ON A NORTH INDIAN FOOD TRAIL FLAVOURS OF KUMAON, GARHWAL, HIMACHAL & RAJASTHAN

North India is famous for its culinary traditions with every state having its own specialty in food. Offering a wide range of dishes to give a real treat to the taste buds, North Indian states are a paradise for food lovers in real sense. Food Holidays in India is becoming quite popular as a theme for holidays these days, where people who are in love with food come and enjoy, what they love doing the most. If you are the one, prepare your taste buds for a fresh adventure on a range of food trails in Northern India.

While travelling in North India you can experience Gharwali, Kumaoni (in Uttarakhand @ Casa Dream The Resort) Himachali & Rajasthani food, and most of these dishes are not available out of these states. So if you have to experience the intricacies of these amazing cuisines, you have to visit these states for the gourmet meals they offer.

Kumaoni Cuisine

Kumaon has its own unique and impressive culture & traditions and food has important place. Well, food is an integral part of every culture and Kumaoni Cuisine has some exquisite & mouth watering dishes. While visiting these mountains, you cannot afford to miss the cuisines, having their unique style of preparing delicious and appetizing dishes. Kumaoni Cuisine is famous for being very simple but highly nutritious to suit the harsh conditions of these mountains. If you are a gastronome, you must experience the unique flavors of Kumaoni Cuisine where the use of mustard and cumin seeds not only adds a distinct taste but also act as appetizers.

Chudkani, Ras and Bhatiya are made from pulses & local spices while aloo ke gutkhe, aloo dal pakora & pakodas are some popular snacks. Food here is incomplete without dal, chutney and a sweet dish. Pua, Bal Mithai and Jhangora ki Kheer are some native sweet dishes. You can always enjoy barbeques and live grills with some great local juices and drinks.

Gharwali Food

Gharwali Food is full of diverse flavours, colours and condiments, but not very spicy due to the hard working nature of local people. It is believed that Gharwalis are descendants of Indo-Aryans and Indo-Iranians and this is the reason they have mixed food culture with equal varieties of non-vegetarian and vegetarian dishes. Gharwali Cuisine is famous for the use of special local condiment – Hash (Bhaang). If you are a gourmet traveler then you must experience the endless delicacies Gharwal has to offer. You can start your day with Bhari Roti & Bhaang Jeera Chutney, which is a famous breakfast here, while Urad Pakora, Kaddu Ki Bhujji with poori can be a great lunch for you.

Rice is the staple food here and they are not very fond of tomatoes, even in chutneys they use hash seeds as main ingredient. The pulses, beverages and fruits here are quite different from other parts of India. Some typical Garhwali fruits are hisoi, kaafal (bayberry), kilmudi, mekauti (malta) and narangi (orange). Some famous juices are burash (rhododendron) juice, rose juice and malta juice.

Himachali Cuisine

Food in Himachal is very much similar to the rest of North India as they also have wheat, rice, vegetable, broth and lentil as main foods. But you love non-vegetarian food then you can offer a treat to your taste buds here because red meat and white bread is the most dominant part of Himachali Cuisine. Use of aromatic spices to make thick and rich gravy is the base of many delicious dishes, both veg & non-veg. Steamed momos and noodles have become famous here recently but these are not the traditional food of the state. Some of the specialties of Himachal include Manee’, Madira, Pateer, Chouck, Bhagjery and chutney of Til.

Rajasthani Food

Rajasthan is the famous state of India among travelers for its amazing culture, colourful dresses, folk dances, heritage sites and most importantly – the delicious cuisine. This state plays a very important role in making India famous as Incredible India and it is a paradise for a connoisseur. Cuisine here is influenced by two major factors – the first is the war-like lifestyle and second is the availability of ingredients in arid-region. Rajasthani food could last for many days and can be eaten without heating. Scarcity of water & green vegetables has a strong effect on the style of cooking but there some wonderful delectable dishes to enjoy.  The famous snacks you can enjoy here are Bikaneri Bhujiya, Mirchi Bada and Pyaaj Kachori. The most famous main course food is Daal Bati Churma and some of the sweet dishes are Ghevar, Dil Khusal, Churma Ladoo, Badaam ka Halwa, Gujia and Mawa Kachori, etc.  Laal Maas is the most popolar non-vegetarian dish famous across the state.

So get ready to explore some great food holidays which are totally meant for foodies.  It is being said that – “There is no sincerer love than the love of food”