Food
Hindus and Jains are predominantly vegetarians, to a greater extent than Hindu communities elsewhere in India. Gujarati cuisine follows the traditional Indian full meal structure of rice, cooked vegetables, lentil curry or daal and roti. The different types of rotli (breads) that a Gujarati cooks are rotli or chapati, bhakhri, thepla or dhebara, puri, maal purah, and puran-pohli. Khaman, Dhokla pani puri, dhokli, dal-dhokli, daal,undhiyu, jalebi, fafda, chevdoh, Samosa, papdi, muthia, bhajia, patra, bhusu and Sev mamra are traditional Gujarati dishes savoured by many communities across the world.
Khichdi – a mix of rice and toor daal, a type of lentil, cooked with little spices in a pressure cooker – is a popular Gujarati meal. It is found very satisfying by most Gujaratis, and cooked very regularly in most homes, typically on a busy day due to its ease of cooking. It can also become an elaborate meal when served with several side dishes such as a vegetable curry, yogurt, papad, mango pickle, and onions.
The making of masala is traditionally done on grinding stones but today people usually use a blender or grinder. There is no standard recipe. People from north Gujarat use dry red chili powder, whereas people from south Gujarat prefer using green chili and coriander in their cooking. Gujarati Jains don't eat root vegetables like potato, onion, garlic, radish, carrot ,etc.Traditionally Gujaratis eat mukhwas or paan at the end of a meal. In many parts of Gujarat, having chhass (chilled buttermilk) or soda after lunch or dinner is quite common. Gujarati families celebrate Sharad Purnima by having dinner with doodh-pauva under moonlight.
A version of English custard is made in Gujarat and uses cornstarch instead of the traditional eggs. It is cooked with cardamom and saffron, and served with fruit and sliced almonds.
Read more about this topic: Gujarati People
Famous quotes containing the word food:
“Men should not labor foolishly like brutes, but the brain and the body should always, or as much as possible, work and rest together, and then the work will be of such a kind that when the body is hungry the brain will be hungry also, and the same food will suffice for both; otherwise the food which repairs the waste energy of the overwrought body will oppress the sedentary brain, and the degenerate scholar will come to esteem all food vulgar, and all getting a living drudgery.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“God gave the righteous man a certificate entitling him to food and raiment, but the unrighteous man found a facsimile of the same in God’s coffers, and appropriated it, and obtained food and raiment like the former. It is one of the most extensive systems of counterfeiting that the world has seen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 6:6-8.