/doc/kneh_brm.pdf | archive-date=2017-01-18 |access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref> Dikshit further writes that the earliest phase concerns 14 shallow dwelling-pits which "could accommodate about 3–4 people."{{sfn|Dikshit|2013|p=129}} According to Dikshit, in the lowest level of these pits wheel-made Hakra Ware was found which was "not well finished,"{{sfn|Dikshit|2013|p=129}} together with other wares.{{sfn|Dikshit|2013|p=130}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** -->  
 
Neolithic domesticated crops in Mehrgarh include more than 90% barley and a small amount of wheat. There is good evidence for the local domestication of barley and the zebu cattle at Mehrgarh [19],<ref name="Jarrige JF 2008">Jarrige JF (2008) Mehrgarh Neolithic. Pragdhara 18: 136–154</ref> [20],<ref>Costantini L (2008) The first farmers in Western Pakistan: the evidence of the Neolithic agropastoral settlement of Mehrgarh. Pragdhara 18: 167–178</ref> but the wheat varieties are suggested to be of Near-Eastern origin, as the modern distribution of wild varieties of wheat is limited to Northern Levant and Southern Turkey [21].<ref>Fuller DQ (2006) Agricultural origins and frontiers in South Asia: a working synthesis. J World Prehistory 20: 1–86</ref> A detailed satellite map study of a few archaeological sites in the Baluchistan and Khybar Pakhtunkhwa regions also suggests similarities in early phases of farming with sites in Western Asia [22].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Petrie | first1 = CA | last2 = Thomas | first2 = KD | year = 2012 | title = The topographic and environmental context of the earliest village sites in western South Asia | journal = Antiquity | volume = 86 | issue = 334| pages = 1055–1067 | doi=10.1017/s0003598x00048249| s2cid = 131732322 }}</ref> Pottery prepared by sequential slab construction, circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles, and large granaries are common to both Mehrgarh and many Mesopotamian sites [23].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Goring-Morris | first1 = AN | last2 = Belfer-Cohen | first2 = A | year = 2011 | title = Neolithization processes in the Levant: the outer envelope | journal = Curr Anthropol | volume = 52 | pages = S195–S208 | doi=10.1086/658860| s2cid = 142928528 }}</ref> The postures of the skeletal remains in graves at Mehrgarh bear strong resemblance to those at [[Ali Kosh]] in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran [19].<ref name="Jarrige JF 2008"/> Clay figurines found in Mehrgarh resemble those discovered at [[Teppe Zagheh]] on the Qazvin plain south of the Elburz range in Iran (the 7th millennium BCE) and [[Jeitun]] in Turkmenistan (the 6th millennium BCE) [24].<ref>Jarrige C (2008) The figurines of the first farmers at Mehrgarh and their offshoots. Pragdhara 18: 155–166</ref> Strong arguments have been made for the Near-Eastern origin of some domesticated plants and herd animals at Jeitun in Turkmenistan (pp. 225–227 in [25]).<ref name="Harris DR 2010">Harris DR (2010) Origins of Agriculture in Western Central Asia: An Environmental-Archaeological Study. Philadelphia: Univ. Pennsylvania Press.</ref><br><br>The Near East is separated from the Indus Valley by the arid plateaus, ridges and deserts of Iran and Afghanistan, where rainfall agriculture is possible only in the foothills and cul-de-sac valleys [26].<ref name="Hiebert FT 2002">Hiebert FT, Dyson RH (2002) Prehistoric Nishapur and frontier between Central Asia and Iran. Iranica Antiqua XXXVII: 113–149</ref> Nevertheless, this area was not an insurmountable obstacle for the dispersal of the Neolithic. The route south of the Caspian sea is a part of the Silk Road, some sections of which were in use from at least 3,000 BCE, connecting Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan) with Western Asia, Egypt and India [27].<ref>Kuzmina EE, Mair VH (2008) The Prehistory of the Silk Road. Philadelphia: Univ. Pennsylvania Press</ref> Similarly, the section from Badakhshan to the Mesopotamian plains (the [[Great Khorasan Road]]) was apparently functioning by 4,000 BCE and numerous prehistoric sites are located along it, whose assemblages are dominated by the [[Cheshmeh-Ali (Shahr-e-Rey)|Cheshmeh-Ali]] (Tehran Plain) ceramic technology, forms and designs [26].<ref name="Hiebert FT 2002"/> Striking similarities in figurines and pottery styles, and mud-brick shapes, between widely separated early Neolithic sites in the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iran (Jarmo and Sarab), the Deh Luran Plain in southwestern Iran (Tappeh Ali Kosh and Chogha Sefid), Susiana (Chogha Bonut and Chogha Mish), the Iranian Central Plateau ([[Sang-i Chakmak|Tappeh-Sang-e Chakhmaq]]), and Turkmenistan (Jeitun) suggest a common incipient culture [28].<ref>Alizadeh A (2003) Excavations at the prehistoric mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran. Technical report, University of Chicago, Illinois.</ref> The Neolithic dispersal across South Asia plausibly involved migration of the population ([29]<ref>Dolukhanov P (1994) Environment and Ethnicity in the Ancient Middle East. Aldershot: Ashgate.</ref> and [25], pp. 231–233).<ref name="Harris DR 2010"/> This possibility is also supported by Y-chromosome and mtDNA analyses [30],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Quintana-Murci | first1 = L | last2 = Krausz | first2 = C | last3 = Zerjal | first3 = T | last4 = Sayar | first4 = SH | last5 = Hammer | first5 = MF | display-authors = et al | year = 2001 | title = Y-chromosome lineages trace diffusion of people and languages in Southwestern Asia | journal = Am J Hum Genet | volume = 68 | issue = 2| pages = 537–542 | doi=10.1086/318200 | pmid=11133362 | pmc=1235289}}</ref> [31]."<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Quintana-Murci | first1 = L | last2 = Chaix | first2 = R | last3 = Spencer Wells | first3 = R | last4 = Behar | first4 = DM | last5 = Sayar | first5 = H | display-authors = et al | year = 2004 | title = Where West meets East: the complex mtDNA landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian corridor | journal = Am J Hum Genet | volume = 74 | issue = 5| pages = 827–845 | doi=10.1086/383236 | pmid=15077202 | pmc=1181978}}</ref>}}<!--**END OF NOTE**--> and the similarities between Neolithic sites from eastern Mesopotamia and the western Indus valley, which are evidence of a "cultural continuum" between those sites. But given the originality of Mehrgarh, Jarrige concludes that Mehrgarh has an earlier local background," and is not a "'backwater' of the Neolithic culture of the Near East."<ref name="Jarrige" />
 
