Origins of North Indian and Pakistani foods explained

Most of the food items which define modern North Indian and Subcontinental cooking have origins inside the Indian subcontinent though many foods that are now a part of them are based on fruits and vegetables that originated outside the Indian subcontinent.

Vegetable origins

Vegetable	Hindi name	Tamil name	Telugu name	Kannada name	Origin	Likely time of introduction	Notes
Bitter Melon	karela	Paavarkai	Kaakara kaaya	Haagalu kaayi	Africa[1]
	Patta Gobhi	Muṭṭaikkōs	Ele koosu		Possibly European	During colonial times[2]	Derived from Wild Mustard
Calabash	Lauki/Pankaj	Curaikkāy	Anapukaya,sorakaya	Sore kaayi	China/Japan[3]
Cauliflower	Phool Gobhi		kosu puvvu	Hoo kosu	Cyprus[4] [5]	1822 CE[6]
Chili pepper	Mirch	Miḷakāy	mirapakaya	Menasina kaayi	Mesoamerica [7]	1550 CE	india
Coriander	Dhaniya	Kottamalli	kotthimeera	Kothamari soppu	North Africa or Mediterranean	1000 AD [8] by Arabs	Mentioned in ancient Egypt
Brinjal	Baingan	Kattirikkāy	vankaya	Badane kaayi	India/China[9]
Fenugreek	Methi	Ventayam	menthi koora	Menthya	Near East [10]	326 BC [11]	Alexander's campaign to India
Garlic	Lahsoon	Pūṇṭu	Velluli/Elligadda	Belluli	possibly Middle East [12]	Unknown
Lemon	Neembú	Elumiccai	nimmakaya	Nimbe hannu	South China or Northeastern India[13]	2000-1000 BC	Lemon seeds found in the Harappan Bara culture excavations indicate time of spread
Moringa		Muruṅkai	Munakkaada	Nugge kaayi	India
Okra	Bhindi	Veṇṭaikkāy	Bendakaaya	Bende kaayi	Highlands of Ethiopia and india[14]	100-500 CE
Onion	Pyaaz	Veṅkāyam	Ulligadda,ullipaya,erragadda	Eerulli	India	Unknown, but present by 500 BCE[15]	Mentioned in the Charaka Samhita
Potato	Aloo	Uruḷaikkiḻaṅku	Bangala Dumpa/Aloo Gadda	Aloo gadde	South America (Peru/Bolivia) [16]	1600 CE	Likely introduced by Portuguese traders
Sweet Potato	Shakarkand	Iṉippu uruḷaikkiḻaṅku	Chilagada dumpa	Sihi genasu	South America [17]	1600 CE)	Via Portugal
Taro	Arbi / Arwi/ Guhiyaan	Seppankizhangu	Chaamadumpa, chaamagadda	Unknown (India, Polynesia or SE Asia)	Unknown
Tomato	Tamatar	Takkāḷi	Tamata / rama phalam	Goode hannu	Latin America (Mexico to Peru) [18]	1600 CE	Likely introduced by Portuguese traders
Turnip	Shalgham	Ṭarṉip		Gedde kosu	West Asia or Eastern Europe	1500 BC	Very early presence in the South Asia
Yam	Zimikand/Suran/kachalu/banda	Karunai kizhangu	Kanda	Genasu	Africa/Asia	7000 BCE	Different types of yams by taste, colour, size, skin, acidity

Fruit origins

Fruit	Hindi Name	Telugu Name	Tamil Name	Origin	Likely time of introduction	Notes
Apple	Seb		Āppiḷ	Central Asia (Kazakhstan) [19]	Unknown
Mango	Aam	Mamidi Pandu	Māṅkaṉi	India	Unknown	Mango is mentioned by Hendrik van Rheede, the Dutch commander of the Malabar region in his 1678 book
Mulberry	Shehtoot/Toot		Malperi	China/Japan	Unknown	Its white type is toxic whereas red is very sweet
Orange	Santara	Kamalapandu	Ārañcu	India	Unknown	A sweeter Indian variety was introduced by the Portuguese in Europe (ca. 15th century)
Plum	Aloo Bokhara		Piḷam	Armenia	Unknown
Tamarind	Hunase Hannu/ Imli	Chintakaya/Chintapandu	Puḷi	Africa	Unknown	Known for savourish taste, the fruit has mention since Harappan times
Tangerine	Narangi	Narinja Pandu	Ṭēṅkariṉ	China	Unknown

