Shrimp
balchao

Vindaloo

Lamb shorba

Lassi with
ginger

Alu palak

Kerala
fish curry

Meatball curry

Curry of lamb with fruit

Curry
powder

Carrot peanut
salad

Laddu

The Indian cuisine is over 4,000 years old and is very divers, because India is a vast country with many different regions, religions, cultures and on top of that has seen several foreign invaders go in and out over the centuries. Spices are used in almost every recipe, sometimes for the taste and sometimes for the color. Recipes exist for a long time within families and every family has its own version of for instance a certain curry. In North India, the tandoori (clay oven) is very popular, whereas in South India a lot of coconut and tamarind is used. In coastal areas obviously fish is often on the menu. Indian influences can be found all over South East Asia, one example is Mussaman curry, which was exported by the Muslim community to Thailand. Currently, Indian restaurants are among the most popular foreign restaurants in Great Britain, even though there is disagreement about the authenticity of the Indian food, especially about curry. Interestingly, most of the British Indian restaurants are run by Bangladeshi, even though the Bangladeshi food is considerably different from Indian.