From circa 4500 to 1900 BC the rulers of [[Sumerian civilization|Lower Mesopotamia]] were [[Sumerians]] who spoke a non-[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and non-[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] language, may have initially come from India and may have been related to the original [[Dravidian people|Dravidian]] population of India.<ref name="AHNE">{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=H. R. (Harry Reginald) |title=The ancient history of the Near East, from the earliest times to the battle of Salamis |date=1913 |publisher=London : Methuen & Co. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancienthistoryof00hall/page/173 173]–174 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancienthistoryof00hall}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Daniélou |first1=Alain |title=A Brief History of India |date=2003 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781594777943 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlwoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="EBA"/> This appeared to historian [[Henry Hall (Egyptologist)|Henry Hall]] as the most probable conclusion, particularly based on the portrayal of Sumerians in their own art and "how very Indian the Sumerians were in type".<ref name="AHNE"/> Recent genetic analysis of ancient Mesopotamian skeletal DNA tends to confirm a significant association that some of Sumerians might have come from IVC, and it cannot be excluded that among them were people involved in the founding of the [[Mesopotamian civilization]]s.<ref name="EBA">[[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was adapted from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]: {{cite journal |last1=Płoszaj |first1=Tomasz |last2=Chaubey |first2=Gyaneshwer |last3=Jędrychowska-Dańska |first3=Krystyna |last4=Tomczyk |first4=Jacek |last5=Witas |first5=Henryk W. |title=mtDNA from the Early Bronze Age to the Roman Period Suggests a Genetic Link between the Indian Subcontinent and Mesopotamian Cradle of Civilization |journal=PLOS ONE |date=11 September 2013 |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=e73682 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0073682 |pmid=24040024 |language=en |issn=1932-6203|pmc=3770703 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...873682W |doi-access=free }}</ref>


By 3000 BCE, [[turmeric]], [[cardamom]], [[black pepper]] and [[Mustard plant|mustard]] were harvested in India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/book/dawnofhistory.html |title=Curry, Spice & All Things Nice: Dawn of History<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2008-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720170653/http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/book/dawnofhistory.html |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/01/indus-civilization-food-how-scientists-are-figuring-out-what-curry-was-like-4500-years-ago.html|title=Where Did Curry Come From?|first=Andrew|last=Lawler|date=January 29, 2013|website=Slate Magazine}}</ref>
By 3000 BCE, [[turmeric]], [[cardamom]], [[black pepper]] and [[Mustard plant|mustard]] were harvested in India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/book/dawnofhistory.html |title=Curry, Spice & All Things Nice: Dawn of History |access-date=2008-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720170653/http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/book/dawnofhistory.html |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/01/indus-civilization-food-how-scientists-are-figuring-out-what-curry-was-like-4500-years-ago.html|title=Where Did Curry Come From?|first=Andrew|last=Lawler|date=January 29, 2013|magazine=Slate}}</ref>


From Around 2350 BCE the evidence for imports from the Indus to [[Ur]] in [[Mesopotamia]] have been found, as well as [[Clove]] heads which are thought to originate from the [[Moluccas]] in [[Maritime Southeast Asia]] were found in a 2nd millennium BC site in [[Terqa]].<ref name="JR14">{{cite book |last1=Reade |first1=Julian E. |title=The Indus-Mesopotamia relationship reconsidered (Gs Elisabeth During Caspers) |date=2008 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=978-1-4073-0312-3 |pages=14–17 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28245304 |language=en}}</ref> [[Akkadian Empire]] records mention timber, carnelian and ivory as being imported from [[Meluhha]] by Meluhhan ships, Meluhha being generally considered as the Mesopotamian name for the Indus Valley Civilization.<ref name="JMI">{{cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Jane |title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781576079072 |pages=182–190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&pg=PA189 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="NATC">{{cite journal |last1=Burton |first1=James H. |last2=Price |first2=T. Douglas |last3=Kenoyer |first3=J. Mark |title=A new approach to tracking connections between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia: initial results of strontium isotope analyses from Harappa and Ur |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=2286–2297 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3511650 |language=en |issn=0305-4403}}</ref><ref>"The wide distribution of lower Indus Valley seals and other artifacts from the Persian Gulf to Shortughaï in the Amu Darya/ Oxus River valley in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan) demonstrates long-distance maritime and overland trade connections until ca. 1800 BCE." in {{cite book |last1=Neelis |first1=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004194588 |pages=94–95 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/18172 |language=en}}</ref>
From Around 2350 BCE the evidence for imports from the Indus to [[Ur]] in [[Mesopotamia]] have been found, as well as [[Clove]] heads which are thought to originate from the [[Moluccas]] in [[Maritime Southeast Asia]] were found in a 2nd millennium BC site in [[Terqa]].<ref name="JR14">{{cite book |last1=Reade |first1=Julian E. |title=The Indus-Mesopotamia relationship reconsidered (Gs Elisabeth During Caspers) |date=2008 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=978-1-4073-0312-3 |pages=14–17 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28245304 |language=en}}</ref> [[Akkadian Empire]] records mention timber, carnelian and ivory as being imported from [[Meluhha]] by Meluhhan ships, Meluhha being generally considered as the Mesopotamian name for the Indus Valley Civilization.<ref name="JMI">{{cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Jane |title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781576079072 |pages=182–190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&pg=PA189 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="NATC">{{cite journal |last1=Burton |first1=James H. |last2=Price |first2=T. Douglas |last3=Kenoyer |first3=J. Mark |title=A new approach to tracking connections between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia: initial results of strontium isotope analyses from Harappa and Ur |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |date=January 2013 |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=2286–2297 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2012.12.040 |bibcode=2013JArSc..40.2286K |url=https://www.academia.edu/3511650 |language=en |issn=0305-4403}}</ref><ref>"The wide distribution of lower Indus Valley seals and other artifacts from the Persian Gulf to Shortughaï in the Amu Darya/ Oxus River valley in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan) demonstrates long-distance maritime and overland trade connections until ca. 1800 BCE." in {{cite book |last1=Neelis |first1=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004194588 |pages=94–95 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/18172 |language=en}}</ref>


===Vedic and vegetarian Buddhist exchanges with Roman empire and influence on Southeast Asia===
===Vedic and vegetarian Buddhist exchanges with Roman empire and influence on Southeast Asia===
{{anchor |  Vedic | Hindu }}
{{anchor |  Vedic | Hindu }}
{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}
{{Main | Ayurveda | Buddhist vegetarianism | Indian Ocean trade | Silk Road | Indo-Roman trade relations | History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia | l6 = Indian influence on Southeast Asia | Filipino_cuisine#Indianised | l7= Indian influence on Filipino cuisine }}
{{Main | Ayurveda | Buddhist vegetarianism | Indian Ocean trade | Silk Road | Indo-Roman trade relations | History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia | l6 = Indian influence on Southeast Asia | Filipino_cuisine#Indianised | l7= Indian influence on Filipino cuisine }}


The ancient [[Hindu]] text ''[[Mahabharata]]'' mentions rice and vegetable cooked together, and the word "pulao" or "pallao" is used to refer to the dish in ancient [[Sanskrit]]  works, such as [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]].<ref name="KTAchaya1994">{{cite book |author=K. T. Achaya |author-link=K. T. Achaya |title=Indian food: a historical companion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cFcH2ZHWLcC |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=11|isbn=978-0-19-562845-6 }}</ref> [[Ayurveda]], ancient Indian system of wellness, deals with holistic approach to the wellness, and it includes food, [[Dhyana in Hinduism|dhyana]] {meditation} and [[yoga]].
The ancient [[Hindu]] text ''[[Mahabharata]]'' mentions rice and vegetable cooked together, and the word "pulao" or "pallao" is used to refer to the dish in ancient [[Sanskrit]]  works, such as [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]].<ref name="KTAchaya1994">{{cite book |author=K. T. Achaya |author-link=K. T. Achaya |title=Indian food: a historical companion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cFcH2ZHWLcC |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=11|isbn=978-0-19-562845-6 }}</ref> [[Ayurveda]], ancient Indian system of wellness, deals with holistic approach to wellness, and it includes food, [[Dhyana in Hinduism|dhyana]] {meditation} and [[yoga]].


