INDIAN CUISINE:

INTRODUCTION:
Indian cuisine is one of the most diverse cuisine, which is recognized by its sophisticated and
subtle use of many spices, vegetables, grains and fruits grown across India. The cuisine of
each geographical region includes a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques
reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse Indian subcontinent. Religious
beliefs and culture have played an influential role in the evolution of its cuisine.
India’s unique blend of cuisines evolved through large scale cultural interactions with
neighboring Persia, ancient Greece, Mongols and West Asia. New trends in food such as chili
peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and squash, introduced by Arab and Portuguese traders during
the sixteenth century, and European cooking styles introduced during the colonial period
added to the diversity of Indian cuisine.

HISTORY:
Indian cuisine is one of the most diverse cuisine. Extensive immigration and intermingling of
cultures through many millennia has introduced many dietary and cultural influences. India’s
diverse climate which ranges from deep tropical to alpine, has made a broad range of
ingredients readily available to its many schools of cookery. Food has become a marker of
religious and social identity, with various preferences that have driven certain groups to
innovate extensively with the food sources that are deemed acceptable. People who follow a
strict vegetarian diet make up 20–42 percent of the population in India, while less than 30
percent are regular meat-eaters.
By around 7000 B.C.E., sesame, eggplant, and humped cattle had been domesticated in the
Indus Valley. Many recipes first emerged during the initial Vedic period. In Vedic times, a
normal diet consisted of fruit, vegetables, meat, grain, dairy products and honey. The ancient
Hindu concept of ahimsa, a rule of conduct that prohibits the killing or injuring of living
beings because violence entails negative karmic consequences, led some segments of the
population to embrace vegetarianism. A food classification system that categorized every
item as saatvic (pure), raajsic (active and passionate) or taamsic (heavy, dull, slow,
gluttonous) developed in Ayurveda; each was deemed to have a powerful effect on the body
and the mind.
Later invasions from Central Asia, Arabia, the Mughal empire, and Persia, had a fundamental
effect on Indian cooking. The Islamic conquest of medieval India introduced such fruits as
apricots, melons, peaches, and plums, and rich gravies, pilafs and non-vegetarian fare such as
kebabs, giving rise to Mughlai cuisine. A blending of Mughlai and Telangana cuisines took
place in the kitchens of the Nizams, historic rulers of Hyderabad state, resulting in the
creation of Hyderabadi biryani, a traditional celebratory meal made using mutton or goat
meat, basmati rice, yoghurt, onions, and spices, considered by many connoisseurs to be the
finest of the main dishes in India.
 AMERICAN CUISINE:
As harsh as it might sound, American cuisine has never attained the status of worldwide
renown that, for example, French or Japanese cuisine have. It seems to be a popular
misconception, perhaps further fortified by American popular culture, that hamburgers and
hot dogs utterly dominate the taste buds of the nation. This is made all the weirder by the fact
that the foods that are lampooned as stereotypically American have long conquered the snack
markets around the world.

History:
Seafood in the United States originated with the American Indians in the United States, who
often ate cod, lemon sole, flounder, herring, halibut, sturgeon, smelt, drum on the East Coast,
and olachen and salmon on the West Coast. Whale was hunted by American Indians off the
Northwest coast, especially by the Makah, and used for their meat and oil. Seal and walrus
were also eaten, in addition to eel from New York's Finger Lakes region. Catfish was also
popular among native people, including the Modocs. Crustaceans
included shrimp, lobster, crayfish, and dungeness crabs in the Northwest and blue crabs in the
East. Other shellfish include abalone and geoduck on the West Coast, while on the East Coast
the surf clam, quahog, and the soft-shell clam. Oysters were eaten on both shores, as
were mussels and periwinkles.
Early American Indians used a number of cooking methods in early American Cuisine that
have been blended with early European cooking methods to form the basis of American
Cuisine. Grilling meats was common. Spit roasting over a pit fire was common as well.
Vegetables, especially root vegetables were often cooked directly in the ashes of the fire. As
early Native Americans lacked pottery that could be used directly over a fire, they developed
a technique which has caused many anthropologists to call them "Stone Boilers". They would
heat rocks directly in a fire and then add the rocks to a pot filled with water until it came to a
boil so that it would cook the meat or vegetables in the boiling water. In what is now the
South-western United States, they also created adobe ovens, dubbed hornos by the Spanish,
to bake products such as cornmeal bread. Other parts of America dug pit ovens; these pits
were also used to steam foods by adding heated rocks or embers and then seaweed or corn
husks placed on top to steam fish and shellfish as well as vegetables; potatoes would be
added while still in skin and corn while in-husk, this would later be referred to as
a clambake by the colonists.
When the colonists came to Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or any of the other
English colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America, their initial attempts at survival
included planting crops familiar to them from back home in England. In the same way, they
farmed animals for clothing and meat in a similar fashion. Through hardships and eventual
establishment of trade with Britain, the West Indies and other regions, the colonists were able
to establish themselves in the American colonies with a cuisine similar to their
previous British cuisine. There were some exceptions to the diet, such as local vegetation and
animals, but the colonists attempted to use these items in the same fashion as they had their
equivalents or ignore them entirely if they could. The manner of cooking for the American
colonists followed along the line of British cookery up until the Revolution. The British
sentiment followed in the cookbooks brought to the New World as well.
In 1796, the first American cookbook was published, and others followed. There was a
general disdain for French cookery, even with the French Huguenots in South Carolina and
French-Canadians. One of the cookbooks that proliferated in the colonies was The Art of
Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) by Hannah Glasse, who referred to "the blind folly of
this age that would rather be imposed on by a French booby, than give encouragement to a
good English cook!" Of the French recipes given in the text, she speaks out flagrantly against
the dishes as she "… think it an odd jumble of trash."[6] Reinforcing the anti-French sentiment
was the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1764. This created a large anxiety against the
French, which influenced the English to force many of the French to move, as in
the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia to Louisiana. The Acadians left a French
influence in the diet of those settled in Louisiana, and among the Acadian Francophone who
settled eastern Maine and parts of what is now northern Vermont at the same time they
colonized New Brunswick.
Some of the Jews who fled from the Inquisition with other Sephardic Jews in the 15th century
had previously settled in Recife, Brazil and the West Indies, where their cuisine was
influenced by new local ingredients
like molasses, rum, sugar, vanilla, chocolate, peppers, corn, tomatoes, kidney beans, string
beans and turkey. In 1654, twenty-three Sephardic Jews arrived in New Amsterdam and they
brought this cuisine with them to the early colonial United States. Early American Jewish
cuisine was heavily influenced by this branch of Sephardic cuisine. Many of the recipes were
bound up in observance of traditional holidays and remained true to their origins. These
included dishes such as stew and fish fried in olive oil, beef and bean stews, almond
puddings, and egg custards. The first kosher cookbook in America was the Jewish Cookery
Book by Esther Levy which was published in 1871 in Philadelphia and includes many of the
traditional recipes.

