6 Favorite Foods Of Indians That May Sound Indian But Aren't

In INDIA there can be nothing in comparison to delightful traditional food of the country that links you not just to your cultural identity but to your nation’s legendary past as well. Whenever we talk about Indian food, we immediately think of those sweet laden gulab jamuns, samosas and lip littering chicken tikkas. Hold your breath and listen to this! But they are not Indian.

Though they might have become so irretrievably well linked to your cuisine, their origin links to somewhere else. Since the Indian subcontinent was constantly a subject to attacks and influences from the surrounding nations, these delicacies came, saw and made India their home. Today, they are so well connected with your culture that even a foreigner will tell that the samosa that is served in the streets of New York, is actually Indian.

Let start with your favorite sweet dish that may sound Indian but isn't:

1) Gulab jamun

How's this even possible? We actually have Gulab jamun as offerings to Hindu Gods and it's a most beloved sweet among Indian kids.

According to theory, Gulab jamuns originated in Persia which is now Iran and  its real name is 'luqmat-al-qadi', and later named as gulab which means gul (flower) and ab (water) in Persian. But really, Gulab jamun made an entry to India from Persia with your Muslim sultans and Badshahs.

2) Samosa

For every Indian, it's one snack filled with memories. All this while we had been thinking that it's an Indian snack, but you will be surprised to know that your beloved samosa did not originate from India. As per reports and facts, it first originated during the 10th century in the Middle East region. It was first referred to as ‘Sambosa’, mentioned in Iranian historian Abolfazl Beyhaqi’s work 'Tarikh-e Beyhaqi'. It is still prepared with meat filling in the Middle East.

3) Rajma Dal

It is one of the most favorite dal for all North Indians and especially Punjabis, who have made this dish what it is today by adding fried onions, chillies and other spices to make one of the most awesome dals in the world!, but sorry to all it's not originated from India. It was first grown in Mexico, carried back to Europe by the Portuguese, and then brought to us through the south-western coast of India.

4) Chicken Tikka Masala

If you ask anyone how to please Punjabis or any Non-veg lover then definitely their answer would be simple, serve them with Chicken tikka masala! But do you know that this dish was prepared for the first time in Glasgow, UK? Originally, it was an improvisation of the dry chicken prepared on the request of a customer by the chef Ali Ahmed in Glasgow during the year 1971. But after all what he did, we should be thankful to him for making your generations after him falling in love with this novel cuisine. 

5) Naan

What would you like the most to have with any Indian curry for making it more tastier, a naan? But reality is that this famous Indian bread was first introduced by Persians who colonized the subcontinent. Today we are eating keema to paneer-cheese naan thinking of it as an Indian dish but after all it is a gift to us by the Mughal reign. 

6) Jalebi

Are you screaming loudly by now? We are, because this is simply unbelievable. How can one half of the awesome duo of rabri-jalebi not be Indian?

As per mentioned in the 13th century cookbook titled, 'Kitab al-Tabeekh', Jalebi was first called as ‘Zalabiya’ with its origin in West Asia. During the middle ages, Zalabiya was introduced to Indian cuisine and later in the 15th century its name was given to Jalebi by a Jain author Jinasura when he talked about it in the famous scripture titled  'Priyamkarnrpakatha'.

Source: Google.com, Wikipedia & culturetrip

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