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Culture of Western Part of India
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An Introduction to Western part of India
West India contains the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, and part of the massive, central state of Madhya Pradesh. The west coast extends from the Gujarat peninsula down to Goa, and it is lined with some of India's best beaches. The land along the coast is typically lush, with rainforests reaching southward from Bombay all the way to into Goa. A long mountain chain, the Western Ghats, separates the verdant coast from the Vindya mountains and the dry Deccan plateau further inland.
Geographical and cultural influence on the region’s cuisine: Rajasthan and Gujarat have hot, dry climates so the relatively smaller variety of vegetables available are preserved as pickles and chutneys. Culturally these states are largely Hindu and vegetarian.
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| Parts of cosmopolitan Maharashtra are coastal and parts arid, and the food varies accordingly. Peanuts and coconut are important ingredients as they are freely available. Goa with its lush green coastline has an abundance of fresh fish and seafood. Local dishes like Vindaloo and Xacuti testify to the fact that it was a Portuguese colony until the 1960s.
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Style of food: This region probably has the most diverse styles of food in India. Rajasthani food is spicy and largely vegetarian but includes many delicious meat dishes like Laal Maas (red meat curry) while Gujarat’s cuisine is know for its slight sweet touch (at least a pinch of sugar is added to most dishes!) and is traditionally entirely vegetarian.
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Thaali (a large plate) is the Gujarati style of eating and a meal can consist of as many as 10 different vegetable dishes, rice, chapati (Indian bread) and sweets! The Gujaratis love a snack and cook a huge variety of them. These are collectively known as Farsan.
In Maharashtra, coastal areas are famous for Malvani cuisine (fresh coconut-based hot and sour curries with fish and seafood) while the interiors have the more frugal, Vidharba cuisine which uses a lot of dry coconut. Goan food is rich, piquant and strongly flavored by coconut, red chillies and vinegar. |
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