Why Indian Cuisine Changes Completely Every Few Hundred Kilometres

Travel across India and you quickly discover that the idea of a single “Indian cuisine” is almost misleading. A few hundred kilometres can be enough to transform what appears on a dinner plate, from wheat rotis and mustard-based curries in the north to rice, coconut and seafood further south. This remarkable change is not simply about people having different tastes. India’s food traditions have been shaped by mountains, deserts, coastlines, rainfall, crops, migration, religion and centuries of trade. Researchers studying Indian cuisines have found clear differences in ingredients and cooking patterns across regions, reflecting this complex mix of geography and culture.