Kamal Ghorui
The potato crowns Bengal’s biryani, squished some, it’s ubiquitous in political rallies, in greasy foil packets. Meanwhile, biryani makers are finding workarounds for fuel shortages. Netas, of course, spar on fish, like fishbones stuck painfully, making claims difficult to swallow.
What’s delightful is, cuisine across India changes every – no exaggeration – 100km, maybe even less. Topography, culture, phenomenal spices – a turn in the road can take one to a new land and food. Take biryani – 26 types, more variations in southern states than north’s ever known. Take dal – over 50 varieties, cooked in a zillion ways. Because, every line that draws diversity adds a culinary twist too – by region, faith, caste, foreign influence (Parsi, Portuguese, Dutch, boring British food). As for Chinese, we verily own it. No snide comments, please.
So, never ask for Indian cuisine. It means nothing. If amchur works for Lucknow, it’s kokum for Kochi. South knows not, kasuri methi. North delights in coconut, only in sweets. One cook’s ghee is another’s coconut milk. India’s a land of infinite cuisine combos, and specificities, and rivalries – coastal to landlocked, valleys to mountains, desert to subtropics & tropics. We have 400 shades of red chillies alone, a pinch of this, a dash of that – it makes food a year-round celebration. In fact, only if you eat a totally different cuisine, every day of the year, can you – probably – boast you’ve explored cuisine from All Over India. But you still can’t say, you’ve eaten everything there’s in “Indian cuisine”. There’s no such thing.
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