| Punjab Food |
| Punjabi cuisine is not subtle in its flavour. There are no intricate marinades or exotic sauces, but it has full-bodied masalas cooked with liberal amount of desi ghee (clarified butter) always served with a liberal helping of butter or cream. Milk and its products are an essential part of everyday cookery, curd and buttermilk are also an essential addition to every Punjabi meal. Predominantly wheat eating people, the Punjabis cook rice only on special occasions. It's never eaten plain or steamed, for steamed rice implies that somebody is sick. Rice is eaten always with a bagar (flavouring) of cummin or fried onions with Rajma or Kadhi. Rajma with rice or rice With Kadhi is eaten on holidays or on festive days. In winter rice is cooked with jaggary known as gurwala chawal or with peas called matarwale chawal or as a delicacy called Rao Ki Kheer which is rice cooked on very slow fire for hours together with sugar cane juice. In Punjab itself, there are differences in flavours and style. For example, people around Amritsar prefer well fried stuffed paranthas and milk sweets. In the Malwa region Bajra (ground maize) khitchadi (kedgree) is a delicacy. There are of course certain dishes which are part and parcel of Punjab and their very mention conjures up the rich flavour of the state. Mah ki Dal, Sarson Ka Saag and Makkee Ki Roti, meat curry like Roghan Josh and stuffed paranthas can be found in no other state except Punjab. The food is suitable for those who burn up a lot of calories while working in the fields and tilling their small acres. For the urban folk, however, eating even one dish is enough because life in the cities is so sedentary. The main masala in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic, ginger and a lot of tomatoes fried in pure ghee. |