COMPARISION BETWEEN INDIAN AND AMERICAN

CUISINE:
American food also known as America cuisine traces its origin from history of the American
people. The cuisine borrows heavily from the European food culture given that Europeans were
the colonizers of America. Styles of cooking continued to change with increasing number of
immigrants and today, the American food represents a diverse culture in both preparation and
style. Restaurants in America specialize in customer recipes that are prepared through fusion
of a number of preparation styles that translate to new Americanized methods of cooking. The
Asian scooking style however remains as the most influential in developing the fusion cuisine
in America.

American dishes may be seen a typical American food culture whereas they originated from
foreign countries. Most American foods are courted by ascorbic acid in order to give a unique
salty and sweet taste. This is done to make the foods healthy. Sweetening by ascorbic acid is
carried out on food variety like potato chips and salami among others. In addition, corn syrups
may be supplemented in baked foods like bread. Seafood in mainly popular with American
Indians, for instance, Makah is popular for its oil and meat. Other seafood delicacies include
lobsters, blue crabs, catfish, herring, and salmon among others.

Due to the large population and cultural diversity of the American people, it is hard to classify
American cuisine since various regions have their special cuisines. For example, in New
England, styles of food preparation are mainly borrowed from colonialists. One-cookery
method of food preparation made dishes like succotash whereas lobster is a main ingredient of
food preparation in areas along the shores. American dish in general comprises of meat and
potatoes that is sweetened by ascorbic acid or corn syrup. The use of spices in not common and
in most cases, the cuisines are prepared using garlic, oregano, and salt to taste.

On the other hand, Indian foods and style of preparation also have historical background dating
back to tens of centuries ago. Unlike the popular American cuisine, Indian food comprises of
vegetables, fruits, and dishes with a variety of Indian spices. Indian cuisine fits diets of
vegetarians. Every cuisine of an Indian style is a reflection of many assorted techniques, which
vary from one region to another. Just like the American cuisine, India foods vary regionally.
Different Indian cuisine is a representation of ethnic diversity while American cuisine varies
according to races.

The American cuisine and style of preparation was influenced by the European culture whereas
Indian food influenced the cuisines across the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. The most staple
Indian foods are masoor, Bajra, rice, and pulses. Beef does not form part of the Indian cuisine
due to Hindu cultural beliefs of the Indians. However, both cuisines contain chicken and shrimp
meat. A typical Indian breakfast includes nashta with any meal depending on the predominant
regional cuisine. Main dish for lunch is roti or rice accompanied by kulcha or some vegetables.
Paan are also eaten to help in food digestion. Dinner is the most important meal of the day and
it is enjoyed together as a family. Desserts like gulab jamun or kheer normally accompany
dinner services.

Although the food cultures of the Americans may differ with Indian foods, the American
Indians’ food culture is part of American cuisines. For instance, many American restaurants
serve Indian foods from both the South and North India. However, styles of preparation have
been altered to suit the modern American culture. It is therefore true that India traditional
cuisine influenced the American food culture most significantly. In sum, there are striking
similarities and differences in the Indian and American cuisines that provide basis for
comparisons.