A Culinary Journey Through India ~ Tara Shetty There is more to Indian food than just 'curry.' Indian food is as diverse as its people with each region having its own specialties. In the north, meat dishes are a specialty. The wazwaan (a 36-course meal) in Kashmir is a palette of flavors; wash it down with a cup of kava (a spice-scented green tea). Follow the aroma of kebabs (deep-fried/grilled meatballs) wafting through the lanes of Lucknow. Visit Punjab, the land of stuffed parathas (shredded vegetables stuffed in dough which is then rolled and roasted), tandoori food (meat marinated in various spices, curd, and ginger/garlic and roasted over a clay-oven), paneer (cottage cheese) and lassi (a refreshing drink made of curd). Western India is a seafood lover’s paradise. Fried pomfret, prawn bal chow (prawn pickle), patra fish (pomfret marinated in green chutney and steamed in a banana leaf), are some of the lip-smacking fish preparations to try out. The Bengalis from eastern India are also a fish-loving people. It is often said that a Bengali can eat fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Tickle those taste buds with some delicious shorshe bata ilish (hilsa fish cooked in mustard). South India is a rice-loving region. Tuck into idlis (steamed rice cakes) and dosas (rice pancakes stuffed with spiced potatoes, vegetables or even minced lamb). Most of the preparations have coconut as the main ingredient. If you are in the south, don't forget to have some of the famous Hyderabadi biryani. It will definitely leave you licking your fingers. Any Indian meal is incomplete without dessert. So anyone with a sweet tooth can dig into these popular Indian sweets -- kulfi (ice-cream made of milk and dry fruits set in a conical mould), kheer (rice pudding), jalebis (pretzel-shaped loops fried and soaked in saffron-flavored syrup), rosogulla (cottage cheese balls soaked in sugar syrup), gulab jamuns (milk balls soaked in sugar syrup and flavored with rose syrup), puttu (rice pudding steamed in a bamboo shoot), gajar halwa (shredded carrot cooked in milk), and mishti doi (sweetened curd made from condensed milk). These were some of the mouth-watering delicacies of India. They are guaranteed to leave you craving for more!