[[Thai cuisine]] was [[History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia#Thailand|influenced]] by [[Indian cuisine]] as recorded by the Thai monk [[Buddhadasa]] Bhikku in his writing ‘India's Benevolence to Thailand’. He wrote that Thai people learned how to use [[Ayurveda|spices]] in their food in various ways from Indians. Thais also obtained the methods of making [[Ayurveda|herbal medicines]] (Ayurveda) from the Indians. Some plants like sarabhi of family [[Clusiaceae|Guttiferae]], kanika or [[Parijata|harsinghar]], phikun or ''[[Mimusops elengi]]'' and bunnak or the [[Mesua ferrea|rose chestnut]] etc. were brought from India.<ref name="indthai">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters.aspx?sectionname=History&subsectionname=Indian-Influence-Abroad&topicname=Historical-Ties-India-And-Thailand&chapter=1|title=Historical Ties India and Thailand|website=www.esamskriti.com}}</ref>
[[Thai cuisine]] was [[History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia#Thailand|influenced]] by [[Indian cuisine]] as recorded by the Thai monk [[Buddhadasa]] Bhikku in his writing ‘India's Benevolence to Thailand’. He wrote that Thai people learned how to use [[Ayurveda|spices]] in their food in various ways from Indians. Thais also obtained the methods of making [[Ayurveda|herbal medicines]] (Ayurveda) from the Indians. Some plants like sarabhi of family [[Clusiaceae|Guttiferae]], kanika or [[Parijata|harsinghar]], phikun or ''[[Mimusops elengi]]'' and bunnak or the [[Mesua ferrea|rose chestnut]] etc. were brought from India.<ref name="indthai">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters.aspx?sectionname=History&subsectionname=Indian-Influence-Abroad&topicname=Historical-Ties-India-And-Thailand&chapter=1|title=Historical Ties India and Thailand|website=esamskriti.com}}</ref>


[[Filipino cuisine]], found throughout the [[Philippines]] archipelago, has been [[History of the Philippines#Indianised|historically influenced by the Indian cuisine]].<ref name=influ1>{{cite book |title=The Philippine cookbook |last=Alejandro |first=Reynaldo |year=1985 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-399-51144-8 |pages=12–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUaDoUF0tRwC&q=%22Philippine%20Cuisine%22%20influences&pg=PA12 |access-date=30 June 2011 }}<br />{{cite book |title=Philippines Country Study Guide |year=2007 |publisher=Int'l Business Publications |isbn=978-1-4330-3970-6 |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8VkaWS6xiMC&q=%22Philippine%20Cuisine%22%20influences&pg=PA111 |access-date=30 June 2011 |quote=Throughout the centuries, the islands have incorporated the cuisine of the early Malay settlers, Arab and Chinese traders, and Spanish and American colonizers along with other Oriental and Occidental accent and flavours. }}<br />[http://www.balitapinoy.net/philippine_cuisine.html "Philippine Cuisine."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616135618/http://www.balitapinoy.net/philippine_cuisine.html |date=2011-06-16 }} [http://www.balitapinoy.net Balitapinoy.net] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723022526/http://www.balitapinoy.net/ |date=2011-07-23 }}. Accessed July 2011.<br />{{cite news |last=Morgolis |first=Jason |date=6 February 2014 |title=Why is it so hard to find a good Filipino restaurant? |url=http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-02-06/why-it-so-hard-find-good-filipino-restaurant#comments |newspaper=Public Radio International |access-date=17 December 2014 |quote=Philippine food has Chinese, Malaysian, Spanish and American influences — all cultures that have shaped the Philippines. }}</ref> [[Atchara]] of Philippines originated from the [[Indian cuisine|Indian]] ''[[South Asian pickle|achar]]'', which was transmitted to the Philippines via the [[acar]] of the [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], and [[Brunei]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/pickles-throughout-history-2|title=Pickles Throughout History|access-date=15 February 2018}}</ref><ref name=achardesi1>{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-humble-indian-pickle/|title=A Brief History Of The Humble Indian Pickle|publisher=theculturetrip.com|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref> Indian influences can also be noted in rice-based delicacies such as ''[[bibingka]]'' (analogous to the Indonesian ''[[Bibingka#Bibingka in Indonesia|bingka]]''), ''[[Puto (food)|puto]]'', and ''[[puto bumbong]]'', where the latter two are plausibly derived from the [[South Indian cuisine|south Indian]] ''[[puttu]]'', which also has variants throughout [[Maritime Southeast Asia]] (e.g. ''[[kue putu]]'', ''[[putu mangkok]]''). The ''[[kare-kare]]'', more popular in Luzon, on the other hand could trace its origins from the [[Seven Years' War]] when the [[British occupation of Manila|British occupied Manila]] for 2 years mostly with [[sepoys]] (Indian conscripts), who had to improvise Indian dishes given the lack of spices in the Philippines to make [[curry]]. This is said to explain the name and its supposed thick, yellow-to-orange [[annatto]] and peanut-based sauce, which alludes to a type of curry.
[[Filipino cuisine]], found throughout the [[Philippines]] archipelago, has been [[History of the Philippines#Indianised|historically influenced by the Indian cuisine]].<ref name=influ1>{{cite book |title=The Philippine cookbook |last=Alejandro |first=Reynaldo |year=1985 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-399-51144-8 |pages=12–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUaDoUF0tRwC&q=%22Philippine%20Cuisine%22%20influences&pg=PA12 |access-date=30 June 2011 }}<br />{{cite book |title=Philippines Country Study Guide |year=2007 |publisher=Int'l Business Publications |isbn=978-1-4330-3970-6 |page=111 |quote=Throughout the centuries, the islands have incorporated the cuisine of the early Malay settlers, Arab and Chinese traders, and Spanish and American colonizers along with other Oriental and Occidental accent and flavours. }}<br />[http://www.balitapinoy.net/philippine_cuisine.html "Philippine Cuisine."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616135618/http://www.balitapinoy.net/philippine_cuisine.html |date=2011-06-16 }} [http://www.balitapinoy.net Balitapinoy.net] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723022526/http://www.balitapinoy.net/ |date=2011-07-23 }}. Retrieved July 2011.<br />{{cite news |last=Morgolis |first=Jason |date=6 February 2014 |title=Why is it so hard to find a good Filipino restaurant? |url=http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-02-06/why-it-so-hard-find-good-filipino-restaurant#comments |newspaper=Public Radio International |access-date=17 December 2014 |quote=Philippine food has Chinese, Malaysian, Spanish and American influences — all cultures that have shaped the Philippines. }}</ref>


