Ayurvedic Nutrition

• Ayurveda and Indian food culture

• Nutrition and lifestyle tradition over the years
• Regional food tradition of India
Indian food culture
• Food culture has evolved alongside Indian civilization
• Each king used to have royal court, where chefs innovated dishes
• Survey and sources: Religious scripts from archives, memories,
travelogues, history books, books on food culture, notes.
• Important Eras in Indian History
Prehistoric Era
Vedic Period
Mughal Period
European colonization
Pre-historic Era
• 2.5 million year to 1200 BC
• Stone age, Bronze age, Iron age (Lack of uniformity of languages)
• Hunter-gatherers; food was plants and animals; Eating habits based
on survival instinct.
• Harappan civilization (Animals): Bones of cattle, goats, sheep,
buffalo, pigs (domesticated); boar, deer, gharial (wild); fish and fowl
• Harappan civilization (Plants): Barley and wheat (found in
archaeological sites); Chickpeas, red lentil, green peas came from
western Asia.
Pre-historic Era
• Grilling to cook meat (roasted)
• Boiling (as evident from pottery from archaeological sites)
• Grains were grinded into flours (large saddle querns)
• Grinding spices (smaller rolling pins)

Food dependent on
Climate
Location
Season
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwjXsltxLQ
Vedic Era
• Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization was followed by Vedic Era (1500
BC – 600 BC)
• Sources: Yoga Sutras – Patanjali, Charaka Samhita – Charaka;
Upanishadas
• Cultivation of Barley, wheat, sugarcane, millets, red lentis, green lentis,
and black lentis.
• Later, rice and other cereals were added.
• Sweetcakes, like Apupa or Malpua made from barley batter and honey
• Use of nuts like almonds, pista
Vedic Era
• Animal meats like cow, goats, horses, buffaloes, and bulls
• Sesame seeds used to be cooked with vegetables, added to bread,
crushed to extract oil.
• Turmeric, pepper and mustard seeds were used for flavorings.
• Fruits: Bael, mangoes, dates, lotus stalks and roots, jujubes, gourds,
water chestnuts.
• Alcoholic beverages
The Mughal Era
• 1526 AD – 1761 AD
• Indian food culture had Mughal influence;
• Chillies, tomatoes, potatoes were introduced
• Afghan: flatbread, jalebi, koftas
• Spices: Cumin and coriander, saffron, cardamom, pepper, nutmug,
ginger, turmeric
• Exotic aromatics: camphor, rosewater, ambergris
• Unique meats: Rabbits, goats, mountain sheeps, pigeons, quails,
partridges
The Mughal Era
• Source books:
a. Ni’matnama (The Book of Delights, Ghiyath Shah, 15th Century)
(Recipe of Sambusas, Karhi, pakoras, kabab, tandoor, khichri, surbha)
b. Nushka-i-Shahjahani (Nushka u Namak, Shah Jahan, 17th Century)
c. Khulsat-I Makulat u Mashrubat (Alwan-I Ni’mat/ Khwan-I Ni’mat)
(Contains 40 chapters, such as: Nan-ha, Qaliya and do pyaza, saag, bharta,
dal, khichri, shirni, malida, tahiri, halim, firni, faluda, gulgula and khajur,
murabba, achar, etc.)

www.archieve.org
a. Ni’matnama (The Book of Delights) b. Nushka-i-Shahjahani
European colonization era
• 1505 AD – 1947 AD
• Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498, Goa was made capital of India by
Portuguese Empire making the trade of plants, animals, spices easier.
• Cheese was Channa was added to the foods. Rasaghullas and Sandesh
are prepared from channa.
• New crops introduced: potatoes, okra, chillies, pineapples, papaya,
cashew, peanuts, maize, guava, custard apple, sapodilla, etc.
• French made Pondicherry their capital.
• New dishes introduced: Rum-soaked Christmas fruitcake, Ragout, etc.
European colonization era
• Food historian Lois Ellen Frank called ‘magic
eight’ ingredients those were found and used
in Americas only.
• They are known as New World Crops:
potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, chili,
cacao, and vanilla.
• These crops came out of America after 1492,
through Columbian exchange back to the old
world dramatically transforming the cuisine
there.
The British Influence
• British first docked at Surat, and overthrew Dutch and French after battle
of Plassey in 1757.
• Notable effect was on brewing: Wine, beer, rum, etc.
• Tea plantation in Assam, Darjeeling, Himalayas, Nilgiri hills and in Sri Lanka
• Corps like oranges, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage
• Potato curry, rasam, jalfrezi, omelettes.

