Indian cuisine is as diverse as its culture. Food is an integral part of India's culture, with cuisines differing according to community, region, and state. With a population of over a billion practicing different religions and speaking more than 14 different languages, each religion, region, and caste has left own influence on Indian food.

Indian cuisine is characterized by a great variety of foods, spices, and cooking techniques. In fact, Indian cuisine is well known for its sophisticated use of spices and herbs.
 

            In India, food, culture, religion, and regional festivals are all closely related. About 31% of Indians are vegetarians. Large sections of India's Hindu and Jain communities have remained vegetarians for centuries and this has also strongly influenced Indian cooking. Many recipes first emerged when India was predominantly inhabited by Vedic Hindus.

             Unlike popular belief, not all Hindus are vegetarians. Foreign invasion, especially the British, brought non-vegetarianism to India.

Did you know ?

• India has over 1 billion inhabitants and 15 major languages !  
   

• Instead of multiple courses, Indian meals are based around
  rice or bread served with an assortment of savory dishes.

 
 

• In the South, meal is often served on a large banana leaf.

 
 

• Food is most often eaten without cutlery, using instead the
  fingers of the right hand. Hands are washed carefully before
  and after food. Most people in India believe that eating with
  their hands makes the food taste better.

 
 

• A large portion of the Indian population practice some form
  of vegetarianism — many people of the Hindu and Sikh
  communities don’t eat any beef, some don't eat any
  meat at all and many don’t eat meat, fish or eggs.