Image Credit - food.ndtv.com
In India, we would come across various spices, sugar, fruits, and vegetables. Many of them are originated from India which has become famous all over the World.
From 16th Century when the Portuguese started trading posts in Subcontinent, there are many fruits and vegetables emerged from South and Central America. They are guavas, papayas, chayote, avocado, tomatoes, chili peppers which have improved India’s Tropical Climate.
Spices in India:
Even the spices in India which have originated as early as the 8th century. Indian spices had been greatly valued in the middle ages. I would say if there are no spices in food it is like no sugar in the cake. The spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cardamom have been included in ancient texts and used for different herbal and health purposes.
For example, Sesame seeds are one of the seeds which are mainly used for flavoring and in food. It is an oil-seeded crop which has originated in India very early. This is the seed that is extensively used in Asia and the Middle East. Spices like saffron, coriander, mustard seed, and cumin have arrived from distant western Asia.
Early Healthy Diet in India:
Mostly the early diet in India consists of vegetables, honey, fruits, dairy products, and legumes. These fruits and vegetables have become indigenous in India which has a range of variety tubers such as melons, gourds, eggplant; green leafy vegetables, etc. In fruits, the famous ones are mangoes and jackfruit.
When onions are grown in Southwest Asia. Even the modern botanists tried to find out the origin time of this vegetable, but it was difficult to place their first cultivators. Maybe we can say that it might get originated by3, 500 BC.
In those times they mostly get depended on this vegetable because it will grow in any type of soil easily or in any type of weather ecosystem. Onions can be preserved during winter also.
Summertime Favourites:
When we think about summer, there will be a big list in our minds which will be running. In that list, mango is a summer fruit. As usual, it is manly originated in Tropical Areas around 4,000 years ago. It is known as a sacred fruit. Maybe it is a fruit with a large seed it gets transported by humans across the world.
In the period of Buddhism, mangoes started to represent faith and prosperity among the followers. Like this, there are many stories behind this fruit. Now, this mango fruit is named for National Fruit in India.
India’s biggest contribution:
Even though we saw many types of ingredients which have shown greater impact in our Indian History. But which has shown greater contribution all over the world?
It is juice with extraordinary taste and texture which is none other than Sugar cane. Sugar cane is a perennial grass that originated from Southeast Asia. This consists of 17% of sucrose with a sappy pulp in it. Maybe it might have started in the first millennium BC.
From sugar cane, sugar is been extracted by filtering and cooking it slowly in a large pot in low fire. When the juice gets thickened it is called phanita. If they are further concentrated and made into powder is known as brown sugar
There are still many ingredients like rice, millets, lentils, yogurt, etc, which have shown our uniqueness and greatness in India. We Indians should be proud to be born in this land of fertile soil and diverse land. Henceforth, we should not waste our food because each type of food is born in a different way and different type.
Written By - Shreya Srinivasan
Edited By - Daniel Deepak Charles
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