===Cuisine exchange with Central Asian and Islamic world===
===Cuisine exchange with Central Asian and Islamic world===
{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}
{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}
{{ see also | Central Asians in Ancient Indian literature }}
{{ see also | Central Asians in ancient Indian literature }}


Later, arrivals from [[Arabia]], [[Central Asia]],<ref>[http://indianfood.about.com/od/thebasics/p/northindia.htm ''The Cuisine of North India''], about.com</ref> and centuries of trade relations and cultural exchange resulted in a significant influence on each region's cuisines, such as the adoption of the ''[[tandoor]]'' in [[Middle East]] which had originated in northwestern India.<ref name="Civitello2011">{{cite book|last=Civitello|first=Linda|title=Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwRE0HIIyWkC&pg=PA267|access-date=4 June 2012|date=29 March 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-40371-6|page=267}}</ref>
Later, arrivals from [[Arabia]], Central Asia,<ref>[http://indianfood.about.com/od/thebasics/p/northindia.htm ''The Cuisine of North India''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014402/https://www.thespruceeats.com/cuisine-of-north-india-1957883 |date=2020-11-27 }}, about.com</ref> and centuries of trade relations and cultural exchange resulted in a significant influence on each region's cuisines, such as the adoption of the ''[[tandoor]]'' in Middle East which had originated in northwestern India.<ref name="Civitello2011">{{cite book|last=Civitello|first=Linda|title=Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwRE0HIIyWkC&pg=PA267|access-date=4 June 2012|date=29 March 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-40371-6|page=267}}</ref>


===Cuisine exchange during European colonial period===
===Cuisine exchange during European colonial period===
Line 42: Line 39:
{{ see also | Colonial India | Portuguese India | British raj | Chronology of European exploration of Asia | l4= European exploration of Asia | Girmityas }}
{{ see also | Colonial India | Portuguese India | British raj | Chronology of European exploration of Asia | l4= European exploration of Asia | Girmityas }}


The [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]] and [[British India|British]] during their rule introduced cooking techniques such as baking, and foods from the [[New World]] and Europe. The [[New World crops|new-world vegetables]] popular in cuisine from the Indian subcontinent include [[tomato]], [[potato]], [[sweet potatoes]], [[peanut]]s, [[Squash (plant)|squash]], and [[Capsicum|chilli]]. Most New world vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, [[Amaranth]], peanuts and [[cassava]] based [[Sago]] are allowed on Hindu fasting days. Cauliflower was introduced by the British in 1822.<ref name="Gopalakrishnan2007">{{cite book|author=T. R. Gopalakrishnan|title=Vegetable Crops|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mTUBjSyo_UC&pg=PA209|year=2007|publisher=New India Publishing|isbn=978-81-89422-41-7|pages=209–}}</ref> In the late 18th/early 19th century, an autobiography of a Scottish [[Robert Lindsay (Sylhet)|Robert Lindsay]] mentions a [[Sylhetis|Sylheti]] man called Saeed Ullah cooking a curry for Lindsay's family. This is possibly the oldest record of Indian cuisine in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name="star">{{cite news|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/12/02/history.htm|title=Down the Surma - Origins of the Diaspora|author=Syed Zain Al-Mahmood|newspaper=[[Daily Star (Bangladesh)|Daily Star]]|date=19 December 2008|volume=7|issue=49|language=en|access-date=1 May 2019}}</ref><ref name=autobio>{{cite book|volume=4|title=Lives of the Lindsays, or, A memoir of the House of Crawford and Balcarres|chapter=Anecdotes of an Indian life: Chapter VII|author=Robert Lindsay|author-link=Robert Lindsay (Sylhet)|url=https://digital.nls.uk/histories-of-scottish-families/archive/95568541#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=108&xywh=-236%2C-1%2C5520%2C4092|website=National Library of Scotland|pages=99}}</ref>
The [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]] and [[British India|British]] during their rule introduced cooking techniques such as baking, and foods from the [[New World]] and Europe. The [[New World crops|new-world vegetables]] popular in cuisine from the Indian subcontinent include [[tomato]], [[potato]], [[sweet potatoes]], [[peanut]]s, [[Squash (plant)|squash]], and [[Capsicum|chilli]]. Most New world vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, [[Amaranth]], peanuts and [[cassava]] based [[Sago]] are allowed on Hindu fasting days. Cauliflower was introduced by the British in 1822.<ref name="Gopalakrishnan2007">{{cite book|author=T. R. Gopalakrishnan|title=Vegetable Crops|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mTUBjSyo_UC&pg=PA209|year=2007|publisher=New India Publishing|isbn=978-81-89422-41-7|pages=209–}}</ref> In the late 18th/early 19th century, an autobiography of a Scottish [[Robert Lindsay (Sylhet)|Robert Lindsay]] mentions a [[Sylhetis|Sylheti]] man called Saeed Ullah cooking a curry for Lindsay's family. This is possibly the oldest record of Indian cuisine in the United Kingdom.<ref name="star">{{cite news|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/12/02/history.htm|title=Down the Surma - Origins of the Diaspora|author=Syed Zain Al-Mahmood|newspaper=[[Daily Star (Bangladesh)|Daily Star]]|date=19 December 2008|volume=7|issue=49|language=en|access-date=1 May 2019|archive-date=9 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109173600/http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/12/02/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=autobio>>{{cite book |author=Robert Lindsay |author-link=Robert Lindsay (Sylhet) |title=Lives of the Lindsays, or, A memoir of the House of Crawford and Balcarres |volume=4 |chapter=Anecdotes of an Indian life: Chapter VII |url=https://digital.nls.uk/95568541 |location=Wigan |publisher=C. S. Simms |page=99}}</ref>


==Factors driving globalisation of Indian cuisine==
==Contemporary developments==
{{see also|Greater India|Indosphere|Indianization of Southeast Asia|History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia}}


