Category:North Indian Recipes

Northern Indian Cuisine
The food from North India traces its descent from Persian ancestors who started filtering in India from the 11th century A.D. onwards and then more definitely from the 16th century A.D., when the Mughals came to power. The Mughals brought with them Persian and Afghan cooks who started North Indians on the rich and fragrant Persian rice dishes, such as pilafs and biryanis (meat-based pilafs). Garnished with pounded silver (vark), these dishes along with spicy kormas (braised meat in creamy sauces), koftas (grilled spicy meatballs) and kababs used to grace the tables of emperors.

Even today, these dishes are cooked and eaten all over north India. The ultimate destination of foodies is the North Zone of India. There is absolutely no dearth of variety for a creative gourmet in this part of the country. The zone is fortunate to be the hub of some of the most exotic styles of cooking. Many of which are renowned all over the world and regarded as the most developed and refined of all culinary arts.

Most famous of all is the Mughal Cuisine. National, capital, Delhi is the place to enjoy this style in its best form. Known for their love for life and lavish styles, Mughals treated their gastronomic requirement with a lot of seriousness. They added a touch of royalty to the food and produced mouth watering taste with the generous use of spices, sausages, dry-fruits and butter. Roasted in tandoors, the meat dishes taste out of this world. Thinking of yummy Tandoori Chicken and Seekh Kebab?

Jammu and Kashmir is blessed with the tradition of Kashmiri Cuisine and Wazwan, the fabulous aromatic banquet consisting of over 36 delectable dishes. Most of these are meat based and contain heavy dose of spices, condiments and curds. Rista, Tabak Maaz , Rogan Josh are just some names of the dishes from this awesome state.

The Awadh style of cooking, popular in the city of Nawabs and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. The 'Dum Pukht' method is prevalent in Awadhi cuisine. In this food is cooked in handis on slow fire. The final result is rich in taste and aroma. The very famous Murg Mussallam and Shami Kebabs are prepared with the dum process.

Food from Punjab also known as Punjabi, needs no introduction. Have a bite of Makki di Roti with Sarson ka Saag and down it with the famous Punjabi Lassi and one will get the taste of food in this land. Food in Punjab and Haryana is cooked with love. It is rich in butter and ghee and contains lot of spices.

Recipes from the hilly regions of Himanchal Pradesh and Uttaranchal are simple and extremely nutritious. Here one can find huge variety of dals cooked in labour intensive styles over slow fire. One can find a lot of variety in cooking pattern in this state as taste preference change from one region to other.

However, everyday meals of people in north zone of India consists of chapati, rice, lentils and vegetables. A large number of people are also very much fond of non-vegetarian food.