The Grain That Binds: Rice as the Heart of the Indian Palate

Abstract

Food is often a limitless symbol of a culture's world-view. All cultures have their own selective ways of defining "food," "meals and meal patterns," and identifying foods that are acceptable and prohibited for human consumption. Tastes, the ability to satisfy nutritional needs, the selective use of particular foods, and food combinations for festivities, celebrations, and rituals are different ways in which cultures symbolize foods.  Climate, geography, religion, and tradition have shaped the many cuisines of India. There is a huge variety of foods to eat, from the simple to the extravagantly rich. Even the staple southern Indian meal of rice and dhal (pulse-peas, beans, and lentils) varies subtly from town to town; indeed, so many kinds of pulse are grown in India that the financial papers give the pulses stock exchange prices a special section of their own.  For millions of vegetarians in India, especially those who live in the South and East, rice is the heart of every meal. When they dine, a mound of boiled rice appears at the centre of the thali, and they take a dab of it with almost every mouthful. They also eat rice steamed or fried, cook it with lentils and other vegetables, and combine it with sugar, almonds, pistachio nuts, dried and fresh fruits to produce delicate desserts.