Wondering what “The Tastes of India” is and why we named this blog “The Tastes of India”?
Before I answer that, let me ask you a question.
What’s the one thing that connects every one of us Indians?
Food. Isn’t it?
India is a land of diversity.
The beauty that you would witness as you travel from the Northern end at Kashmir to the Southern end in Kanyakumari and from the Western end in Gujarat to the Eastern end in Mizoram, is more than what words could explain.
The travel through this land that thrives on “Unity in Diversity” is a pleasure in itself.
You can see everything from snowy mountains, lush green pastures and forests, sand dunes, and deserts to rocky mountainous terrains as you travel through the different parts of the country.
Travel a few kilometers and talk to a localite and you will see how the language, rather the dialect changes.
That’s right.
As many different ways of talking as there are people.
We are diverse in everything – culture, traditions, attire, and food.
Wait!
Did I say, “FOOD”?
I guess that isn’t right.
Wondering why?
That is exactly what we are going to showcase and answer through this blog – The Tastes of India.
With the varied culture that can be seen throughout India, the variety of cuisines would obviously be countless.
But my journey through food showed me that there is a lot that is common in the different cuisines that are served in different parts of the country.
In fact, I believe that this similarity is what connects every one of us.
My blog, “the Tastes of India” is a tribute to the variety of mouth watering cuisines that are specialities of the various states in India and the way they connect us to each other.
This is an attempt to capture every one of those recipes and show you how we are united even in that variety.
A north Indian married into a South Indian (Kerala) family who travelled across many cities, I consider myself fortunate to have tried a lot of those cuisines. And that is what I am trying to present in this blog.
The Essence of The Tastes of India – Heirloom Recipes
Remember those days when you would sit down for lunch and your granny would say, “serve him a little more ghee”?
Yeah!
That was something that was common in most households.
Some of those ingredients that our grannies, moms and elderly insisted on us consuming had a specific purpose to it.
But over time as we aped the western culture and attributed it to “modernization”, we either forgot or, discarded them, calling them “unhealthy”.
The world has come full circle today. And the same western culture has adopted every one of those ingredients and categorized them as “Superfoods”.
And we…
…just because the west called it “Superfoods”, we are going back to the same old ingredients again – the heirloom ingredients.
Today Ghee, Coconut Oil, Ragi and Sattu are all considered essential.
What was once called the “food of the poor” is today the “food of the rich”.
And every one of us has started using these at home even if it meant paying exorbitant prices for these.
But are we educating our kids about these so that they do not do the same mistake that we did?
My attempt with this blog is to use as many heirloom ingredients as possible in the recipes that I make so that our kids get the best when they eat these foods.
The kid’s recipes that you will find on the blog are all tested on my little daughter and hence I can proudly say that your kids too will love them.
If you are a working mom, a homemaker, a bachelor or, a stay at home daddy, you will find something or, the other that fits your requirement.
So feel free to search and browse the many recipes here.
I hope you like what you see and read here.
If you did, then do drop me a note using the contact button or, you can comment and let me know your thoughts.
PS: This post was first published in 2008. What you are reading is an updated version of it!