Asian Vegetarian Cooking

Lesson 3: NORTH INDIA

A Taste of History

North Indian cuisine, as compared to the cooking of southern India, has evolved widely over the centuries due to the influence of invaders who entered India from Central Asia through the Hindu Kush passes. These nomadic, meat-eating cultures may have introduced the cooking technique of frying to India.

The food of the north was particularly influenced by Muslim tribes, who eventually established the Moghul Dynasty in 1526 with Delhi as their capital. The Moghuls ruled for 200 years and introduced a highly refined and sensual cooking style that was deeply influenced by Persian culture. Eventually the Moghuls embraced local herbs, spices, and cooking styles. However, the Persian origins of many of the better known Moghul dishes are clearly recognizable, both in name and substance. They include saffron-specked, ornately garnished biryanis; braised meat and vegetable dishes called korma; pot-roasted vegetables known as dum; and meatball-based dishes known as kofta.

Moghul flavorings are delicate and the dishes are rich. The spices are mild and evocative -- cinnamon, cardamom, mace, nutmeg, cloves, and saffron. Sauces are silky, laced with yogurt, cream, and ghee. Fruits, nuts, and nut butters are used in savory dishes.

Garlic and onion emerged as popular foods in the North for the same reasons that they remained unpopular in the South until recently. These foods were associated with the Muslim invaders. Like the chile peppers added as condiments, potatoes were also added as supplements to the main course and continued to be used as a vegetable rather than a staple in the Indian diet. The sweet potato and the common white potato were both introduced sometime in the sixteenth century.

Tea is an accompaniment to many Indian meals, particularly in the North. Indians became tea drinkers courtesy of the British. Great Britain ruled India during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries until independence was granted to the subcontinent in 1947.

Although it is hard to imagine Indian cooking without tomatoes or white potatoes, these foods only entered the repertoire of most Indian cooks in the late nineteenth century. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes were well-known in earlier centuries but never caught on as a useful food. The British colonial government of India, familiar with the value of the potato to Europeans, decided to heavily promote the potato. Muslims were the first to use the potato in considerable numbers, probably out of economic need, with the more prosperous Hindus later adopting it.

Peanuts also came to South India via the Philippines and were widely cultivated by the late nineteenth century. Like the potato, peanuts were encouraged by the British government. The British hoped to profit by creating a commercial market for Indian products in Europe. Peanuts soon entered the diet of most Indians as peanut brittle or as an addition to chilies. Most of the oil consumed in India currently is made from peanuts.

Outside of India, particularly in England, much of the cooking of North India is known as Balti cooking. The name derives from the region of Baltistan, a remote area of the Himalayas, which was absorbed by Pakistan in 1947. Following the very bloody religious fighting that accompanied the partition of India, many Baltistanis emigrated to Britain. Many of them established restaurants and their food became known as Balti food. It is also known as karahi cooking, a karahi being the two-handled wok-like pan that is widely used in the region.

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