With time and tolerance of different people and customs, India has truly become a diverse nation. With the influences of various religions, climate, and even ingredients, Indian cuisine has evolved to a unique and authentic genre of food. India is the second most densely populated country in the world, after China. It can be split up into four regions; Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western. These four regions are all different from one another and carry their own predominant cuisines. Although they are all living in the same country, people from different regions may seem unfamiliar with the certain dishes and ingredients being produced. Even though each region has different views of cooking and life in general, they all agree upon one thing: the numerous spices, distinct flavors and aromas for which Indian cuisine is famous.
In Northern India, where climate is a huge factor, the majority of ingredients incorporated in their cuisine come from the fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables harvested daily. With this rich variety of fruits and vegetables in northern India, most of the dishes produced are vegetarian. Not only is the climate a huge factor of influence in Northern Indian cuisine, but religion as well. Hinduism is a religion that respects all life forms, thus requiring Indians to practice vegetarian eating habits. It is highly rare for Indians who are devoted to Hinduism to eat any animals or meat. Being the biggest region filled with vegetarians, northern India incorporates all of their regions spices, dairy, grains and even legumes in the majority of their recipes to give variety in the vegetarian diet. Some of the foods and spices used in this region are coriander, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, ghee (a type of clarified butter), basmati rice, and naan. .
Eastern India, home of beaches, mountains and the city of Cherrapunji is the region with most rainfall in the world. This region truly separates its cuisine from all the other regions due to European influences.
