Legumes, beans (channa, rajmah), and peas have a prominent place in the menu, by themselves as dal


(consisting of beans such as mung, toor, bengal gram/chana dal, masur, urad, and black-eyed peas), or combined with cereal grains or vegetables.


Vegetables are consumed in different forms: stir-fried, sautéed, pureed, minced, or prepared as a


sabji/bhaji, plain, with spices, or with a paste of ginger, garlic, and onion, to which different combinations of spices are added. Fresh vegetables are served as a raw salad or combined with yogurt. Nuts such as peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and cashew nuts are used to enhance flavors and taste. Herbs such as mint, dill, cilantro (coriander leaf), and basil, and spices such as chili, turmeric, cumin, mustard, and tamarind are commonly used in food preparation. Spices and herbs are often roasted and blended either dry or moist and called masalas. Regional variations exist with regard to the spice combinations. Examples include garam masala (a popular spice mixture consisting of spices such as asafetida, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chili peppers, and amchur) in the north and west; panchphoran powder (a mix of five spices, typically fenugreek seed, nigella seed, cumin seed, black mustard seed, and fennel seed) in the east; sambar powder (coarse powder made of roasted lentils, dried whole red chilies, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, asafetida, curry leaves, and other spices, depending on the region), rasam powder (consisting of cumin seeds, black pepper, coriander, split pigeon peas, fenugreek seeds, dry red chili, and asafetida), and chutney powders (a coarse mixture of roasted lentils/dal, with chilies and other seasonings) in the south. These spice combinations are added to curry dishes, which can be stir-fried vegetables, or gravy with meat, vegetables, or lentils. Chutneys (a condiment similar to a relish) and pickles (achar) are made from vegetable and fruit combinations; they may contain generous amounts of oil, salt, and spices and are accompaniments to the main meal.


For people who are nonvegetarian, chicken is popular; small amounts of goat or lamb, poultry, and


eggs are also eaten. Although beef and pork are generally avoided for religious reasons, some people eat those meats routinely or at special occasions. Seafood dishes are popular in coastal cuisines. Roasting, marinating, deep-frying, and baking in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay or metal oven, are popular cooking techniques. Meats and seafood are cooked in curry sauces in dishes known as macher jhol (seafood curry stew), kurma (curry dish consisting of different vegetables, sometimes a meat, and gravy of yogurt and nuts), and kheema (minced meat dish).


Tropical fruits are consumed as a snack or dessert. Fresh fruits and dried fruits such as figs and raisins


are popular as snacks and are used in desserts. Milk is a popular beverage added generously to coffee and regular or spiced tea. Dahi (curdurd in


South India) is a yogurt used as a side dish. Dahi may be sweetened with sugar, salt, and spices, mixed with water as a beverage (lassi in North India or majjiga in South India), or eaten in a salad with raw vegetables. Dahi is prepared on a daily basis, especially in the south, and usually is quite high in fat as it is prepared with whole milk. With the prevalence of low-fat milk, and due to increasing health awareness, low fat curd/yogurt is also consumed. Southern meals rarely end without a nice serving of yogurt mixed with rice, generally consumed with a side dish of pickle. Paneer/chenna, or homemade cottage cheese, is a popular cheese product used in snack preparations as well as cooked with vegetables. Desserts (mithai) such as barfis, peda, doodhpak, and rasgulla are prepared from concentrated milk (khoa) or coagulated milk (chenna) with sugar or molasses (jaggery). Grains, lentils, and nuts may also be present in laddoos (ball-shaped desserts made of dough). Desserts such as gulab jamuns and jalebis/imarti are deep-fried and preserved in sugar syrup. Kulfi, or ice cream, may be prepared using mango or pistachio or other dried fruits.


Deep-fried snacks such as pakodas, samosas, and chakli are prepared from cereal flours, semolina, refined white flour, whole wheat flour, and legume flours, either individually or in combinations. Snacks


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