What is staple food of India?

Roti and Rice are staple foods of India. Staple food is defined as the main food. Other foods may accompany the staple foods. In India, the accompaniments are: dairy products, legumes, vegetables, and meats. Accompaniments revolve around the staples of cooked rice, or Roti.

In North India (Punjab, Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Rajasthan), they mainly consume wheat Roti along with accompaniments. The poor of India may have Roti just with ground onions garlic and hot chili peppers. The Roti is a flat un-leavened bread made on stove-top over a hot iron griddle (Tawa). The flour for Roti may be made by grinding wheat, Millet (Bajra, Jowar), corn etcetera. Wheat is the largest crop of North India and Kashmir.

In East India (West Bengal, Orissa), North eastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura), and South Indian States (Tamil Naidu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka) the staple is cooked Rice. Rice may be piled up in the center of a platter and served with accompaniments. Rice is the largest crop in South India and East India.

In Gujarat, they eat Roti as well as Rice.

Significant accompaniments

Legumes, Vegetables, Dairy products, and Meats are not considered as staples, but are most significant accompaniments. Spices and cooking fats play significant role in preparing Legumes Vegetables and meats.

The legumes include Lentil (Masoor), Black Matpe (Urad), Chickpeas (Chana), Mung Beans (Moong), Pigeon peas (Toor, or Arhar)

Most significant vegetables are White potatoes (Aloo), Indian Pumpkin (Kaddu, it is more like butternut squash), Eggplant, Mustard greens, Onions, Garlic, Fresh Ginger, and Chili peppers

Dairy products include milk, yogurt, cheese (Paneer), Butter (Makhan), and clarified butter (Ghee).

Most common meats are Chicken, and Chevon (Goat meat). In India, both Chevon and Mutton are called Mutton.

Spices have been used for centuries to flavor foods. Popular spices are: Turmeric, Cumin, Coriander, Fenugreek, Dried Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, Black peppercorn, Red Chili peppers, and salt. The souring agents include Tamarind, Lime, and dried sour mango powder. Common sweetener is Jaggery. Coconut is a significant ingredient through out South India. Saffron is the most expensive spice used in Indian Cuisine.

For cooking fat, Indians use Ghee (clarified butter), Mustard oil (Karwa tel), Peanut oil (Meetha tel), and Sesame oil.

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