Indian Cuisine: Its Features and Integration into Australian Cuisine

The purpose of this report is to analyze the background information of Indian and relative of Indian cuisines, including the geographical, current daily food, cooking methods, regional variations, influence of religions, celebratory meals, and culture. Then shows how those relevant influences on migration patterns and Australian food culture.

Geographical Location

India is located in the Asian continent, it is the world's seventh largest country, located in the Indian plate, and covers an area of 3,28 million square kilometers. India's neighbor countries are Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and China among other countries. The geography of India is very diverse and its ecosystem diversity and Plantae diversity is enormous. Due to the diversity of Plantae, Indian cuisine is characterized by the extensive use of various spices and herbs. India has an extraordinary variety of climatic regions but tropical wet and dry climate consist more relatively. Winter is starting from December to February, summer is from March to May. India is the second most populous country in the world with a population of more than 1.3 billion, making it a densely populated country, according to World Meters data on July 1, 2019. India has twenty-nine states and seven federations. New Delhi is the capital of India, and Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states in western India. There are hundreds of languages in India, 23 are officially recognized, and Hindi and English are widely spoken. Hindus make up more than 80 percent of India's population, while Muslims make up about 10 percent.

Current Day Food and Culinary Practices

Indian cuisine is known for being diverse, ancient, and traditional. There are differences of dishes between regions, each region has their own traditional foods and culinary characteristics. However, most staple foods are homogeneous in India. The majority of staple foods in Indian cuisine are included rice, potato, a variety of lentils, meat, vegetables, roti, and bread combined with different spices and herbs. India's staple foods diet is very salubrious as vegetables and wheat occupy the most consumption and meat is eaten in smaller quantities. Fruits and vegetables have been the foundation of Indian diets. The most commonly eaten meats are chicken and lamb.

One of the most important parts of Indian cuisine is the extensive use of spices and herbs. They are very important in Indian cooking. “That's the Indian in me - you must put spices on everything. That was our medicine. That was the cure-all.“ Aasif Mandvi. The most frequently used spices are chili pepper, cardamom, turmeric, coriander, and garlic, etc. Cinnamon is often utilized in curries to give an opulent flavor. Cloves are used as a mouth freshener. The mixture of spices and condiments is called Masala. Garam masala is one of the most popular spices and usually contains seven different spices. Most Indian families have their own spice box called Masala Dabba. Desserts are often flavored with cardamom, saffron and rose petal extracts, etc.

Indian cooking methods are not much different to those normally used, such as frying, simmering, steaming, tandoori (baking in a special Indian oven). Many dishes often use between three to six kinds of cooking methods. Conventionally starting from tempering the spices and herbs, followed by frying or sauteing other ingredients, then continuing the process with other cooking methods.

Regional Variations

India is a country with has more than two thousand ethnic groups and diverse climatic and geographical patterns. The distinct food habits in each region are predicated on the environmental varies across the regions. The cuisine is broadly classified into North Indian and South Indian styles, they depend on the local production and native cultures of the region. Fewer spices are used in cuisines in North-East India. Fish, Bombay prawns, and beef are eaten commonly in North-East India and coastal areas. Rice is a staple food in North Indian cuisine such as Indian butter chicken with rice. East Indian cuisine is predominant with fish and mostly non-vegetables. Sweets are renowned in East India, the sweetness of desserts is lighter than in other regions, and the famous dessert is creamy rice pudding. North and Central India cuisines are predominant with wheat and rice with butter-rich flavor. South Indian cuisine is typical in the use of coconuts, spices, curry leaves, and roots for flavoring. For instance, sweetened coconut milk and dosa. Many Indian dishes are cooked in vegetable oil. However, peanut oil is more popular in north and west India. Coconut oil is often used in the west coast, particularly in Kerala. Sesame oil is common in the south. Coffee and tea are equally common in the different regions of India.

Influence of Religion / Beliefs

Indian culture and religion play an important role in the development of Indian cuisine. Their belief in respect for lifeforms and it facilitated a vegetarianism community in India. Hinduism is the majority religion in India which make up over 80 percent of India's population. They treat the cow as an inviolable animal because the cow is seen as part of the family that is given maternal love. Therefore, any dairy products that from cows are regarded as auspicious in an Indian dish. It also affects on Indian diet is that the main sources of their daily protein are absorbed from lentils and beans and not from dairy from cows. On the other hand, Muslims is taboo to eat pork because in Muslims bible says “And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you” Leviticus 11:-7–8, Holy Quran. Muslims regarded pork as impure and harmful food. In the the12th century, Muslims were the authority in India and it began to impact Indian cuisine. The main difference between Muslims and Hinduism diets is the consumption of meat and fish. Muslims are now widely become part of the Indian tradition.