===Universal appeal===
In 2019, according to data released by United Nations, 17.5 million of [[Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India|overseas Indians]] formed the world's largest [[diaspora]], including 3.4 million in UAE, 2.7 million in USA, and 2.4 million in Saudi Arabia.<ref name="etdata1">[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/forex-and-remittance/with-78-billion-india-still-highest-overseas-remittance-receiver/articleshow/72271170.cms With $78 billion, India still highest overseas remittance receiver], ''The Economic Times'', 28 November 2019.</ref> Indian migration has spread the culinary traditions of the subcontinent throughout the world. These cuisines have been adapted to local tastes, and have also affected local cuisines. [[Curry]]'s international appeal has been compared to that of [[pizza]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Collingham |first=Lizzie |author-link=Lizzie Collingham |date=1 February 2006 |title=Curry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/books/01grim.html |access-date=5 May 2010 |work=[[The New York Times Book Review]]}}</ref> Indian tandoor dishes such as ''[[chicken tikka]]'' enjoy widespread popularity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tandoori Village Restaurant Brisbane |url=http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/australia/brisbane/what-where-to-eat/indian-restaurants-in-brisbane/tandoori-village-restaurant-brisbane.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527152720/http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/australia/brisbane/what-where-to-eat/indian-restaurants-in-brisbane/tandoori-village-restaurant-brisbane.html |archive-date=May 27, 2008 |publisher=AsiaRooms.com}}</ref>
A 2019 research paper by US economist [[Joel Waldfogel]], based on travel data from [[TripAdvisor]], affirmed India's [[soft power]] which ranked Indian cuisine fourth most popular. Italian, Japanese & Chinese food being top 3. Indian cuisine is especially most popular in United Kingdom, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Germany, France and US.<ref name=Indiafood1>[https://theprint.in/world/indian-food-fourth-most-popular-in-the-world-a-study-of-cuisine-trade-finds/283119/ Indian food fourth most popular in the world, a study of cuisine trade finds], [[ThePrint]], 29 August 2019.</ref> In another 2019 survey of 25,000 people cross 34 countries, the largest fans of India cuisine who have tried it are the Indians (93%), UK (84%), Singaporeans (77%), Norwagians (75%), Australians (74%), French (71%), Finnish (71%), Malaysians (70%), Indonesians (49%), Vietnamese (44%), Thai (27%), and mainland Chinese (26%).<ref name=asianage1>[https://www.asianage.com/business/in-other-news/140319/indian-cuisine-ranks-among-worlds-top-10.html Indian cuisine ranks among world’s Top 10], [[Asian Age]], 14 March 2019.</ref>


===Unique molecular taste and richness of spices===
The UK's first Indian restaurant, the [[Hindoostanee Coffee House]], opened in 1810.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |date=29 September 2005 |title=Curry house founder is honoured |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4290124.stm |access-date=21 March 2012 |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Food Standards Agency – Curry factfile |url=http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014074850/http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts |archive-date=2010-10-14 |access-date=2019-11-29 |work=food.gov.uk |publisher=Food Standards Agency}}</ref> By 2003, there were as many as 10,000 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in England and [[Wales]] alone; 90% of Indian restaurants in the UK are run by [[British Bangladeshis]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Akbar |first=Ahsan |date=2021-03-21 |title=From kala bhuna to shatkora curry – let's all get a taste for Bangladesh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/21/from-kala-bhuna-to-shatkora-curry-lets-all-get-a-taste-for-bangladesh |access-date=2024-08-30 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> According to Britain's [[Food Standards Agency]], the Indian food industry in the United Kingdom is worth 3.2 billion [[Pound sterling|pounds]], accounts for two-thirds of all eating out and serves about 2.5 million customers every week.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Food Standards Agency&nbsp;– Curry factfile |url=http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014074850/http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts |archive-date=2010-10-14 |access-date=2019-11-29}}</ref> A survey by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 2007 stated that more than 1,200 Indian food products had been introduced into the United States since 2000.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bhide |first=Monica |date=24 January 2007 |title=Tikka in No Time |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012300296_pf.html |access-date=4 June 2012 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>


[[Washington Post]] reported the results of a 2019 study by the researchers at the [[Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur]], which analysed over 2,000 popular online recipes from [[Tarla Dalal]]'s portal ''"TarlaDalal.com"'' containing 200 ingredients out of the 381 known globally. Each Indian dish on average contains at least 7 ingredients. Each ingredient have average of over 50 molecular flavor compounds. Data scientists studied the numbers and amount of molecular flavor compounds shared by each ingredient combined in a dish. Western cuisine tend to pair similar molecular flavor compounds, which is why it tastes bland. On the other hand, the secret to Indian cuisine's unique and delicious appeal is that at molecular level the ingredients used in Indian dish share less molecular flavor compounds, which provides contrasting uniquely balanced taste. Indian cuisine does not uses ingredients that overlap in molecular flavor compounds, "we found that average flavor sharing in Indian cuisine was significantly lesser than expected... Each of the spices is uniquely placed in its recipe to shape the flavor sharing pattern with rest of the ingredients." The more overlap two ingredients have in terms of shared molecular flavor compounds, the less likely they are to be used in the same Indian dish.<ref name=wapost1>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/03/a-scientific-explanation-of-what-makes-indian-food-so-delicious/ Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious], [[Washington Post]], 3 March 2015.</ref>
Indian cuisine is very popular in Southeast Asia, due to the strong Hindu and Buddhist cultural influence in the region. Indian cuisine has had considerable influence on Malaysian cooking styles<ref name="vegvoyages.com">{{cite web |title=Nasi, Kari, Biryani & Mee |url=http://www.vegvoyages.com/food.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628154725/http://www.vegvoyages.com/food.htm |archive-date=28 June 2009 |access-date=23 June 2009 |publisher=Veg Voyages}}</ref> and also enjoys popularity in Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 February 2007 |title=Indian food gains popularity during Chinese New Year |url=http://www.hindustandainik.com/news/181_1933405,001100020009.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121145158/http://hindustandainik.com/news/181_1933405,001100020009.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Then |first=Viviane |title=Go India: Curry, my love? |url=http://www.streetdirectory.com/restaurants/singapore/reviews/restaurant-Go_India-1000000999.php}}</ref> There are numerous North and South Indian restaurants in Singapore, mostly in [[Little India, Singapore|Little India]]. Singapore is also known for [[fusion cuisine]] combining traditional [[Singaporean cuisine]] with Indian influences. Fish head curry, for example, is a local creation. Indian influence on [[Malay cuisine]] dates to the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Food in Malaysia |url=http://www.travellersworldwide.com/11-malaysia/11-malaysia-food.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621152707/http://www.travellersworldwide.com/11-malaysia/11-malaysia-food.htm |archive-date=21 June 2012 |access-date=1 July 2012 |publisher=Travellers Worldwide |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Other cuisines which borrow inspiration from Indian cooking styles include [[Cambodian cuisine|Cambodian]], [[Lao cuisine|Lao]], [[Filipino cuisine|Filipino]], [[Vietnamese cuisine|Vietnamese]], [[Indonesian cuisine|Indonesian]], [[Thai cuisine|Thai]], and [[Burmese cuisine|Burmese]] cuisines. The spread of vegetarianism in other parts of Asia is often credited to Hindu and Buddhist practices.<ref name="Corum2000">{{cite book |author=Ann Kondo Corum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI9BPVDH8HsC&pg=PA174 |title=Ethnic Foods of Hawai'i |date=1 May 2000 |publisher=Bess Press |isbn=978-1-57306-117-9 |pages=174– |access-date=4 June 2012}}</ref>


