North Indian cuisine

North Indian cuisine is the collective culinary tradition of the peoples of northern India, the non-peninsular part of the subcontinent, from Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh. It is known for creamy sauces, mild curries, flatbreads such as paratha and cooking in the tandoor clay oven.

History

This cuisine took shape over centuries across very diverse regions, and its present profile reflects contacts with Central Asia during the Mughal Empire, which brought techniques and ingredients that set it apart from the cuisines of the south and east of the subcontinent.

It is best understood as a broad regional family, with sub-styles such as Awadhi, Punjabi, Rajasthani or Kashmiri, each with its own identity. It shares features with the cuisines of Pakistan and Bangladesh, with which it has a common history.

Culture

Its place in everyday life shows most clearly at the shared table: paratha accompanies almost every meal, and rice cooked as pulao is a staple. The tandoor, a clay oven capable of intense heat, defines many meat and bread dishes. Within the region, very different variants coexist, from the cooking of Punjab or Rajasthan to that of Kashmir, and today its influence reaches restaurants around the world.