Journal of Ethnic Foods, 2022, 9, 15.

Regional food tradition of India
• East Indian Cuisine
• West Indian Cuisine
• North Indian Cuisine
• South Indian Cuisine
East Indian Cuisine
• Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa.
• Rice is the staple food in eastern region of India. Due to the favorable climate, eastern India grows
a lot of rice. Along with that, fishes are also available in abundance in the rivers and ponds in this
region.
• A wide variety of dishes are prepared from fishes. Hilsa is the most popular fish in eastern India.
Mostly available during the monsoons, this is famous for its unforgettable taste. Several delicacies
are made of Hilsa, Rohu, Vetki etc,
• Plenty of vegetables are also grown in this part of India. Vegetables also form a substantial part of
Eastern Indian meals. The spices used in their cuisine are also markedly different from those used
in the other parts of India.
• Sweets are a striking feature in Eastern Indian Cuisine. The people from the eastern region seem to
have a sweet tooth. Most of the eastern Indian cuisines have a tendency to be sweet. Rasgulla,
Mishti Doi
West India Cuisine
• Rajasthan, Maharastra, Gujrat
• Western India is a melting pot of several races and traditions. So various influences are seen in its
variety of dishes.
• Rice is the staple food in the western India too. Wheat, bajra and jowar are also consumed in
regions such as in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• In Gujarat region and of course Mumbai you would find Parsi influences in their cuisine. Vegetarian
dishes like Pav Bhajis, Bhel puris and Dhoklas are gourmet's delight here. Due to concentration of
the Jains in Gujarat, the state excels in vegetarian cuisine with the subtle use of spices and rich
texture.
• In the coastal areas of Maharashtra and Goa, sea fishes are available in abundance. Preparations
of sea fishes marinated in tantalizing spices are sure to tickle your taste buds. Goa, with its
signature Portuguese influence has specially won the heart of food lover through stomach with the
exotic seafoods including crab, prawn.
• The food of Rajasthan is rich in spices. But if you can brave a little spicy affair, you may be able to
enjoy the Rajasthani cuisine.
North Indian Cuisine
• Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu
and Kashmir, Ladakh
• North Indian Cuisine is largely influenced by the Mughal style of cooking. Since the Mughals were
originally from central Asia, the cuisine bears much similarity to the central Asian style of cooking.
• Abundant uses of butter based curries and dried fruits and nuts are striking features of north Indian
cuisine. Wheat that grows profusely in northern India forms the larger portion of north Indian meal.
North India lives on Roti, Chappatis, Paratha and Tandoori all made from wheat.
• Lots of oil, ghee, butter along with rich spices are used as the medium for cooking which lend the
north Indian food a very strong flavor.
• Meat also enjoys a special place in north Indian cuisine. A variety of Kebabs and Biriyanis (a
tantalizing marinade of rice and meat) bear the Mughal legacy.
• Samosa is possibly the most popular snack in north India. Lassi is another beverage made from
curd; Gulab Jamun, Motichur Laddoo are popular sweets.
• Reshmi Kabab, Seekh Kabab, and Shammi Kabab, Kashmiri Pulao, Tandoori Chicken and Mutton
to name only a few.
South Indian Cuisine
• Four different states, like: Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala constitute of the southern part
of India. There are four different schools too in south Indian cuisine. So south Indian cuisine is a
vegetarian's delight. Another striking feature in south Indian cuisine is the use of coconut oil. In most
of the delicacies, coconut is also used profusely.
• Rice is staple food here too. Idly, Dosa, Vadas and Uttapams, made from rice ground with lentil, are
popular south Indian specialties, mostly in Tamil Nadu. Also try spicy, oily and aromatic Chettinad
cuisine while you are in Tamil Nadu.
• In some parts of South India like Andhra Pradesh, Biriyani prepared from rice and mixed with meat
is a masterpiece. The dish has a rich heritage of Mughal association.
• In the Malabar coasts, like Kerala, they make fantastic delicacies of sea fish including crab and
prawn. The strong aroma of spices is another charm of cuisine of Malabar Coast.