FOOD
The food of the India is a hybrid cuisine which has grown out of several traditions, techniques and flavors. Its chief influences are the classical Mughal cuisine born in the imperial kitchens, and the vegetarian food of the orthodox Bania (mercantile) community. The British Raj added its own culinary influences, which helped popularize the ubiquitous “Indian curry” in the West. Today, the piquant flavors of cuisine from all over India are on offer together with a range of South Asian and European dishes in top-end restaurants.
Idli and dosa The popular South Indian steamed rice cakes and crisp pancakes, served with  coconut chutney and a spicy lentil curry are a national breakfast favorite.
Aloo-poori A potato curry eaten with puffed deep-fried bread (poori) makes a good breakfast or lunch dish.
Stuffed parathas Pan-fried breads stuffed with vegetables or mince, eaten with yoghurt and pickles.
Nilhari A breakfast stew of shank meat and bone marrow, traditionally slow cooked all night on embers.
Soups, a later addition to Indian cuisine, include the favorite Anglo-Indian Mulligatawny, and Shorba, literally the stock of meat or vegetables flavored with spices.
Mulligatawny
A dal and meat soup with tamarind.
Shorba A meat, tomato or vegetable broth.
Tandoori Platter, the tandoor, a clay oven from Central Asia , has generated a kind of barbecued cuisine now popular all over the world. Meats, fish and vegetables are marinated in yoghurt and spices and grilled on skewers.
Meat and poultry platter – offers a mixed grill served with a twist of lemon and onion rings.
• Seekh kabab • Chicken tikkas • Leg of lamb (raan) • Chicken
Vegetarian platter – a selection of marinated vegetables grilled on a skewer in the tandoor.
• Cauliflower (gobhi) • Vegetable rings • Cottage cheese (paneer)
Punjabi – specialties include hearty dishes like butter chicken, buttery dal, sarson ka saag (cooked mustard leaves), baingan bharta (smoked aubergines or eggplants), accompanied by maize flour (makki) rotis. Lassi helps digest this meal.
• Dal makhani • Makki roti • Baingan ka bharta • Sarson ka saag • Butter chicken
The Navaratris – the nine-day fasting period, has given rise to a special vegetarian diet of milk-based products and rotis made of water-chestnut flour (kotoo).
• Raita • Paneer bhurji • Kotoo roti • Aloo sabzi • Saboodana (sago) kheer
Rajastjani – robust and highly spiced. Mutton, local vegetable and berry preparations and yogurt-based curries are eaten either with rice or coarse grain millet (bajra) rotis and a variety of chutneys and green salad.
• Gatta curry • Papad sabzi • Kair sangria • Lal maas • Kadhi
Fruit – India produces many seasonal fruit. Summer brings melons, mangoes and litchis. Winter abounds in apples, grapes, papayas (paw-paws), oranges, bananas, guavas and chikoos.
Drinks – The scorching Indian summer has inspired cooling drinks (sherbets) made from a variety of fruits, plants and herbs. Believed to have medicinal properties, they are antidotes to sunstroke, and come in a riot of colors.
• Fresh lemonade (nimbu pani) • Sandalwood (chandan) flavored sherbet • Vetiver (khus) sherbet • Rooh Afza (a herbal syrup) • Saffron (kesar) flavored lassi • Yogurt drink (lassi)
• Beer
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