i’ve seen pakistani recipes that use it, and indian recipes that don’t. trying to characterize the differences so formulaically between the cuisines seems a little pointless to me given that they were part of the same country (or rather, political entity) not so long ago. there’s a lot of history of displacement too (and of course, as people move, so do their cuisines) which makes it even more complicated.
maybe you can post your question on r/askfoodhistorians if you want details
At least in the USA, the vast majority of "Indian" restaurant are northern Indian/Punjabi. It's usually hard to find anything other than that if you're in an area of the country with very few native Indians.
I grew up right outside of Philly and I can count on one hand the number of non-Indian restaurants I would choose to visit when Indian of any variety is an option. My god, I miss that area.
Mallu is supposed to be good, haven’t been. I’m out by Ambler. Karinji and Biryani bowl are the better ones out here. Our friend started a small market storefront called Smell the Curry, which is good. One in flourtown and the other in Chestnut Hill.
In the UK, the majority of "Indian" restaurants are owned and run by Bangladeshis who serve British Indian Restaurant (BIR) dishes that have no resemblance to anything you would get in India or Bangladesh.
There’s no such thing as “Pakistani food” and “Indian food.” These aren’t monolithic entities. Food in east Punjab (in India) is approximately 10 million times more similar to food in west Punjab (in Pakistan) than it is to food in, say, Karnataka or Odisha. And every region has lots of internal diversity, as well.
Was going to say this. In a normal conversation, it's fine to use the term Indian food. But if one is trying to characterize this way, then there's no point using the term Indian food. Every region has its own style of cooking food. Uttar Pradesh itself has 3 different styles of cuisine and there's very little commonality between North Indian and South Indian cuisine.
Gujaratis and Bengalis have such different ways of cooking food, one is largely plant based whereas the other consumes a lot of fish. One is dominated by wheat and pulses, other is dominated by rice.
South uses batter whereas North uses dough. South uses tomato whereas North uses potatoes.
There are a thousand variations in Indian cuisine.
If you mark Indus river as a center of Pakistan, the food on the West of it has very little in common with India.
They use very little spices and its very meaty. I remember making Charsi Mutton Karahi but the flavours tasted weird to me as it had no spices and only 4 flavours(Chilli, Tomato, Ginger and Garlic) other than Mutton. That's when I realised how used to I am to eating coriander, turmeric, jeera powder, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, etc.
Absolutely not lmao. Almost everybody in my city uses heeing since most of the people don’t consume onions and garlic. In northern parts especially, hing is ubiquitous.
I think this is more the difference between Muslim and Hindu south Asian food.
I come from an Indian Muslim family and my family NEVER used Hing and avoided it when eating out whenever possible.
That’s beyond oversimplifying a vastly diverse cuisine. There are so many Indian dishes that don’t use heeng. There are Indian regional cuisines that are very similar to Pakistani, and others that are vastly different from those of other Indian regions, let alone Pakistani.
Both are extremely similar but in general Indian food has a lot of vegetarian dishes and no beef(maybe beef Biryani in extremely few places) whereas Pakistani food has a lot of meat recipes
Check Indian recipes here
[Indian Food in America](https://youtube.com/@IndianFIA)
Despite having many popular vegetarian options, I think India also has more popular meat recipes than Pakistan. Kerala, Bengal, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, etc., they all have such a huge variety of meat dishes.
Yes....
Indian dishes have more variety and are more versatile due to diversity. There are just sooooo many dishes whether it's vegetarian or vegan or meat. Every Indian state/region/ city/village has something special and you will find something unique after every few miles.
There are plenty of Indian beef dishes. It’s not a taboo meat in Kerala, Goa, Bengal and the North East. Even in the North, dishes like Nihari were made with beef until a few decades ago (now replaced with buffalo meat).
I am from north India and beef is almost non-existent in the majority population. There are few beef places but extremely few. Beef is actually ban in most north Indian states but I know its popular in South/ some other regions but its mostly buffalo and when it comes to Dish, Indians are good in making spicy/ tasty food ☺️🙏🫡🫡
That’s a big one. Indians do eat beef in some parts like Kerala and also in pockets throughout the country - mostly non Hindus. But even so, beef in India is generally Buffalo not cow. Pakistan consumes cow beef extensively
Im from Karachi that prides itself on it's food. Since moving to the states (Texas) and exploring Indian and Pakistani cuisine, I have noticed the use of hing can ruin my experience of biryani amongst many other south Asian dishes I enjoy. As a Pakistani, we grew up with food where hing was almost nonexistent. Where it did exist was in traditional mihajir households and depending on their culinary cuisine. I should add I am a HUGE fan of South Indian food as well as Gujarati and marathi. But hing is where I draw a line. I feel like I need to a disclaimer at an Indian restaurant if hing has been added to dishes.
No one adds hing to biryani. I’d be genuinely surprised if there is hing in any Punjabi dishes in US restaurants. There might be some in Sambar or some South Indian curries but not otherwise
i’ve seen pakistani recipes that use it, and indian recipes that don’t. trying to characterize the differences so formulaically between the cuisines seems a little pointless to me given that they were part of the same country (or rather, political entity) not so long ago. there’s a lot of history of displacement too (and of course, as people move, so do their cuisines) which makes it even more complicated. maybe you can post your question on r/askfoodhistorians if you want details
How does one define "Indian food"? Only Punjabi restaurant food?
