History of Indian food

Lizzie Collingham’s dissertation, Curry: A Biography (Chatto & Windus; Rs740) is a compulsive page-turner. Immensely readable, even the scholarly bits, it’s about the point where Indian food was influenced by outsiders. If there’s not much in the way of the exact differences between a biryani and pulao, it’s because Collingham hasn’t set out to research Indian food. Instead, what gets her going is the interaction between Portuguese merchants and native Goans that resulted in what we now know as Goan food. Or the overlays of regular North Indian food with Central Asian and Persian influences that resulted in the cuisine of the Mughal emperors. What is astounding is how much foreign food there is in India, whether single ingredients or prepared dishes: tomatoes, chillies or biryani. It is Collingham’s case that the osmosis took place both ways. The wonder of Curry is that in spite of a bibliography that is as long as the longest chapter, the text is peppered with Collingham’s own observations and deductions. There are also plenty of recipes.