Talk:Indian cuisine

Chillies and its Origins

Why do documentary makers and some historians insist that chillies were introduced by the Portuguese?? The Indian subcontinent has a much longer history with chillies (in Indian cuisine), at least since the Rajput Era. After all, there isn't just one varierty of chilli. The hottest chilli in the world originates around the Bengal area. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.151.29 (talk) 05:07, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

Banana leaves

"In South India, a cleaned banana leaf is often placed under the food as decoration and as a hygienic and portable alternative to plates." Kindly tell me whose language is that...what do you mean by placing it under food? Does it mean you put food on the floor first and then insert a banana leaf under it? In what way can that be hygienic? Vacuum cleaners are new to South India... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.195.139.186 (talk) 16:23, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

The Indian Cuisine template is gigantic

This template is gigantic, isn't there a way for someone to shrink it down. It literally takes up a third of the top of the page and really takes away from the page content, or perhaps make it a template to put on the bottom of the article page.--Christopher Tanner, CCC 03:55, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree, it is a waste to print out for projects —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.130.5.1 (talk) 05:37, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

This is a great page

Could you add list of Indian food by alphabetical order and by alphabetical order of major Ingradients(this because to help some one who want to make an indian dish with items they have). And like how you eat peanuts in India which I have written in peanut page. Do not change it. Thank you. Karsten Reddy, Edison, NJ, USA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ureddy (talk • contribs) 12:42, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

incorrect article

South Asian cuisine differs depending on ethnic gorup.Balochis are Pakistanis yet they do not have any connection to india.To call South Asian cuisine "Indian" is heavy POV.it is like calling European cuisine "German cuisine".-Vmrgrsergr 02:51, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

South Asian cuisine Indian cuisine, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names). Cuisine of Balochistan, as you rightly mentioned, should be a part of the article on Persian cuisine. Punjabi and Sindhi cuisine would be appropriate in this article. Please note that the adjective "Indian" in this title has nothing to do with the Republic of India. It is used more in the cultural and geographical sense of the Indian subcontinent. For this reason, the article was renamed from "Cuisine of India" to "Indian cuisine" several months ago. deeptrivia (talk) 06:55, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Coconut water vs coconut milk

In the beverage section I had changed coconut milk to coconut water. Because Coconut milk is used in recipes as an ingredient while the coconut water is used as a beverage. Why was the change reverted? I also checked with other references in wikipedia and it said the same thing. Coconut milk is used for cooking. I have seen coconut milk being used in mojitos and with Amarula (African liquor) but never in Indian cuisine as a beverage while coconut water is widely used as a beverage in all parts of India. --Kaveri 17:50, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I've changed coconut milk to coconut water. Coconut water is the beverage. Coconut milk is used for cooking. Gnanapiti 17:55, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Lack of raw vegetables

I must say that to me, the distinguishing feature of Indian cuisine versus most others I've tried is the lack of fresh or raw vegetables. Everything is cooked so thoroughly that any nutrients present in the vegetables must be completely cooked out. I think something about having no raw / fresh vegetables deserves mention in the article, because that feature is different from many other cuisines of the world. =Axlq 05:37, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

the perception might be because of the restaurant food you eat in and outside India. Not all food is overcooked. Also a lot of food is steamed in steam pressure cookers that is healthier than sauteing and keeps nutrients in.

A typical everyday meal has atleast one raw vegetable mix like Koshimbir in Maharashtra - finely chopped vegetables flavoured with spices, in curd/yogurt or course ground groundnut/peanut. There are many fresh Lonache/Aachar in Maharashtra made from fresh uncooked carrots, cauliflowers etc. Also, steaming a vegetable is done at various levels in various recipes, not all vegetables are cooked to death. --Kaveri 20:06, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

I think Koshimbir is the same as Kosambari. Gnanapiti 20:48, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, I suspected that my perception of overcooked vegetables in Indian cuisine arose from my experience in numerous Indian restaurants, but I also have several Indian friends to whom I mentioned this, and they didn't deny it. Maybe this has to do with where they're from.

