Food is integral to any culture and, as a land that has experienced extensive immigration and intermingling through many millennia, the subcontinent has benefited from numerous
Food influences. The diverse
climate in the region, ranging from deep tropical to alpine, has also helped considerably broaden the set of ingredients readily available to the many schools of cookery in India. In many cases, food has become a marker of religious and social identity, with varying taboos and preferences (for instance, a segment of the Jain population eats no roots or subterranean vegetable; see Jain
vegetarianism) which has also driven these groups to innovate extensively with the food sources that are
deemed acceptable.
One strong influence over Indian foods is the longstanding vegetarianism within sections of India''s Hindu and Jain communities. At 31%, slightly less than a third of Indians are vegetarians.<1>.
Around 7000 BCE, sesame, eggplant, and humped cattle had been domesticated in the Indus Valley.<2> By 3000 BCE, turmeric, cardamom, black pepper and mustard were harvested in India<3>. Many recipes first emerged during the initial Vedic period, when India was still heavily forested and agriculture was complemented with game hunting and forest produce. In Vedic times, a normal diet consisted of fruit,
vegetables, meat, grain, dairy products and honey.<
citation needed> Over time, some segments of the Brahmin caste embraced vegetarianism,<
citation needed> facilitated by a cooperative climate where a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains can easily be grown throughout the year. A food classification system that categorized any item as saatvic, raajsic or taamsic developed in Ayurveda. Each was deemed to have a powerful effect upon the body and the mind.<1>
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