India
For religious reasons or otherwise, more than half of India's people are vegetarian, giving rise to a rich and varied meatless repertoire. Indians are accomplished cooks of beans, grains, legumes, and vegetables because these foodstuffs, in many cases, form the core of the diet. Nuts and dairy products (yogurt and paneer, for example) are other valued non-meat sources of protein. Yogurt appears as salad (raita), beverage (lassi), meat marinade (tandoori chicken), and sauce thickener (lamb korma , braised in spiced yogurt).
Perhaps the distinguishing characteristic of Indian cuisine, from north to south, is the liberal and masterful use of spices. Indian cooks maintain a large pantry of spices, most of them aromatic, not hot. They use herbs, too (mainly cilantro, mint, basil, and curry leaf), but the skilled handling of spices separates the best cooks from the rest. The same spice may be toasted dry, bloomed in hot oil or ground in a mortar, depending on the desired results. Indians not only relish the fragrance and complexity of well-spiced dishes, they also believe that many of these seasonings have medicinal value.
In the North
The Moghuls, arriving from Persia in the 16th century, introduced elaborate rice pilafs; kebabs and other yogurt-marinated meats; and braised kormas (meat stews). Using yogurt and cream to mellow sauces is a Moghul technique. The Moghuls flavored their rice with saffron and used mild aromatic spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and clove. Their cooking became the palace cooking and remains the dominant influence on Northern cooking today.
The foundation of Northern cooking is garam masala, a blend of warm spices (typically cinnamon, cardamom, clove, and black pepper) added to a dish usually at the end. Southerners have their own spice mixtures, but the lavish use of warm spices is characteristic of the cooking in the cooler North.
The preferred cooking fat in the North is ghee (clarified butter), and although basmati rice is eaten, especially in Kashmir, bread is the staple.
In the South
The South is monsoon country, with enough rain to produce a wide variety of vegetables. Along the coast, fish and shellfish dominate the diet; elsewhere, Southern Indians are largely vegetarian. Rice thrives here, as do bananas, date palms, coconut palms, and other tropical fruits such as jackfruit and mangosteens. Southern dishes tend to be soupier than in the North because they are eaten with rice, which absorbs their flavorful juices. As is often true in tropical countries, the food is hotter here and many dishes take advantage of the cooling, sour flavor of tamarind.
Signature Ingredients
Basmati rice, legumes (lentils, chickpeas, split peas, kidney beans), yogurt, spices (saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, clove, ginger, cardamom, coriander, cumin, fennel seed, mustard seed, asafetida and many more), tamarind, fresh chiles, fresh coriander (cilantro), mustard greens, curry leaf, coconut, mango, lime, ginger, cashews, dates and date sugar, rose water.