Who's Afraid of Tandoori Chicken?

There’s nothing like being first, right? The Punjabi restaurateurs who popularized their fare worldwide would nod emphatically. Today, North Indian cuisine is virtually synonymous with their tikkas, tandooris and ‘makhni’ gravies. But this is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. A true-blue foodie would do well to explore some less-publicized and equally exciting North Indian cuisines.

North India occupies a vast territory, from land-locked Himalayan states to the sprawling Indo-Gangetic Plain and coastal, semi-desert regions. This varied environment and history have played a role in developing their diverse cultures. Can cuisine be far behind?

Guides to North and South Indian food

Kashmiri food, generally speaking, is heavily meat-based. Dry fruits, nuts and Kashmiri spices (red chillies, turmeric, and saffron) are used for flavor. Kashmiri Hindu cooking balances meats with vegetables and fish. Onion and garlic are excluded, while lotus stems and turnips are popular ingredients. Kashmiri Muslims specialize in delicately spiced meat gravies and kebabs. Look out for favorites like Rogan Josh and Gushtaba. With all this calorie-loaded fare, it’s perhaps natural that desserts don’t figure prominently in the scheme of things. Phirni is a simple, semolina-and-sweetened milk sweet dish that usually suffices.

Visit a Punjabi or Haryana home for dinner and you’ll be quite surprised at the variety of dishes that never make it to a restaurant menu! Fresh produce and seasonal vegetables are emphasized, in tune with the extremes of climate. In summer, cool gourds and green vegetables are used to prepare lightly seasoned dishes, consumed with rotis (flatbreads) and big glasses of chilled chaach (buttermilk). Millet-based flatbreads are nutritious and inexpensive. Winter is when those ubiquitous villains from restaurant menus, Dal Makhni, Aloo Gobi and Paneer Tikka are relished for their spicy, warmth-giving qualities!

While most of UP (Uttar Pradesh) swears by simple, vegetarian cooking, the city of Lucknow is synonymous with the Awadhi cuisine of the Nawabs. Non-vegetarian and vegetarian dishes are slow-cooked on charcoal fires, sometimes up to three days. Spices like cardamom, mace, cinnamon and cloves infuse a heavenly aroma and flavor, while dried fruits, nuts and cream add a final touch of decadence!

Go farther south and temperatures rise; so does the spice quotient. Rajasthan is water-scarce, desert country. The harsh climate and hardy, warrior lifestyle of its inhabitants led to the development of food that could be preserved for long periods and eaten without heating. In desert towns like Jaisalmer and Bikaner, milk and buttermilk replace precious water while cooking. Hardy cereals like millets and corn make delicious flatbreads, served with liberal doses of ghee (clarified butter). Gram flour is a base for batter-fried dishes and snacks. Chillies, garlic, turmeric and coriander are generously used. Rajasthan’s favorite food is Dal-Bati-Churma. Every region of Rajasthan has its sweetmeat specialty such as Ghevar from Jaipur, Malpuas from Pushkar and Jodhpur’s Mawa Kachori.

Gujarat’s food is essentially vegetarian, thanks to the influence of Jainism. Typically, a Gujarati meal features small, griddle-cooked flatbreads, dal or lentil curry, rice, several vegetable dishes, and shaak (buttermilk). Vegetable recipes have an intriguing spicy-sweet flavor. Farsan, or snacks, both steamed and fried, are popular, and often made with gram flour. Onions and garlic are never included in Jain cuisine. Cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek and turmeric are used for flavor and for their digestive properties.

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