Ingredients play a vital role
in Indian food as the aroma of the spices and herbs creates miracle when mixed
in a common dish. Playing with the ingredients makes the Indian food special
because the perfect blend of proper ingredients enhances the taste and add
colour to the food.
The foods of four major
religions that originated and are practiced in India are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
The Muslim religion is also referred to as one of the Indian religions because
it was brought to India nine hundred years ago and has since spread over the
entire country, with sixty five million followers. The other religions include Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Each of these groups has its
own code and methods of cooking and eating. India has derived its unique
technique of cooking food by developing and incorporating the styles of
different countries and races that include Mughals and Persian traditions.
Accordingly Indian food has included the ingredients of the food habits of
these races. With the passage of time several local herbs and spices found
their way into these dishes, thus, giving rise to the distinct new style of
cooking known as Mughal cooking.
The role of spices and herbs
goes far beyond pleasing the palate and soothing the senses. They have
medicinal properties that were known to the ancient Indians. Ayurvedic scripts
in the three-thousand-year-old Holy Hindu Scriptures on herbal medicine list
the preventive and curative powers of various spices, herbs and roots in the
treatment of common physical ailments. Over many centuries, specific spices
were traditionally added to, and thus came to be associated with, certain
Indian dishes. Asafetida and ginger root
are known to counteract flatulence and colic, so they are added to lentil
preparations as a matter of course. Some spices are excellent stimulants of the
digestive system, which has a tendency to become sluggish with lack of physical
activity. To know more read:
