Understand how a vast array of regional dishes are built upon a common foundation of staple grains, pulses, and spices.
Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free
Hook regarding the thousands of dishes available in India.
The number of different dishes and preparations you can taste in India numbers in the thousands, if not lakhs!
With such bewildering culinary diversity, what is the common thread that ties them all together?
Explanation of staple grains, millets, pulses, and spices that form the foundation of Indian food.
Despite the immense variety of dishes across India, certain staple ingredients are common to almost every region. This culinary foundation perfectly illustrates the idea of unity within diversity.
Map showing cereals and pulses across different regions of India.
While specific varieties of rice, lentils, and millets dominate different regions, they all serve as the foundational staple grains across the country.
Fill in the blank exercise for staple grains and spices.
The number of different dishes and preparations you can taste in India must be in their thousands! Yet certain food grains are common to almost every part of the country. These core staples include cereals such as rice, barley, and . Millets are also incredibly popular, including pearl millet () and sorghum (). Another widely eaten hardy grain is finger millet, also known as . These simple base ingredients are transformed using a shared vocabulary of flavors. Common spices used to cook these dishes throughout the country include turmeric, , cardamom, and .