“But we’ve always eaten this way…”: Rethinking Traditions in Indian Food
A recurring conversation in Ayurvedic nutrition workshops that I run, revolves around the notion of food combinations – specifically, the disbelief that certain widely accepted pairings might not be optimal for digestion. The defence often goes: “But we’ve always eaten that way.” This sentiment feels both comforting and stubborn, rooted in a sense of cultural pride. But what do we really mean by “always”? Are we reflecting on our lifetime, recent decades, the memories of grandparents, or tracing all the way back to the beginning of human civilization?
When examining what people eat across the world, it quickly becomes clear that food traditions have been heavily influenced by a complex interplay of:
Geography/land
Available technology
Sociocultural factors including religion or the desire for foods considered prestigious or high status
Geopolitical factors
Migration and invasions
Socioeconomic factors including affordability
The history of India offers a fascinating lens through which to explore these ideas – a land too often reduced in the modern imagination to a country of vegetarians and curry lovers.
The myths of timeless food traditions
It is easy to believe that certain foods or styles of eating are eternal, especially when they are supported by family stories passed down through generations. However, a closer look at what appears “timeless”, often changes from one era to the next. Like all civilisations, the people in the Indian region have been through vast eras, each with distinct milestones in human evolution and consequently, way of life.
With multiple invasions and colonisations (including the Mughals, Portuguese and British) and trade with other countries, the landscape and its culture adopted and adapted. Food is just one way we can learn about these points in time.
The Roots and Evolution of Dairy in Indian Cuisine
The consumption of dairy has a long history in the Indus Valley with one study showing that dairy from domesticated cattle was being processed and used as far back as almost 5,000 years ago. Ancient texts, including Vedic literature make reference to dairy-based products including buttermilk, curd (yoghurt), butter and ghee. Early dairy production, however, was regionally limited – it depended on geography, climate, livestock domestication, and social status.
Most early dairy consumed came from buffalo or zebu cattle. Processing was labour-intensive – families produced yoghurt and ghee, both of which had longer shelf-lives than fresh milk and are easier to digest. Even my own father recalls drinking milk straight from the buffalo in his childhood and the diligent efforts of his mother to process, store and manage cream and the watery parts of freshly collected milk, necessary in a time before refrigerators.
The widespread lactose intolerance in much of Asia, might also explain why historically, the preferred forms of dairy were fermented products like yoghurt and ghee. And we can’t forget that regional variations that depend of environmental differences will also affect dairy intake. For example, Southern parts of India often incorporate coconut milk as a key ingredient in meals and less dairy in comparison to North Indian cuisine.
Today’s much-loved milk-based sweets such as kulfi, rasmalai, kheer and phirni, often viewed as “traditional” Indian desserts, actually emerged and spread with the arrival the Mughals. The Mughal era brought a trend toward heavily milk and cream-based delicacies. Later, the British colonial period accelerated the development and expansion of dairy farming in India. This was largely influenced by the needs of the British army who started establishing military dairy farms across the country. Again, new consumption patterns were created.
After independence, the need for food aid, as usual in modern times, focused heavily on milk supply. This need pushed Indian farmers to produce greater amounts of milk and the surplus was marketed back to the public in the form of drinking a fresh, cold glass of milk and Amul ice cream – something which we are very familiar with today but which are still relatively new ways of consuming dairy. This shows how policy and food regimes, not just culture, shapes what gets eaten.
Diet, Aspiration and the Influence of the Elite
Tastes and preferences are also shaped by aspirations. As the elite class tends to set the trends in terms of food ideals, the wider population likely followed the Mughal taste, shifting their everyday dietary choices.
During the Mughal empire, palace kitchens helped popularise luxurious meat-and-dairy combinations (like biryani and korma). Later, colonial rulers brought in even more dramatic changes: the British promoted tea, refined sugar, and Western-style bread, while the Portuguese introduced ingredients like tomatoes, potatoes, and chillies – now so intrinsic to Indian food that it is hard to imagine local cuisine without them.
The rapid urbanisation and globalisation of recent decades, coupled with government campaigns to promote foods seen as modern or healthy (such as pasteurised milk or white rice), have further transformed what is seen as normal or desirable on the plate. Meaning and ideologies attached to food (such as signals of prestige) play an important role in the popularity of foods.
Vegetarianism, Meat and the Drivers of Change
It is a common misconception that India has always been the land of vegetarians. Archaeological studies show that ancestors in India fed on the meat of cow, boar, deer, fowl and even horse. Changes in dietary habits such as vegetarianism have been intertwined with religion, social class and ideas of purity.
In later years, with the arrival of Central Asian rulers, particularly North India saw the introduction of different cooking techniques, the use of dried fruits and nuts, and the blending of meat and dairy in dishes. Indians adopted novel dishes such as koftas and naan from the Afghans. And the Mughals popularised combining sharp yoghurt with meat-based dishes, a practice easier on digestion than the modern recipes loaded with heavy cream. So, food traditions are often a medley of adaptation rather than a fixed artifact of the distant past.
Vegetables, Preservation and Globalisation
Many vegetables now commonplace in Indian households – tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, okra – were brought from abroad through trade and colonial introduction.
Pickling, fermentation, frying and sun-drying, critical preservation techniques before electricity, were regionally and seasonally adaptive. For example, in dry, arid regions such as Rajisthan, the Summer months were for preserving fresh fruits and vegetables to use in the Winter months when these supplies were scarce. Think achaars and pumpkin vadis. People had an intuitive understanding of different foods, their qualities and when would be the best time to collect or consume them. This highlights how meals were often influenced by seasons and the fertility of the land.
Today, however, with advanced food production and globalisation, we’re advised to eat Sauerkraut or Kimchi all year round for their probiotic benefits. Traditional knowledge about food timing and combinations is trumped by convenience and novelty and doesn’t always support our health.
Contemporary trends such as the spread of gourmet French-inspired fine-dining (rich in cream and butter) has been incorporated into restaurants around the globe, showing again, how societal change shapes food ideals.
Food, Change and the Illusion of Permanence
The story of Indian cuisine highlights an important truth: change is the only constant. And it is seen in all cuisines and cultures around the world. Food traditions are always in flux, shaped by pressures within and beyond a culture’s control. Just think of your own kitchen and how many concoctions have been made up and are now family favourites.
When people say “But we’ve always eaten this way”, they’re expressing a natural resistance to change – an instinct rooted in the comfort of the familiar. Yet, researching the dynamic patchwork of Indian food affirms that what is seen as “tradition” is often the product of centuries of adaptation, fusion, invention and ambition.
Our plates are a rich embodiment of movement (migration), trade, religious evolution, economic aspiration, colonial encounters and modern marketing. Maybe acknowledging this fact and complexity is the real tradition (wisdom).
References:
Antani & Mahapatra (2022) Evolution of Indian cuisine: A socio-historical view. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 9(15)
Chakraborty et al. (2020) Compound specific isotope analysis of lipid residues provides the earliest direct evidence of dairy product processing in South Asia. Scientific Reports, 10(16095)
Prasad (2017) Historical aspects of milk consumption in South, Southeast and East Asia. Asian Agri-History, 21(4)
Sai & Muninarayanappa (2024) Origin growth and development of dairying in India. EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 10(12)
Shabeermon (2025) Tracing the roots of modern Indian food culture: A historical survey through the ancient dietary practices. International Journal for Research Trends & Innovation, 10(3)
Sripathi (2023) Sacred cows and nutritional purity in India. Wellcome Collection.
Steckley, M. (2025) Tastes for luxury: How dietary aspirations underpin food regimes. Journal of Agrarian Change, 25(3)