GAME OF FOODS

India is the land of spices and is also home to a variety of mouthwatering food items that will just leave you wanting more. Over the years we have seen our traditional Bhakri and Sabji being replaced with foreign cuisines like burgers and French fries or our very own invention of Desi Chinese. With the introduction of various new outlets like McDonalds, KFC, Dominoes etc, various international cuisines have made their way into our good old Dal Chawal. Nevertheless, we still stay loyal to our roots. There is not a single home where dal and chawal is not appreciated. You, a tired couple, your parents, teenagers who live in paying guests or hostels, None of them could ever say no to a hot bowl of Dal Chawal or Rajma Chawal. Most of India’s cuisine is influenced by various religious beliefs and traditions. Belief of the cow being sacred is one of the reasons our country was never introduced to the original burgers. The concept of burgers got introduced into our country after international food outlets like Mcdonalds etc. made its way into India. Burgers are usually made of beef, but due to Indias belief of the cow being sacred or the cow being our mother, Mcdonalds improvised and served only chicken and fish burgers in India. About 85 years ago, the Indian culinary world was affected by a new cuisine. The first Indo Chinese restaurant Eau Chew opened in Kolkata which resulted in a lot of taste buds getting excited and stomachs growling louder. A lot of people started opening up their own Chinese restaurants big and small it wasn’t just restaurants but also small vendors and food carts that introduced Chinese into their menus and started creating their own Desi Chinese recipes. Chinese and South Indian food items have also come together with the invention of schezwan Dosas , Hakka Noodles Dosa etc and ever since India has had a wonderful love affair with Chinese food resulting in our own version of Indian Chinese or Desi Chinese which seems to be a part of almost every birthday party, marriage reception or family gatherings! Our country has even become home to Italian food. Pasta, Pizza, Lasagna etc have become a delicacy and is being improvised to make our taste buds dance with excitement and stomachs growl even if it is full. We see outlets like Dominoes, Pizza hut etc, give pizzas an Indian touch. However, the one thing that has remained constant is the love of street food. Our beloved Vada pavs, Chaat, Dabeli etc has never ceased from our lists of favourite foods. Infact these recipes have gone international and are served in other countries when people are in the mood to have something spicy. We also have a variety of desserts and sweets that have made their way into our national cuisine. From what used to be Meeta Paan, Rasgulle, Gulab Jamun, Jalebi Shriikand, Modak etc we now indulge in desserts like chocolate brownies, Croissants, Cheesecake, Churros etc. However if someone did offer me a gulab jamun I would love to have that over anything else. No matter what nothing can beat my love for indian food and Indian sweets.

Everyday, food is subjected to experimentation and people come up new and tasty dishes. Food has so much scope and happiness. Where there is happiness there always is food. One cannot picture a family gathering, A friends union or a wedding without food. Products like Maggi got a new lease of life as students, employees, moms and Dads started creating new versions of it to keep their love alive for maggi and well everyone loves new versions of food.

The global fusion and games played between Indian and Continental Cuisines have resulted in some everlasting recipes that never go out of style, out of popularity and only seem to be getting better and better by the day. However the one thing that never changed was our everlasting love of spices and flavor. Other countries may have established their objective of introducing their cuisines here but fusing both cultures has resulted in a whole new cuisine that turned out to be better than the original!