Regarded as one of the most beautiful states of India, Uttaranchal possesses a wide food culture too. The varied fairs and festivals gives you the opportunity to try the varied cuisines of Uttaranchal. Also the colorful culture of the state has paved the way for making different types of dishes each having a significance of its own. Since the state is endowed with extensive growth of vegetation, hence natural ingredients are widely used in making different types of Uttaranchal Cuisines.
Best Cuisines of Uttaranchal
The other popular cuisines of Uttaranchal are-- 'Aloo ke Gutke', 'Kumaoni Raita', 'Kappa', 'Gahat ki Dal', 'Aloo Dal Pakora'. The people of the state usually prefer vegetarian dishes which are mostly prepared fro milk or milk based products.
During the winter season, the locals prefer to use naturally grown vegetables like 'bhatt' a variety of soya bean , 'gahat' also known as 'kulath', large dried balls of 'urad dal', popularly known as 'badis,' 'mangodi' a typical variety of moong dal as an important ingredient of the different recipes of Uttaranchal. Also coarse grain with high fiber content like 'Mundua' and 'Linguda' are widely used in varied cuisines of Uttaranchal.
The other food items of Uttaranchal which are commonly prepared in different religious festivities and marriages are--'Chainsoo' made by using black gram daal,'Kafuli' a type of thick gravy made from green leafy vegetables, and the very scrumptious 'Jhol' made out of tomatoes, potatoes and curd. Also try out 'Roat' 'Arsa', `'urd ki pakori', 'pooris' and 'kaddu ki bhujji'.
Kumauni cuisine
Kumauni cuisine is the food of the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India.
Kumaoni food is very simple but very nutritious completely suits the hard environment of the Himalayas.Pulses like gehet are fashioned into different preparations like ras-bhaat, chains, faanda and thatwaani all are unique preparations from the same pulse. Jholi or curry seasoned with curd. Chudkani and jola made from bhatt pulses. Cereals like mandua with rice and wheat are popular.
Meat is also prepared but the recipe is quite similar to the way it is prepared in most of North India.
SOME COMMON PREPARATIONS
Some of the most common preparations of the Kumaon region are:
Bal Mithai
Bal Mithai is a brown chocolate-like fudge, made with roasted khoya, coated with white sugar balls.
Dubka
Dubka is a simple dish made from various lentils. These are grounded and a curry like dish is prepared from the grounded lentils and made with few local spices available in the Kumaon hills like jamboo and jakhiya. It is usually eaten with rice. The following dubkas are usually made:
Moong ka Dubka
Urad ka Dubka
Chains
Chains is a preparation of gehet pulses which are first grounded and then roasted and the seasoned into a soup.
Faanda
Faanda is another preparation of gehet pulses which in this case are roasted first and then grounded.
Ras
Ras (रस), is also a preparation of easily available gehet pulse which should be cooked in an iron Kadhai or pot to get the distinct dark green colour, eaten with rice. It is called also called thatwani.
Kaapa
Kaapa is dish prepared with spinach leaves crushed into a paste and cooked withother condiments.
Jholi
Jholi is curry seasoned with curd and curry leaves.
Churkani
Churkani is a soup like preparation of bhatt pulses eaten with rice.
Saag
Fried dish of green vegetables. Can be made from any of the various green vegetables like palak (spinach), lai, methi and so on.
Gaderi ka saag
A curry made from gaderi a root vegetable of the colocasia family.
Gutuk
Aaloo gutuk and Pinalu Gutuk are fried potaoe or pinalu (or colocasia) seasoned with spices.
Raita
Raita is a kind of spicy curd salad with crushed spices like mustard and raw vegetables in it.
Rote
A common offering at religious places and occasions, the dish is prepared from a mixture of wheat flour and Gur (Jaggery) or sugar. It is cooked in an indegenious ovens.
Sei
Sei is a pudding made with flour, curd and jaggery. It is especially prepared for the local festival of Phool Dei
CEREALS
The staple cereals in Kumaon are wheat, rice and madua a locally grown cereal.