I had concluded that the tendency to overcook may be a result of historically poor water hygene. For example, it probably isn't healty to eat raw vegetables washed in Ganges River water, which has been polluted for generations by sewage and corpses, so cooking everything thoroughly would prevent infectious illnesses. In such a case, raw vegetables may be less healthy than cooked. =Axlq 05:11, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Ganges doesn't cover whole of India. It doesn't cover even 15% of the land. Besides rivers, there were/are huge number of wells and lakes in all towns and villages. Gnanapiti 14:51, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, obviously. I used the Ganges as an example. =Axlq 07:27, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

Raw vegetables are fairly uncommon in many cuisines in the world, precisely as you say because of hygiene issues. Nightsoil is a common fertilizer world-wide, and it's a good idea to cook vegetables fertilized with it.... This was no doubt known long before Pasteur. Chinese cuisine, indeed, uses even fewer uncooked vegetables than Indian -- in Indian tradition, many fresh chutneys and raitas include uncooked vegetables. As for "any nutrients present in the vegetables must be completely cooked out", if this were true, India would be completely depopulated, don't you think? In fact, most nutrients are not destroyed by cooking.[1] --Macrakis 13:52, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

this has nothing to do with hygiene (btw learn the spelling first).. its just a traditional way of cooking..just like the Italians add excess of cheese in their food which I'm sure not very "healthy".adding spices to the food not just adds flavor but also increases its nutrient content.. spices are really good for health..and for heavens sake where do you think India is?? people here have very good supply of clean drinking water.. nobody has to go to ganges to wash it..and if i may remind you ganges was the source of the cleanest water once.the water the british used to carry from england to India used 2 get stale and had to be thrown out mid way but water from ganga remained fresh during the entire trip from India to england..pollution came in much later.

Confusing sentence in Elements section

"Chana is used in different forms, and may be used whole or processed in a mill that removes the skin, eg dhuli moong or dhuli urad, and is sometimes mixed with rice and khichri (a food that is excellent for digestion and similar to the chick pea, but smaller and more flavorful)."

This might have got all confusing due to multiple edits. At present it does not make sense. I am changing it to:

These are used in different forms, and may be used whole or processed (which removes the skin), eg dhuli moong or dhuli urad. Chana is a food that is excellent for digestion and similar to the chick pea, but smaller and more flavorful.

I am not sure if it makes sense still but I tried. --Kaveri 20:10, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Our article on chick peas says that chana is a type of chick pea - it's not a different thing. Secretlondon 03:40, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

They're the same species. Chana is the larger, lighter-colored chickpea that is also used in Mediterranean cuisine, and kala chana is the small, darker-colored chickpea used mostly in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Badagnani 04:28, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I thought so but wasn't sure. So in addition to rewording the sentence now I am also deleting the sentence about chana is similar to chick pea. --Kaveri 19:04, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Adding an external link

I would like to add http://www.dhrishticreations.com/files/recipes.htm as an external link under traditional cooking. This site gives many recipes traditionally used in South India.

I would like to add the Indian Cuisine page on Webaroo - http://www.webaroo.com/webpack/lifestyle/indian-cuisine - It's a collection of blogs that give Indian recipes. These blogs are updated on a regular basis. There is also an option to download the collection on the computer and receive updates. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sheece (talk • contribs) 13:41, August 23, 2007 (UTC).

