Nah, most of the professional Chef's are men. I think that says something - the best cooks are men.
Interesting.
I did read a report a couple of years back issued by the Indian Govt that there are only under 10 countries in the globe where Indians are not present!
I think its a strategy to conquer the world. Breed and send abroad! lol
The Pakistani's never like to say it but what they cook is largely Indian cuisine
.
South Asian cuisine is just another name for Indian cuisine
The most common types of oil used in India are Mustard Oil, Refined Oil, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil. You would be hard pressed to find houses that use something different other than the ones mentioned above.
North India uses Mustard , Sunflower and Refined oils predominantly.
South India uses Coconut, Refined oils predominantly. Infact South Indians use Coconut oil to cook almost everything!
Well, that is harder to answer.
Milk and Cheese in India is always from Cows, Goats. Never from Sheep or Camel.
North India uses a
lot of milk and yogurt, South India uses very less. There are huge variations in dietary patterns between the different regions of India.
I'll explain the whole North India, South India culinary thing later on.
Well, let me take a stab at explaining India.
Indian cuisine is vastly different from one place to another because India is a subcontinent in itself. Vast distances. India is divided into 28 States. Each State is generally as big as other countries! Each State also has differing cuisines and specialties.
There are 5 basic geographic and cultural differences - North India, South India, East India, West India and North East India
North Indian cuisine - Delhi- is more similar to Middle Eastern/Central Asian cuisine because it was under Muslim rule the longest. Pakistani cuisine is essentially North Indian cuisine.
West Indian Cuisine- Bombay/Gujarat- is basically North Indian food modified to taste slightly differently. So from a culinary perspective, it is irrelevant.
East India - Calcutta(capital of Bengal) - you correctly mention is mostly - lots of fish, vegetables and milk. Bangladeshi Cuisine is mostly East Indian and some North Indian cuisine.
North East India - Arunachal/Nagaland- is passingly similar to Tibetan/Chinese cuisine
South India - uses Coconut oil - is very unique. And very very varied among the different regions of South India.
Kerala is one State in South India as is Tamil Nadu. The foods of the two States vary quite a bit.
I believe most of these points are covered in the paragraph above.
You are right though. Hyderabad was ruled by a Muslim king, but since the numbers of Muslims were quite limited there, they dont really have anything unique, since the majority of the population still ate the local staple diet - which were South Indian variations of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
And I am North Indian so I naturally like North Indian food more, but of the South Indian cuisine, I like food from Kerala the most.
No issues.