Indian Cooking- Mainly About Vegetarian Cooking According To Hindu Religion 

India is a widely diverse country with a huge variety of food cuisines that is available in both vegetarian and non vegetarian options(Fisher, 1998; p- 283-285).  

The various ethnic ,cultural, the religious aspect of people and the geographical location plays a vital and important role in terms of food preferences and cooking style in India(Santich, 2012, p-5-7).

The food in the India are mainly made up of different kinds vegetables, spices and herbs which are majorly found in the local area and are good for health.  

The Indian food diet mainly consist of staple food items like rice, Rotis made of wheat and b?jra (pearl millet) as well in addition to  dal (lentils) vegetables and meat(Ambedkar, 2016). Some of the famous vegetarian food items may include the Veggie balls cooked in a thick gravy or sauce, cottage cheese cubes cooked in a spinach gravy also commonly known as the palak paneer in addition to red kidney beans curry (rajma) (Fischer, 2016).

It can be said that the British, the Persian, and the Portuguese made vital contribution  or is an important contributor to the Indian Cuisine. Tea or which is  most commonly known as chai is said to have been introduced by the British in Indian subcontinent (Kershen, 2017).

According the various medieval, ancient and religious Hindu text, Non Violence  or Ahimsa against any form of living organism is encouraged. As a result, many people of Hindu religion prefer Vegetarian Diet which is in sync with the nature.  Vegetarianism  is considered as satvic.

The Hindu mendicants  or the Sannyasi are known to depend on alms or harvesting seeds and the various fruits from the trees on the forest for foods to avoid provide harm to other life forms.  

Ancient Hindu religious text like the Sutras and the Upanishads had talks about the proper nutrition and the diet in addition to the  Aharatattva.

Many Hindu people according to the Hindu tradition  fast on certain days such as Ekadashi, Chaturthi and on week days like Mondays or Saturdays in honor of Hindu gods. During those days certain vegetarian foods are allowed to be eaten. Those mainly include Sago, potatoes, Sweet potatoes , fruits and dairy products like curd (Kwon & Tamang, 2015).

In India, the four cardinal direction the North, the South, the  East and the West represent the four different cooking methods and dietary habits that is very much prevalent in India.

The South Indian food mainly consist of rice based rice crepes or commonly know as the Dosas  and steamed rice cakes which are known as idlies served with famous coconut gravy.

 The western India diet majorly is divided between Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian. Maharashtra since is one of the major state consists of Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian food options. While the Gujarati is purely vegetarian people and is well known for best vegetarian food along with Rajasthan (Ruby et al.,2013).

The East Indian food in states like West Bengal and Orissa  mainly consist of Non Vegetarian items like Fish, Sea food and rice as their staple diet. However state like Jharkhand and Bihar are know to be veggie lover and occasionally meat.
The North Indian Cooking Style or diet is highly influenced by the Moghuls Dynasty that ruled in India during the  15 centuries. The main highlight is the saffron rich gravies  with crèmes and pureed nuts . In addition, there is Naan bread which was originally  adopted from the Moghuls Dynasty and the Afghani people (Mangalassary, 2016).  

References

Ambedkar, B. R. (2016). Castes in India: Their mechanism, genesis and development (Vol. 1). Ssoft Group, INDIA.doi:10.1177/053901888027002005

Fischer, J. (2016). Markets, religion, regulation: Kosher, halal and Hindu vegetarianism in global perspective. Geoforum, 69, 67-70.

Fischler, C. (1988). Food, self and identity. Information (International Social Science Council), 27(2), 275-292.

Kershen, A. J. (2017). Food in the migrant experience. Routledge.

Kwon, D. Y., & Tamang, J. P. (2015). Religious ethnic foods.

Mangalassary, S. (2016). Indian cuisine—the cultural connection. In Indigenous Culture, Education and Globalization (pp. 119-134). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Ruby, M. B., Heine, S. J., Kamble, S., Cheng, T. K., & Waddar, M. (2013). Compassion and contamination. Cultural differences in vegetarianism. Appetite, 71, 340-348.

Santich, B. (2012). Bold palates: Australia’s gastronomic heritage. Wakefield Press.