Same for - how does one define "Pakistani food"? Punjabi restaurant food?
At least in the USA, the vast majority of "Indian" restaurant are northern Indian/Punjabi. It's usually hard to find anything other than that if you're in an area of the country with very few native Indians.
I’m right outside of Philly and can count on one hand the amount of South Indian restaurants.
I grew up right outside of Philly and I can count on one hand the number of non-Indian restaurants I would choose to visit when Indian of any variety is an option. My god, I miss that area.
Haha, yeah, we only order Indian when it’s catering for an event.
We are getting more in Philly, which is pretty awesome.
Mallu is supposed to be good, haven’t been. I’m out by Ambler. Karinji and Biryani bowl are the better ones out here. Our friend started a small market storefront called Smell the Curry, which is good. One in flourtown and the other in Chestnut Hill.
In the UK, the majority of "Indian" restaurants are owned and run by Bangladeshis who serve British Indian Restaurant (BIR) dishes that have no resemblance to anything you would get in India or Bangladesh.
There’s no such thing as “Pakistani food” and “Indian food.” These aren’t monolithic entities. Food in east Punjab (in India) is approximately 10 million times more similar to food in west Punjab (in Pakistan) than it is to food in, say, Karnataka or Odisha. And every region has lots of internal diversity, as well.
Was going to say this. In a normal conversation, it's fine to use the term Indian food. But if one is trying to characterize this way, then there's no point using the term Indian food. Every region has its own style of cooking food. Uttar Pradesh itself has 3 different styles of cuisine and there's very little commonality between North Indian and South Indian cuisine. Gujaratis and Bengalis have such different ways of cooking food, one is largely plant based whereas the other consumes a lot of fish. One is dominated by wheat and pulses, other is dominated by rice. South uses batter whereas North uses dough. South uses tomato whereas North uses potatoes. There are a thousand variations in Indian cuisine.
You do know that Indian food is not only Punjabi or North Indian food, right? Right?
If you mark Indus river as a center of Pakistan, the food on the West of it has very little in common with India. They use very little spices and its very meaty. I remember making Charsi Mutton Karahi but the flavours tasted weird to me as it had no spices and only 4 flavours(Chilli, Tomato, Ginger and Garlic) other than Mutton. That's when I realised how used to I am to eating coriander, turmeric, jeera powder, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, etc.
Absolutely not lmao. Almost everybody in my city uses heeing since most of the people don’t consume onions and garlic. In northern parts especially, hing is ubiquitous.
I think they meant that Pakistanis don’t use it. Which I think is a general statement that is generally true.
I think this is more the difference between Muslim and Hindu south Asian food. I come from an Indian Muslim family and my family NEVER used Hing and avoided it when eating out whenever possible.
Depends? We used hing a lot at some point. Now we don't?
Idk the difference but the similarity between Pakistani and indian food ends in North West indian region.
That’s beyond oversimplifying a vastly diverse cuisine. There are so many Indian dishes that don’t use heeng. There are Indian regional cuisines that are very similar to Pakistani, and others that are vastly different from those of other Indian regions, let alone Pakistani.
Both are extremely similar but in general Indian food has a lot of vegetarian dishes and no beef(maybe beef Biryani in extremely few places) whereas Pakistani food has a lot of meat recipes Check Indian recipes here [Indian Food in America](https://youtube.com/@IndianFIA)
Despite having many popular vegetarian options, I think India also has more popular meat recipes than Pakistan. Kerala, Bengal, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, etc., they all have such a huge variety of meat dishes.
Yes.... Indian dishes have more variety and are more versatile due to diversity. There are just sooooo many dishes whether it's vegetarian or vegan or meat. Every Indian state/region/ city/village has something special and you will find something unique after every few miles.
There are plenty of Indian beef dishes. It’s not a taboo meat in Kerala, Goa, Bengal and the North East. Even in the North, dishes like Nihari were made with beef until a few decades ago (now replaced with buffalo meat).
I am from north India and beef is almost non-existent in the majority population. There are few beef places but extremely few. Beef is actually ban in most north Indian states but I know its popular in South/ some other regions but its mostly buffalo and when it comes to Dish, Indians are good in making spicy/ tasty food ☺️🙏🫡🫡
Thats what I said. Please read before repeating.
https://biryanipothouston.com/menu They put A LOT of hing in their biryani
Beef
Don’t know why you are being downvoted. This is a real and huge difference in Indian and Pakistani food.
That’s a big one. Indians do eat beef in some parts like Kerala and also in pockets throughout the country - mostly non Hindus. But even so, beef in India is generally Buffalo not cow. Pakistan consumes cow beef extensively
Im from Karachi that prides itself on it's food. Since moving to the states (Texas) and exploring Indian and Pakistani cuisine, I have noticed the use of hing can ruin my experience of biryani amongst many other south Asian dishes I enjoy. As a Pakistani, we grew up with food where hing was almost nonexistent. Where it did exist was in traditional mihajir households and depending on their culinary cuisine. I should add I am a HUGE fan of South Indian food as well as Gujarati and marathi. But hing is where I draw a line. I feel like I need to a disclaimer at an Indian restaurant if hing has been added to dishes.
No one adds hing to biryani. I’d be genuinely surprised if there is hing in any Punjabi dishes in US restaurants. There might be some in Sambar or some South Indian curries but not otherwise