North Indian Cuisine, Golden Triangle

There is no one specific cuisine attributed to India. For such a multi-ethnic country, it stands to reason that its cuisine would be just as diverse as its languages, architecture or faiths. With the Golden Triangle located in North India, it would make sense to focus on this region. However, even within North India there are several cuisine sub-types.

The ones that intrigue me the most are the Mughlai and Rajasthani cuisines, simply because it reflects the journey I’ve been on so far. 

Mughlai cuisine was developed during the Indo-Persian era. The recipes are strongly influenced by Turkic cuisine,  where the Mughals originally hailed from. The dishes are rich and aromatic enhanced with spices such as saffron, cardamon, black pepper and cumin.

Tikka for instance is a Mughlai dish consisting of skewered boneless pieces of meat marinated in spices and yoghurt then cooked in clay ovens. Although its origins are unknown, the Mughals did bring to India boneless pieces of meat that they called Tikka. Some of the spices used in its preparation are red chilli, turmeric, pepper, coriander and garam masala. The flavour is a lovely combination of spiciness, with warm, earthy flavouring from the turmeric and a citrusy aroma from the coriander. 

Rajasthani cuisine is quite interesting because it was based on the availability of ingredients in what is a very arid environment. Given the war-like lifestyle at the time it was important that the food lasted for several days and could be eaten without heating. Scarcity of water and vegetables was another challenge back then, making most of the people in the region non-vegetarians. This is fascinating to know given that today 75% of its population is vegetarian, making it the largest vegetarian state in India. 

With that in mind, I considered a vegetarian dish, the Daal Baati, a lentil curry with hard wheat rolls. The lentil is often a rather plain pulse but when combined with spices such as cumin, ginger, asafoetida, green chili, turmeric, garam masala and chilli powder, it truly transforms it into a satiating, warming and subtly spicy experience. Now Baati, a hard, unleavened bread is a little more laborious in its preparation but it has a long shelf life and high nutritional content. As such, it was highly prized during wartime and in desert areas. 

Of course, as with any cuisine, the preparation is often at the whim of the person making it. Spices may vary slightly, cooking approaches may differ, variations will abound but if in the end, the dish is finger licking good, then it doesn’t matter how it was made or where it came from.