===Long and globally networked evolution that is widely ranged===
A 2019 research paper by US economist [[Joel Waldfogel]], based on travel data from [[TripAdvisor]], affirmed India's [[soft power]] which ranked Indian cuisine fourth most popular. Italian, Japanese & Chinese food being top 3. Indian cuisine is especially most popular in United Kingdom, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Germany, France and US.<ref name="Indiafood1">[https://theprint.in/world/indian-food-fourth-most-popular-in-the-world-a-study-of-cuisine-trade-finds/283119/ Indian food fourth most popular in the world, a study of cuisine trade finds], [[ThePrint]], 29 August 2019.</ref> In another 2019 survey of 25,000 people cross 34 countries, the largest fans of India cuisine who have tried it are the Indians (93%), British (84%), Singaporeans (77%), Norwegians (75%), Australians (74%), French (71%), Finnish (71%), Malaysians (70%), Indonesians (49%), Vietnamese (44%), Thai (27%), and mainland Chinese (26%).<ref name="asianage1">[https://www.asianage.com/business/in-other-news/140319/indian-cuisine-ranks-among-worlds-top-10.html Indian cuisine ranks among world’s Top 10], [[Asian Age]], 14 March 2019.</ref>
{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}
{{see also | Indian Ocean trade }}


Indian cuisine reflects an [[History of India|8,000-year history]] of various groups and cultures interacting with the [[Indian subcontinent]], leading to diversity of flavours and regional cuisines found in modern-day India. Later, trade with [[British people|British]] and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] influence added to the already diverse Indian cuisine.<ref name="Dubey2011">{{cite book|author=Krishna Gopal Dubey|title=The Indian Cuisine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xiwkbgJbSQC|access-date=2 June 2012|year=2011|publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-203-4170-8}}</ref><ref name="Achaya">{{cite book|author=K T Achaya|title=The Story of Our Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bk9RHRCqZOkC|access-date=18 June 2015|year=2003|publisher=Universities Press|isbn=9788173712937}}</ref>
The popularity of Indian cuisine has been attributed to a large number of distinct diaspora and fusion Indian cuisines such as [[Indian Chinese cuisine]],<ref name="Mannur">{{cite book |author=Anita Mannur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLbG-5tWKlEC&pg=PA233 |title=Culinary Fictions: Food in South Asian Diasporic Culture |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4399-0078-9 |page=233 |access-date=21 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Banerjee">{{cite book |author=Himadri Banerjee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSTEOx_Lw9MC&pg=PA132 |title=Calcutta Mosaic: Essays and Interviews on the Minority Communities of Calcutta |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-81-905835-5-8 |page=132 |access-date=21 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Deshpande">{{cite news |last=Deshpande |first=Shubada |date=25 October 1999 |title=Fare for the Desi Dragon |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/oct/25us3.htm |access-date=2012-07-21 |work=[[Rediff.com]]}}</ref> [[Malaysian Indian cuisine]], [[Indian Singaporean cuisine]] (based on Tamil cuisine),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.bestindianfoodcatering.com/ |website=Best Indian Food Catering}}</ref> and [[Anglo-Indian cuisine]] (developed during the British Raj in India with adoption of western dishes with Indian ingredients).<ref name="Davidson">{{cite book |author=Davidson, Alan |title=[[The Oxford Companion to Food]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-967733-7 |editor=Tom Jaine |edition=3rd |location=Oxford |pages=21–22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sustainable shore – October recipe – Year of Food and Drink 2015 – National Library of Scotland |url=http://www.nls.uk/year-of-food-and-drink/october |work=nls.uk |access-date=2019-11-29 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093413/http://www.nls.uk/year-of-food-and-drink/october |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roy |first1=Modhumita |date=7 August 2010 |title=Some Like It Hot: Class, Gender and Empire in the Making of Mulligatawny Soup |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=45 |issue=32 |pages=66–75 |jstor=20764390}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cooking under the Raj |url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2006/566/566_david_housego.htm |access-date=30 January 2008}}</ref>
 
===Large diversity of fusion and regional variations within Indian cuisine===
Another reason for the popularity of Indian cuisine is evolution of a large number of distinct diaspora and fusion Indian cuisine such as [[Indian Chinese cuisine]] (Chindian or Indian and [[Hakka cuisine|own cuisine]]-[[Cantonese cuisine]] fusion),<ref name="Mannur">{{cite book|author=Anita Mannur|title=Culinary Fictions: Food in South Asian Diasporic Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLbG-5tWKlEC&pg=PA233|access-date=21 July 2012|year=2004|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=978-1-4399-0078-9|page=233}}</ref><ref name="Banerjee">{{cite book|author=Himadri Banerjee|title=Calcutta Mosaic: Essays and Interviews on the Minority Communities of Calcutta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSTEOx_Lw9MC&pg=PA132|access-date=21 July 2012|year=2009|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-81-905835-5-8|page=132}}</ref><ref name="Deshpande">{{cite news| last=Deshpande| first=Shubada| url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/oct/25us3.htm | title=Fare for the Desi Dragon | work=[[Rediff.com]] | date=25 October 1999 | access-date=2012-07-21}}</ref> [[Malaysian Indian cuisine]], [[Indian Singaporean cuisine]] (based on Tamil cuisine),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bestindianfoodcatering.com/|title=Home|website=Best Indian Food Catering}}</ref> [[Anglo-Indian cuisine]] (developed during the British Raj in India with adoption of western dishes with Indian ingredients).<ref name=Davidson>{{cite book| author=Davidson, Alan | editor=Tom Jaine | title=[[The Oxford Companion to Food]] | edition=3rd | location=Oxford | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-19-967733-7 | pages=21–22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nls.uk/year-of-food-and-drink/october |title=Sustainable shore – October recipe – Year of Food and Drink 2015 – National Library of Scotland |work=nls.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roy |first1=Modhumita |title=Some Like It Hot: Class, Gender and Empire in the Making of Mulligatawny Soup |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |date=7 August 2010 |volume=45 |issue=32 |pages=66–75 |jstor=20764390}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2006/566/566_david_housego.htm |title=Cooking under the Raj |access-date=30 January 2008}}</ref>
 
===Contribution of the Indian diaspora towards promoting Indian cuisine===
{{Expand section|date=November 2019}}
{{see also | Greater India | Indosphere | Indianization of Southeast Asia | History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia }}
 
In 2019, according to data released by [[United Nations]], 17.5 million of [[Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India|overseas Indians]] formed the world's largest [[diaspora]], including 3.4 million in UAE, 2.7 million in USA, and 2.4 million in Saudi Arabia.<ref name=etdata1>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/forex-and-remittance/with-78-billion-india-still-highest-overseas-remittance-receiver/articleshow/72271170.cms With $78 billion, India still highest overseas remittance receiver], Economic Times, 28 November 2019.</ref> Indian migration has spread the culinary traditions of the subcontinent throughout the world. These cuisines have been adapted to local tastes, and have also affected local cuisines. [[Curry]]'s international appeal has been compared to that of [[pizza]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/books/01grim.html |title=Curry |first=Lizzie |last=Collingham |work=[[The New York Times Book Review]] |date=1 February 2006 |access-date=5 May 2010}}</ref> Indian tandoor dishes such as ''[[chicken tikka]]'' enjoy widespread popularity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/australia/brisbane/what-where-to-eat/indian-restaurants-in-brisbane/tandoori-village-restaurant-brisbane.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527152720/http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/australia/brisbane/what-where-to-eat/indian-restaurants-in-brisbane/tandoori-village-restaurant-brisbane.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=May 27, 2008 |title=Tandoori Village Restaurant Brisbane |publisher=AsiaRooms.com}}</ref>
 
The UK's first Indian restaurant, the [[Hindoostanee Coffee House]], opened in 1810.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4290124.stm|title=Curry house founder is honoured|date=29 September 2005|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts|title=[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Food Standards Agency – Curry factfile|author=Food Standards Agency|work=food.gov.uk}}</ref> By 2003, there were as many as 10,000 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in [[England]] and [[Wales]] alone. According to [[United Kingdom|Britain]]'s [[Food Standards Agency]], the Indian food industry in the United Kingdom is worth 3.2 billion [[Pound sterling|pounds]], accounts for two-thirds of all eating out and serves about 2.5 million customers every week.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts|title=Food Standards Agency&nbsp;– Curry factfile}}</ref> A survey by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 2007 stated that more than 1,200 Indian food products had been introduced into the [[United States]] since 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012300296_pf.html|title=Tikka in No Time |date=24 January 2007 |first=Monica |last=Bhide |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=4 June 2012}}</ref>
 
Indian cuisine is very popular in [[Southeast Asia]], due to the strong Hindu and Buddhist cultural influence in the region. Indian cuisine has had considerable influence on Malaysian cooking styles<ref name="vegvoyages.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.vegvoyages.com/food.htm |title=Nasi, Kari, Biryani & Mee |publisher=Veg Voyages |access-date=23 June 2009}}</ref> and also enjoys popularity in [[Singapore]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hindustandainik.com/news/181_1933405,001100020009.htm |title=Indian food gains popularity during Chinese New Year |date=20 February 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121145158/http://hindustandainik.com/news/181_1933405,001100020009.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.streetdirectory.com/restaurants/singapore/reviews/restaurant-Go_India-1000000999.php |title=Go India: Curry, my love? |first=Viviane |last=Then}}</ref> There are numerous North and South Indian restaurants in Singapore, mostly in [[Little India, Singapore|Little India]]. Singapore is also known for [[fusion cuisine]] combining traditional [[Singaporean cuisine]] with Indian influences. Fish head curry, for example, is a local creation. Indian influence on [[Malay cuisine]] dates to the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travellersworldwide.com/11-malaysia/11-malaysia-food.htm|title=About Food in Malaysia|publisher=Travellers Worldwide|access-date=1 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621152707/http://www.travellersworldwide.com/11-malaysia/11-malaysia-food.htm|archive-date=21 June 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Other cuisines which borrow inspiration from Indian cooking styles include [[Cambodian cuisine|Cambodian]], [[Lao cuisine|Lao]], [[Filipino cuisine|Filipino]], [[Vietnamese cuisine|Vietnamese]], [[Indonesian cuisine|Indonesian]], [[Thai cuisine|Thai]], and [[Burmese cuisine|Burmese]] cuisines. The spread of vegetarianism in other parts of Asia is often credited to Hindu and Buddhist practices.<ref name="Corum2000">{{cite book|author=Ann Kondo Corum|title=Ethnic Foods of Hawai'i|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI9BPVDH8HsC&pg=PA174|access-date=4 June 2012|date=1 May 2000|publisher=Bess Press|isbn=978-1-57306-117-9|pages=174–}}</ref>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
Bhang eaters before two huts (6124556163).jpg|[[Bhang]] eaters from India c. 1790.  Bhang is  an [[cannabis edible|edible preparation]] of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] native to the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It has been used in food and drink as early as 1000 BCE by [[Hindu]]s in [[ancient India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/kbx94a/httpmunchies-vice-comarticlesthe-bhang-lassi-is-how-hindus-drink-themselves-high-for-shiva |title=The Bhang Lassi Is How Hindus Drink Themselves High for Shiva |author=Staelens, Stefanie |website=Vice.com |access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref>
Bhang eaters before two huts (6124556163).jpg|[[Bhang]] eaters from India c. 1790.  Bhang is  an [[cannabis edible|edible preparation]] of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] native to the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It has been used in food and drink as early as 1000 BCE by [[Hindu]]s in [[ancient India]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/httpmunchies-vice-comarticlesthe-bhang-lassi-is-how-hindus-drink-themselves-high-for-shiva/ |title=The Bhang Lassi Is How Hindus Drink Themselves High for Shiva |author=Staelens, Stefanie |magazine=Vice |access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref>
Nimmatnama-i Nasiruddin-Shahi 283.jpg|A page from the ''[[Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi]]'', book of delicacies and recipes. It documents the fine art of making [[kheer]].
Nimmatnama-i Nasiruddin-Shahi 283.jpg|A page from the ''[[Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi]]'', book of delicacies and recipes. It documents the fine art of making [[kheer]].
Sweets 1.jpg|[[Medieval India]]n Manuscript Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi (''circa'' 16th century) showing [[samosa]]s being served.
Sweets 1.jpg|[[Medieval India]]n Manuscript Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi (''circa'' 16th century) showing [[samosa]]s being served.
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* [[Indian cookbooks]]
* [[Indian cookbooks]]
* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Ayurveda]]
{{Portal bar|Food|History}}


==References==
==References==
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{{Cuisines}}
{{Cuisines}}
{{Portal bar|Food|History}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Indian Cuisine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Indian Cuisine}}
[[Category:History of Indian cuisine| ]]
[[Category:History of Indian cuisine| ]]
[[Category:History of Pakistani cuisine]]
[[Category:History of Pakistani cuisine]]
[[Category:History of food and drink|South Asia]]
[[Category:History of food and drink]]
[[Category:South Asian cuisine]]
[[Category:South Asian cuisine]]

Latest revision as of 20:55, 23 February 2026

The history of Indian cuisine consists of cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, which is rich and diverse. The diverse climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily available to the many schools of cookery in India. In many cases, food has become a marker of religious and social identity, with varying taboos and preferences (for instance, a segment of the Jain population consume no roots or subterranean vegetable; see Jain vegetarianism) which has also driven these groups to innovate extensively with the food sources that are deemed acceptable.