I have a new portal on Spices just made. Here in The FAQs page i have tried to answer most commonly asked questions on spices by my customers in the brick n mortar store which i have been running since years. Now that i am online and wikipedia is a great medium to spread information. I would like to add this page. I have taken care that no commercial purchases can be done on this page and this page is just informative. Also, this page will get updated frequently as I plan also to add innovative recipes here.

url: http://spicesonline.info/page.html?id=4 description: Indian Spices FAQs in Lucid Language. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr.chetanladdha (talk • contribs) 06:42, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

All above links all fit Wikipedia:External links#Links_normally_to_be_avoided and WP:NOT#DIRECTORY wikipedia is not a directory of links

Please don't suggest here personal webs or recipe webs, do those suggestions at Open Directory's relevant category. For wikipedia you should suggest links to encyclopedical content that is not present on the article, see "what to link" --Enric Naval (talk) 17:31, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Merger proposal

I have placed a merger proposal tag on the section for Tikka Masala. This is a large amount of info to have on just one dish inside a cuisine article, especially when there is more information on the dish on this article than the Chicken Tikka Masala article. I think there should be information on dishes in the article, just this much information isn't needed when an article for this one food items already exists.--Chef Christopher Allen Tanner, CCC 06:53, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Most of the info was about Anglo-Indian cuisine and the development of that. Very little mention of tikka, so I removed the title. Iciac (talk) 01:21, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

hmmm

The pictures on this article make me hungry 217.65.158.13 (talk) 14:16, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Pork?

Is pork ever used at all in mainstream South Asian cuisines? Le Anh-Huy (talk) 10:35, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

There is a dish in Goa which involves spicy pork sausages (similar to Chorizo) cooked in a hot/tangy sauce.--SohanDsouza (talk) 18:13, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Culinary Explorations of India

It is a monthly newsletter about Indian Cuisine and distributed by Easy Tours Of India. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Azad.eti (talk • contribs) 10:34, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Can you identify this dish?

What is it?

Can anyone tell me what is it? It is made with the same mixture as the dosa, but is a bit different. Could it be Utapam? The picture was taken in a street in Varanasi. 80.178.114.234 (talk) 15:00, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

100% sure it is Uttapam. --Enigma Blues (talk) 02:59, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

What are the black spots? What is a South Indian food doing in a north Indian city? Badagnani (talk) 03:01, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

I think those black spots are whole black mustard seeds. And are you suggesting that south Indian food is only made in southern India? Visit India and you'll be surprised. --Enigma Blues (talk) 23:02, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Agree: North India does not lack South Indian food! BlackPearl14^{[talkies!•contribs!]} 23:08, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Tenti dela

Need to determine what species the Indian vegetable tenti dela (used in Indian pickles) is. Badagnani (talk) 22:01, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Page move

Page move of September 13, 2008 should have been discussed first. Please do that in the future. Badagnani (talk) 02:58, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

I oppose this move. Could anyone explain what exactly is "Cuisine of the Republic of India", a term that is used while explaining the rationale behind the move? deeptrivia (talk) 04:54, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

I also oppose the page move. The title "Indian cuisine" is what the majority of the English speaking world calls Indian cuisine. Article titles should reflect common usage. =Axlq 22:37, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Sure. Firstly, "Indian cuisine" can be confused with native American cuisine and though the article mentions that in italics, in my opinion it is better to have a more specific title, especially when there is an option of doing so. Secondly, this article is specifically about cuisine of India. And previously there has been a dispute regarding the scope of this article (the term "Indian cuisine" can be used as an umbrella term for some other South Asian cuisines). By changing the title of the article from "Indian cuisine" to "Cuisine of India", and by using the two terms interchangeably in the article, doubts regarding the scope of this article should not exist. However, if someone disagrees, feel free to revert my move. --Enigma Blues (talk) 22:40, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Punjab, East India, West India?

What happened to the other regions...? and since when is "Punjab" a region used interchangeably with "North India?" and where is South India on that list? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Okaywhatever (talk • contribs) 23:03, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Miracles of Indian Food

I saw an interesting article in a blog of a site which talks about the Miracles of Indian Food as a remedy for multiple symtoms and conditions. Indian food has for time immemorial played a large role in Prevention. Somrthing the Western world is catching onto only in recent times.

The article link is hereunder:

http://www.desidieter.com/blog/

I think this is a good reference to put on the indian cuisine article.

