Indigenous Indian Dishes Before Foreign Influence
This list features original Indian dishes that predate the Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and British. All these dishes were known or prepared in India before 1000 CE.
Vegetarian Dishes
Grain and Millet-Based Dishes
- Kheer made with rice milk and jaggery
- Khichdi with rice dal ghee turmeric
- Pongal with moong dal pepper ghee
- Curd rice also called Thayir Sadam
- Pakhala Bhata fermented rice water
- Ragi mudde finger millet balls
- Bajra roti with ghee
- Jowar bhakri
- Kambu koozh fermented millet drink
- Sama millet khichdi
- Foxtail millet upma
- Rice dumplings steamed
- Aval sweetened poha with jaggery
- Rice puttu steamed with coconut
- Idli early version called Iddalige
- Dosa fermented rice urad batter
- Adai multi lentil dosa
- Upma with broken rice or millets
- Rice roti akki roti
- Millet steamed balls tribal style
Lentil and Pulse-Based
- Moong dal with turmeric
- Urad dal tempered with ghee
- Arhar dal yellow lentils
- Horse gram kulthi dal
- Lentil sprouts salad
- Moong dal laddu with jaggery
- Paruppu plain dal Tamil style
- Panchmel dal mix of 5 lentils
- Lentil stew with bottle gourd
- Dhokla early version without sugar
Green Leafy and Vegetable-Based
- Saag cooked amaranth or spinach
- Mustard greens with ghee
- Bathua saag stir fry
- Drumstick leaves with dal
- Banana stem curry
- Banana flower stir fry
- Snake gourd curry
- Pumpkin with sesame or jaggery
- Ridge gourd curry
- Ash gourd with coconut
Tuber and Root-Based
- Boiled yam with mustard
- Roasted sweet potato
- Colocasia arbi fry
- Taro in sesame oil
- Elephant foot yam curry
Fermented and Preserved Foods
- Kanji rice water
- Pazham kanji fermented leftover rice
- Pickled amla with mustard
- Raw mango sun dried
- Lemon preserved with salt
- Tamarind concentrate
- Sun dried jackfruit
- Sun dried turmeric
- Mahua flower cakes tribal
- Fermented rice batter idli dosa
Sweets Made Without Refined Sugar
- Rice kheer with jaggery
- Ragi halwa
- Til sesame laddoo
- Moong dal jaggery laddoo
- Aval jaggery ball
- Coconut modak
- Chakkara pongal sweet pongal
- Banana mashed with ghee and jaggery
- Palm jaggery cake
- Rice flour sweet dumpling
Beverages
- Buttermilk chaas or mor
- Tender coconut water
- Bael sherbet
- Ragi ambli fermented drink
- Tamarind water
- Palm jaggery drink
- Rice kanji drink
- Herbal decoction kashayam
- Sandalwood sherbet
- Vetiver root water
Non-Vegetarian Dishes
Poultry and Eggs
- Country chicken curry with pepper
- Nattu kozhi rasam chicken soup
- Jungle fowl roasted tribal style
- Quail roasted
- Chicken in sesame and turmeric
- Chicken steamed in banana leaf
- Egg curry with pepper and turmeric
- Duck egg with curry leaves
- Boiled egg with ghee and rock salt
- Quail egg roast tribal
Goat Lamb and Sheep
- Goat curry with black pepper
- Lamb trotters broth
- Mutton with ash gourd
- Tribal goat cooked in sal leaves
- Mutton liver stir fry
- Bone broth with herbs
- Goat meat wrapped in leaves
- Sun dried mutton slices
- Sesame mutton curry
- Lamb slow cooked in clay pot
Fish and Shellfish
- River fish wood grilled
- Banana leaf fish parcels
- Mustard fish curry
- Tamarind fish stew
- Sun dried salted fish
- Grilled sardines coastal style
- Small fish fry with turmeric
- Fish head curry
- Coconut fish stew Kerala style
- Fermented fish paste
- River crab in turmeric
- Prawns in tamarind pepper
- Mussels in turmeric leaf
- Dry shrimp chutney
- Snail cooked in rice starch
Buffalo and Other Meat
- Buffalo stew tribal
- Dried buffalo meat with rock salt
- Ox meat roast
- Ox broth in herbal mix
- Buffalo brain stir fry
- Tribal buffalo cooked in bamboo
- Venison roast forest food
- Rabbit cooked in open fire
- Wild boar roast
- Frog legs in bamboo shoot
- Porcupine stew tribal
- Monitor lizard cooked with sesame
- Peacock meat in early texts
Indigenous Cooking Techniques
- Pit roasting underground fire cooking
- Leaf wrapping in turmeric banana or sal leaves
- Clay pot slow cooking
- Sun drying of fish and meat
- Bamboo tube steaming
- Fermentation of rice and fish
- Herbal marination using ginger pepper mustard
- Cooking on flat stone griddle
- Firewood roasting with ghee
- Steaming over rice water
Summary
- These dishes were known before foreign influence (before 1000 CE).
- No use of chillies, tomatoes, potatoes, cashews, or refined sugar.
- Main spices used: black pepper, mustard, curry leaves, turmeric, ginger, asafoetida, sesame oil, ghee.
- Common cooking bases: millets, rice, urad dal, moong dal, cow milk, jaggery, curd, herbs.
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