Summary: (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/PushpeshPant-150x150.jpg)What is Indian food? Or, should the question be what are Indian foods? How do you define Indian food especially when India was not always a cohesive geographical entity? What was the role of the 2,000 year old spice trade on Indian cooking? Do geographical barriers matter when it comes to food? What happened to the original food of Delhi? What about the role of old and new immigrants on Indian cuisine? To find answers to what is Indian food we turned to Prof. Pushpesh Pan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushpesh_Pant)t (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushpesh_Pant)who says that what exists in India are "zones of taste," and that there is no such thing as Indian food. Zones of taste are almost like the Indian national anthem that intermingle and create India's culinary inheritance he explains. Seasonal variation played a key role in Indian cuisine, but that is changing. Ladakh, a snowy desert is growing fresh vegetables and that has changed the food habits of the people in that region he points out. How has Indian food changed in recent years? "The myth of Mughalai cuisine." and the " tyranny of tandoori food" has changed the Indian food is Pant's (http://twitter.com/PushpeshPant) pithy answer. Tune in to listen to the interview. You can also watch a video interview with Pushpesh Pant on the original foods of India. Related Links: Pushesh Pant on India: The Cookbook (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2012/08/23/prof-pushpesh-pant-on-india-the-cookbook/) Part-1 (podcast) What is Paan? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opnAIb8snq8) (video)
