Indian Cuisine from the East

States

• West Bengal
• Sikkim
• Assam
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Meghalaya
• Manipur
• Nagaland
• Mizoram
• Tripura
• Orrisa

Geographical and Cultural Influences

Having lot of hilly areas, rice, green vegetables and fruits are abundant in East India. So this style of cooking is mainly based on these ingredients. There is a balanced mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian styles. Due to the geographical location of this region, the food has the strong influence of Chinese and Mongolian cuisine.

Style of food

East Indian cuisine is very simple and the preparation is also not elaborate. It uses fewer ingredients with steaming and frying modes of cooking. Fish is the non-vegetarian food of coastal areas and pork is the non-vegetarian food of inlands. This style of cuisine offers some of the India’s most popular and the world’s renowned sweets.

Staple foods

Rice is the major staple food in East Indian cuisine.

Cooking Oils

The most popular oil is Mustard oil which is used for both deep frying and cooking. Even other vegetable oils are used and Ghee is used in special occasion cooking.

Important Spices and Ingredients

• Mustard Seeds
• Green and Red Chilies
• Paanch Phoran (Mix Of Five Spices Like White Cumin Seeds, Onion Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Fennel Seeds and Fenugreek Seeds)
• Yoghurt
• Coconut
• Maize
• Gram Flour
• Milk and Dairy Products

Popular Dishes

• Momos and Thukpa
• Tomato Achaar
• Machcher Jhol
• Jhaal-Muri
• Sandesh
• Rasgolla