See also

• Indian cuisine
• North Indian cuisine

Further reading

• "Domestication of plants in the Old World," Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Oxford University Press, 2000.
• "History of Food," Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, Blackwell Publishing, 1994.
• "Culture and Cuisine: A Journey Through the History of Food," Jean François Revel, Doubleday, 1982.
• "The Agrarian History of England and Wales," Edward John T. Collins, Stuart Piggott, Joan Thirsk, Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Notes and References

1. Renner. Susanne S.. 2020-10-06. Bitter gourd from Africa expanded to Southeast Asia and was domesticated there: A new insight from parallel studies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117. 40. 24630–24631. 10.1073/pnas.2014454117. 0027-8424. 7547224. 32994347.
2. Book: Dabholkar, A. R.. General Plant Breeding. 2006. Concept Publishing Company. 978-81-8069-242-0. en.
3. Erickson. David L.. Smith. Bruce D.. Clarke. Andrew C.. Sandweiss. Daniel H.. Tuross. Noreen. 2005-12-20. An Asian origin for a 10,000-year-old domesticated plant in the Americas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102. 51. 18315–18320. 10.1073/pnas.0509279102. 16352716. 1311910. free.
4. Fenwick. G. Roger. Heaney. Robert K.. Mullin. W. John. VanEtten. Cecil H.. 1983-01-01. Glucosinolates and their breakdown products in food and food plants. C R C Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 18. 2. 123–201. 10.1080/10408398209527361. 0099-0248. 6337782.
5. Web site: Cabbage Flowers for Food Archives Aggie Horticulture. 2021-09-09. aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.
6. Book: Gopalakrishnan, T. R.. Vegetable Crops. 2007. New India Publishing. 978-81-89422-41-7. en.
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfSmSmC0WhMC 75 Exciting Vegetables For Your Garden
8. Web site: Cuisine and Diplomacy. 2021-09-09. www.mea.gov.in.
9. Web site: Solanum melongena L. GRIN-Global. 2021-09-09. npgsweb.ars-grin.gov.
10. Book: Daniel . Zohary . Maria . Hopf . Ehud . Weiss . Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin . 4th . Oxford University Press . 2012 . 122 .
11. Web site: Fennel, Fenugreek and Coriander: 3 Spices that You Thought Were Indian but Aren't. 2021-09-09. NDTV Food. en.
12. Book: Zohary . Daniel . Domestication of plants in the old world : the origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley . 2000 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 978-0-19-850357-6 . 197 . 3rd.
13. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp3pAAAAMAAJ Indian Archaeology in Retrospect: Protohistory, archaeology of the Harappan civilization
14. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfSmSmC0WhMC 75 Exciting Vegetables For Your Garden
15. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfSmSmC0WhMC 75 Exciting Vegetables For Your Garden
16. Web site: Finding rewrites the evolutionary history of the origin of potatoes. 2021-09-10. news.wisc.edu.
17. Book: Geneflow 2009. Bioversity International. 978-92-9043-813-7. en.
18. Book: Smith, Andrew F.. The tomato in America : early history, culture, and cookery. 1994. Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina Press. Internet Archive. 978-1-57003-000-0.
19. Duan. Naibin. Bai. Yang. Sun. Honghe. Wang. Nan. Ma. Yumin. Li. Mingjun. Wang. Xin. Jiao. Chen. Legall. Noah. Mao. Linyong. Wan. Sibao. August 2017. Genome re-sequencing reveals the history of apple and supports a two-stage model for fruit enlargement. Nature Communications. en. 8. 1. 249. 10.1038/s41467-017-00336-7. 28811498. 2041-1723. 5557836. 2017NatCo...8..249D.