One strong influence over Indian foods is the longstanding vegetarianism within sections of Hindu and Jain communities. At 31%, slightly less than a third of Indians are vegetarians.[1]

Historic developments[edit | edit source]

Indian cuisine reflects an 8,000-year history of various groups and cultures interacting with the Indian subcontinent, leading to diversity of flavours and regional cuisines found in modern-day India. Later, trade with British and Portuguese influence added to the already diverse Indian cuisine.[2][3]

Prehistory and Indus Valley Civilization exchanges with Sumeria and Mesopotamia[edit | edit source]

After 9000 BCE, a first period of indirect contacts between Fertile Crescent and Indus Valley (IV) seems to have occurred as a consequence of the Neolithic Revolution and the diffusion of agriculture.[note 1] Around 7000 BCE, agriculture spread from the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley, and wheat and barley began to be grown. Sesame and humped cattle were domesticated in the local farming communities.[4] Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia.[5][6][note 2]

By 3000 BCE, turmeric, cardamom, black pepper and mustard were harvested in India.[16][17]

From Around 2350 BCE the evidence for imports from the Indus to Ur in Mesopotamia have been found, as well as Clove heads which are thought to originate from the Moluccas in Maritime Southeast Asia were found in a 2nd millennium BC site in Terqa.[18] Akkadian Empire records mention timber, carnelian and ivory as being imported from Meluhha by Meluhhan ships, Meluhha being generally considered as the Mesopotamian name for the Indus Valley Civilization.[19][20][21]

Vedic and vegetarian Buddhist exchanges with Roman empire and influence on Southeast Asia[edit | edit source]

The ancient Hindu text Mahabharata mentions rice and vegetable cooked together, and the word "pulao" or "pallao" is used to refer to the dish in ancient Sanskrit works, such as Yājñavalkya Smṛti.[22] Ayurveda, ancient Indian system of wellness, deals with holistic approach to wellness, and it includes food, dhyana {meditation} and yoga.

Thai cuisine was influenced by Indian cuisine as recorded by the Thai monk Buddhadasa Bhikku in his writing ‘India's Benevolence to Thailand’. He wrote that Thai people learned how to use spices in their food in various ways from Indians. Thais also obtained the methods of making herbal medicines (Ayurveda) from the Indians. Some plants like sarabhi of family Guttiferae, kanika or harsinghar, phikun or Mimusops elengi and bunnak or the rose chestnut etc. were brought from India.[23]

Filipino cuisine, found throughout the Philippines archipelago, has been historically influenced by the Indian cuisine.[24]

Cuisine exchange with Central Asian and Islamic world[edit | edit source]

Later, arrivals from Arabia, Central Asia,[25] and centuries of trade relations and cultural exchange resulted in a significant influence on each region's cuisines, such as the adoption of the tandoor in Middle East which had originated in northwestern India.[26]

Cuisine exchange during European colonial period[edit | edit source]

The Portuguese and British during their rule introduced cooking techniques such as baking, and foods from the New World and Europe. The new-world vegetables popular in cuisine from the Indian subcontinent include tomato, potato, sweet potatoes, peanuts, squash, and chilli. Most New world vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, Amaranth, peanuts and cassava based Sago are allowed on Hindu fasting days. Cauliflower was introduced by the British in 1822.[27] In the late 18th/early 19th century, an autobiography of a Scottish Robert Lindsay mentions a Sylheti man called Saeed Ullah cooking a curry for Lindsay's family. This is possibly the oldest record of Indian cuisine in the United Kingdom.[28][29]

Contemporary developments[edit | edit source]

In 2019, according to data released by United Nations, 17.5 million of overseas Indians formed the world's largest diaspora, including 3.4 million in UAE, 2.7 million in USA, and 2.4 million in Saudi Arabia.[30] Indian migration has spread the culinary traditions of the subcontinent throughout the world. These cuisines have been adapted to local tastes, and have also affected local cuisines. Curry's international appeal has been compared to that of pizza.[31] Indian tandoor dishes such as chicken tikka enjoy widespread popularity.[32]

The UK's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostanee Coffee House, opened in 1810.[33][34] By 2003, there were as many as 10,000 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in England and Wales alone; 90% of Indian restaurants in the UK are run by British Bangladeshis.[35] According to Britain's Food Standards Agency, the Indian food industry in the United Kingdom is worth 3.2 billion pounds, accounts for two-thirds of all eating out and serves about 2.5 million customers every week.[36] A survey by The Washington Post in 2007 stated that more than 1,200 Indian food products had been introduced into the United States since 2000.[37]

Indian cuisine is very popular in Southeast Asia, due to the strong Hindu and Buddhist cultural influence in the region. Indian cuisine has had considerable influence on Malaysian cooking styles[38] and also enjoys popularity in Singapore.[39][40] There are numerous North and South Indian restaurants in Singapore, mostly in Little India. Singapore is also known for fusion cuisine combining traditional Singaporean cuisine with Indian influences. Fish head curry, for example, is a local creation. Indian influence on Malay cuisine dates to the 19th century.[41] Other cuisines which borrow inspiration from Indian cooking styles include Cambodian, Lao, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, and Burmese cuisines. The spread of vegetarianism in other parts of Asia is often credited to Hindu and Buddhist practices.[42]

A 2019 research paper by US economist Joel Waldfogel, based on travel data from TripAdvisor, affirmed India's soft power which ranked Indian cuisine fourth most popular. Italian, Japanese & Chinese food being top 3. Indian cuisine is especially most popular in United Kingdom, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Germany, France and US.[43] In another 2019 survey of 25,000 people cross 34 countries, the largest fans of India cuisine who have tried it are the Indians (93%), British (84%), Singaporeans (77%), Norwegians (75%), Australians (74%), French (71%), Finnish (71%), Malaysians (70%), Indonesians (49%), Vietnamese (44%), Thai (27%), and mainland Chinese (26%).[44]

The popularity of Indian cuisine has been attributed to a large number of distinct diaspora and fusion Indian cuisines such as Indian Chinese cuisine,[45][46][47] Malaysian Indian cuisine, Indian Singaporean cuisine (based on Tamil cuisine),[48] and Anglo-Indian cuisine (developed during the British Raj in India with adoption of western dishes with Indian ingredients).[49][50][51][52]

Gallery[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. According to Ahmad Hasan Dani, professor emeritus at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, the discovery of Mehrgarh "changed the entire concept of the Indus civilisation […] There we have the whole sequence, right from the beginning of settled village life.", ref "Chandler 34–42"
  2. Excavations at Bhirrana, Haryana, in India between 2006 and 2009, by archaeologist K.N. Dikshit, provided six artefacts, including "relatively advanced pottery," so-called Hakra ware, which were dated at a time bracket between 7380 and 6201 BCE.[7][8][9][10] These dates compete with Mehrgarh for being the oldest site for cultural remains in the area.[11]

    Yet, Dikshit and Mani clarify that this time-bracket concerns only charcoal samples, which were radio-carbon dated at respectively 7570–7180 BCE (sample 2481) and 6689–6201 BCE (sample 2333).[12][13] Dikshit further writes that the earliest phase concerns 14 shallow dwelling-pits which "could accommodate about 3–4 people."[14] According to Dikshit, in the lowest level of these pits wheel-made Hakra Ware was found which was "not well finished,"[14] together with other wares.[15]

Citations[edit | edit source]

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