Rise of the regional cuisines

Vibha Sharma

Thanks to most food enthusiasts, including food bloggers, self-proclaimed masterchefs, photo stylists, foodies and many food critics/appreciators; cooking and food have already attained liberation from the restraining walls of kitchens. As food began its journey with newer addendums like passion, love, porn and foodgasm, it has been on the trail to defy yet another set of barriers in the form of location and region. 

It feels like the world has woken up to register a variety of flavours, textures and tastes. Gone are the days when South Indian cuisine implied just idli-dosa and North Indian fare meant chhole-bhature. One doesn’t need to be a food aficionado to be able to acknowledge the diversity in the cuisine that every region of our country offers, especially in today’s internet powered well-connected world. 

As social media sites and chatting platforms have consolidated their position for sharing pictures, videos and status, these influence the users by luring them to what gets shared on the common arena. Once a seed of desire gets planted, one does try to fulfil it and more so when one knows that fulfilling the same is practical too. Who can resist the temptation that an enticing picture of a plateful of Hyderabadi biryani along with mirchi ka salan unleashes? When someone talks about a variety of murukkus or batata-vada at tea-time, that talk goes far and makes many interested in partaking these tongue-tickling tea accompaniments. Just concluded Ganesh chaturthi festival had many people sharing modak recipes and mouth-watering pictures. One can easily imagine the effect these have on the ones who have a special thing for everything sweet. An inviting picture of slowly melting white butter on piping hot gobhi-parantha can make anyone drool for it. Appams and idiyappams from Kerala, Bengali flavours in luchi and aloo-jhingaposto, Bihari litti-chokha, Rajasthani gatte-ki-sabzi, Kashmiri dum-aloo, North Indian phirni, lasaniya batata of Gujarat, pithas and chungdimalai of Odisha and many more — are flavours that have seen unprecedented rise in their patrons across all physical boundaries.

A Delhi-based restaurant owner Manu Tiwari says, “People are more interested in trying cuisines of different regions now. They cook their own cuisines at home, so when they come out, they like to experiment with different and unique flavours.” Recognising this trend among customers, food festivals of different regional cuisines are commonly organised in restaurants and hotels these days. 

Multiple food channels and TV shows like Roti, Rasta Aur India, Zaika India Ka, Turban Tadka, Secret Recipe and likes of these have furthered the cause of spreading aromas of regional cuisines to far off places. Not to ignore the vast reach of plethora of YouTube food channels that have made personal tutors accessible in any kitchen. Nisha Madhulika, Archana Joshi, Sumayya Usmani, Maunika Gowardhan, Monika Manchanda are names that have made big in their own way in the food industry through their cookery videos and blog posts on traditional and fusion recipes. Rashmi Bansal, a food enthusiast says, “I have learnt cooking just following Nisha Madhulika’s website and now her videos. I can cook wide range of dishes. For me, the charm of cooking is to create a potpourri of flavours of different parts of India.” Yes, it is as simple as this — if one is looking to cook any particular dish, one just needs to search for its recipe on the internet and a long list of links is sure to be found to choose from. 

Feel like having fragrant filter coffee at home and some masala muri or methi thepla to go along with the cuppa? Fret not, there are portals like placeoforigin which almost work like a genie to satisfy these specific food yearnings. These source the sweets and savouries directly from their native places, making the authentic culinary delights accessible to all through just a few clicks. Because the minds behind placeoforigin believe, “you only get that delicious original taste from the place of origin.”

In a restaurant, cooking at home or ordering online — take your pick as options are aplenty for the foodies to satiate specific food desires. So one can easily let one’s taste buds indulge in the pleasure trip to different parts of the country as one enjoys the comforts of one’s home. 

Get booked for food

For recipe book loyalists, there is a wide gamut of options to pick from:

• Tiffin by Rukmini Srinivas
•  The Courtly Cuisine:Kayastha Kitchens through India by PreethaMathur
•  Traditional Indian Thali by VaishaliTripathi
•  The Indecisive Chicken by Prajna Desai
•  Classic Malabar Recipes by FaizaMoosa
•  The Seven Sisters: Kitchen Tales from the North East
•  Bong Mom’s Cookbook by SandeepaDatta
•  The Jewels of the Nizam by Geeta Devi
•  Kashmiri Cooking by P. Krishna Dar