COmments??

As I understand it, Ayurvedic medicine is considered pseudoscientific. There is no proof that ayurveda, or by extension, Indian food, makes people any healthier. That is, it is unverifiable research, which is prohibited by our External Linking Policy. We also don't link to blogs.

In short, I do not think such a link should be added to a factual encyclopedia entry on food, as we are meant to be a reliable, factual resource, not a source of "things that some guy somewhere said might help you feel better". keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 14:37, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Error in "Popularity and influence outside India" section

In the section it says: "In 2003, there were as many as 10,000 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in the United States alone.[23]" but the source says: "In places like England, Indian cuisine dominates with as many as 10,000 Indian restaurants in operation" So the 10,000 number refers to England and not the United States. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.89.177.181 (talk) 06:01, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for catching that, I've fixed it. carl bunderson (talk) (contributions) 05:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

New template for Indian cuisine pages

I noticed that the existing template for Indian Cuisine is very large, and takes up most of the page, thus making it difficult to use infoboxes as well. I have created a new template - Indian dishes by Region {{Indian Dishes}} . You can also find it on my talk page. I will also put this up for discussion on the food and wine wiki project talk page. Shravan.Iyer (talk) 07:11, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

"In particular, curry, which originated in India, is used to flavor food across Asia."

"Used to flavor food across Asia"? Huh? Curry isn't a flavor or a spice. I'm editing that. AyanP (talk) 04:16, 10 November 2009 (UTC)Ayan

Eating habits

Is evening breakfast and dinner the same thing? I've had a go at copy editing the eating habits section, but think it may need some work on the content... Ellyrobi (talk) 13:02, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Most authentic Indian Food Image library

www.foodpics.in is an online food image library offering a wide variety of exclusive & authentic Indian food images. Currently, foodpics.in has approx 1000 images of Indian food, from pickles to desserts... Indian breads to curries... foodpics.in

Behind www.foodpics.in is Saba Gaziyani, India's leading Food Stylist & Photographer, having 15 years of experience in creating mouth watering Indian food images. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Foodpics.in (talk • contribs) 13:02, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

Tea

I travelled to India last year, visiting Indore and Hyderabad. My experience was that most people I dealt with drank tea in the British style (milk and sugar) not as masala chai, which was sometimes available but not in any way dominant. Is this a regional variation? Is it an urban/rural variation? Is this just a fluke of the assumptions on the part of the hospitality in hotels and with the industry people I was interacting with? SDY (talk) 22:40, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

The Regional cuisines missing from this page

The following states cuisines are missing from the Regional Cuisines section. Please add them in. --92.12.53.151 (talk) 12:41, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Madhya Pradesh

Indian food image placement

I have added an image of indian_food.jpg on the starting of history section. If someone does think that its placement is incorrect then go ahead and change its placement. Iam adding this comment here because many times I have noticed that if you put some image or content at the starting of some articles they are deleated, especially when you have done this by logging in your username and not otherwise.Thanks.Jrsanthosh (talk) 08:55, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

A photo of one specific dish isn't a useful illustration for the "history" section - images should have some relevance to the text they're placed next to, so that they add to the reader's understanding of the subject. (And an image at the very start of the article should be a good representative picture of the whole article.) If you're adding images just to fill up empty spaces in articles, I'd imagine this was the only reason why they were being deleted.

Given that we already have a better quality photo in the only section that mentions pooris, and no real space for another picture in that area of the article, I think we can live without the new image; I've removed it from the article. --McGeddon (talk) 10:08, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

Editing

I made several grammatical fixes, nothing major. The article seems to be in overall good shape grammatically.Coaster92 (talk) 22:26, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

File:Ghee jar.jpg Nominated for Deletion

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Foodistan

Hello there,

I have started creating an article at Foodistan. I would appreciate if editors could help increase the content of the article.

Many Thanks.

--Rvd4life (talk) 14:52, 25 January 2012 (UTC)