Food festivals are characteristic of Indian society. Indian prepared a variety of dishes from vegetarian dishes to non-vegetarian dishes during the festivals. Desserts are indispensable cuisines in Indian festivals such as mithai and sweets made from cheese or milk. There are some popular food festivals in India such as the national street food festival, the Asian Hawkers festival, Goa food festival so on. The great Indian food festival represents the most popular food festival in India, more than twelve states will be participate. Pongal is a harvest festival which is considered one of the most important festivals for Hindus in a year, it celebrates the harvest of rice, sugar cane and turmeric. As the second largest producer of fruit in the world, India has more than one thousand mango varieties, international mango festivals held in summer, and Indian celebrate with mango eating competitions and mango carving. Another important festival in India is Durga Puja, the holiday will continue for five days, and Indians will dance and visit Pandals. There is a Durga Puja menu called Bhoger Khichdi which means pure vegetarian, this dish is offered to god, therefore, it must be pure, even garlic and onions are not allowed. Other celebratory meals during festivals are steamed hilsa fish, mutton kebab, rice flour, and bananas so on.

Some of the Indian cuisines are very similar to Mexican diet, chilies and most of the spices are widely used in both countries. Mexican Tortillas are similar the Rotis of India. On the other hand, rice and bread are the staple foods in the northern part of China, the same as India. In addition, northern Chinese cuisines are usually in heavy flavor. Spices and herbs are widely used for flavoring foods also for Chinese herbal medicine. This is very similar with Indian cuisine.

Every country has its own unique aspect of culinary culture, for instance, Chinese eat with chopsticks, Americans have Thanksgiving Day and Indians eat with hands. In India, holding food with fingertips is a sign of respect for the host and god, fingers dyed is considered impolite. In India, Ayurveda is an ancient dietary and therapeutic science that remains by the most widely used form of medicine in the country. For instance, cardamom are added to cuisines to relieve heartburn. Some unusual types of cuisines are frog legs, red ants chutney, steamed hornets and pig brain.

Migration Pattern

Aboriginals were the original inhabitants for thousands of years. In the nineteenth century, the first settlers of Australia were British prisoners, then following by the Gold Rush Era in the 1850s. Large quantities of gold were found in Australia and around 80,000 of Britons and Chinese were settled down to mine for gold. In the 1970s, 200,000 Vietnamese and Chinese refugees were resettled in Australia after the Vietnam war. There are over 6.9 million of immigrants population nowadays and they brought their culinary traditions. Almost every kind of food can be found in Australia. Australians are willing to adopt different kinds of recipes, many Australian cuisines fusion with European cooking styles with Asian flavors, it is a product of multicultural. But as a British colony, British cuisines is mostly liked by Australians. Therefore big breakfast, fish and chips, pies and steaks are popular.

Influence on Australian Food Culture

India has impacted the food culture in Australia intensely. Australia's food culture was influenced by the British, and India was part of the British Empire in the early stage. Therefore some Australians had some basic knowledge of curry. Along with the increase of immigration of Indians, Indian food also has begun to rise in Australia. For instance, Indians fusions British black tea with added milk and sugar and created chai. India spices have also had an impact in Australia. Coles and Woolworth as the most popular supermarkets for Australian households can now see Indian spices and food on their shelves. Among those products, Indian spices are especially popular among Australians. India as the world's largest producer of spices, use different spices to satisfy people’s tastes around the world. Places, where Indians congregate, are filled with Indian restaurants and markets. The well-known Indian dish curry has even become a staple food of Australia. Curry has become an indispensable existence in some households. Besides, Australians have begun to use Indian spices skillfully and have combined with the traditional cuisines to create new cuisines and tastes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Indian food culture is influenced by geographical location and religion. Indian cuisine extensive use of spices and they eat with their hands. Since large quantities of Indians have migrated to Australia and brought their culinary traditions, Indian and Australian food cultures integrate successfully, they eventually merge with each other to form new cuisines.