IndexIntroductionTraditional eating habitsAdaptation in the United StatesRelationships with food and health“Food, after all, in our tradition, is something sacred. It's not a question of nutrients and calories. It's about sharing. It's about honesty. It's a question of identity." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay ~ Louise FrescoIntroduction For generations, immigrants to the United States have brought with them their cultures, traditions, and cuisine from their home countries. The result is a true melting pot of ethnic cuisine in America, as all dishes inevitably have their roots in other cultures and traditions. As the United States population becomes increasingly diverse, it should prove beneficial to take the time to understand the eating habits and culture of minority ethnic groups in the United States, which is the inherent goal of this short article. For this assignment discussing the traditional food habits of a minority ethnic group in the United States, I chose American Indians as the group. Indians have a long history in the United States and a rich culinary tradition and food culture. As of 2014, there are approximately 2.6 million Indian immigrants and second-generation citizens living in the United States (MPI, 2014, np). The reason I chose American Indians as the focus of this article on the food traditions of an ethnic minority group is that Indian food is becoming increasingly popular throughout the country and therefore represents an interesting research point for this article . It is also one of the most unique types of cuisine represented in America, using many different spices and cooking methods. The fact that it is so different from the “typical” American dish makes it much more interesting. Indian food is also one of my favorite cuisines. To adequately address this topic, the paper first examines the traditional food habits of Indians, including staple foods and preparation methods. This will be the main focus of the paper. The discussion then turns to how Indian food has been adapted in the United States, as well as the health and nutritional factors of Indian food, including both the advantages and disadvantages of an Indian diet for health. Overall, the goal of this short article is simply to provide an understanding of Indian food, culture, and tradition in the context of an increasingly diverse America. Traditional Eating Habits Indian staple (or staple) foods are becoming increasingly known throughout the country as Indian. ethnic restaurants become more popular. As the Washington Post reports, “Indian food has slowly but surely made its way into the hearts (and stomachs) of cities across the United States” with 300 restaurants representing the subcontinent in New York City alone (Ferdman, 2015, np). However, the cuisine is not as popular as it could be, which is why this article focuses on the preparation, composition and culture of the cuisine itself. Some of the staple foods include roti (or chappati), white rice, curry, curd, lentils, paneer and a large amount of exotic spices. As one source states, traditional Indian food “has been widely praised for its fabulous use of herbs and spices” (CI, 2016, np). This is perhaps what distinguishes Indian food the most. A roti is an Indian flatbread that is used as a snack on its own or served during meals and is typically made of wheat flour mixed with bran (HME, 2015). Other more special foods are korma (meat with a thick yogurt sauce), samosas(essentially an Indian version of a turnover) and papadums, which are thin lentil-based wafers (AHA, 2016). Other ingredients used in the recipes are eggplant, mustard, garlic, fresh ginger, ghee and spices such as turmeric. The preparation of many typical Indian dishes is both time-consuming and labor-intensive, due to the preference for braising meats and creating dishes with fresh ingredients and spices. Even a brief perusal of Indian recipes available online shows that almost all of them use a wide range of spices. Since food varies greatly from region to region, there is not necessarily a traditional “national” dish of India; instead, Indian immigrants create a wide range of dishes and accompaniments with the staple foods listed above. The composition of Indian cuisine meals is very different from that of typical American cuisine, with savory breakfasts that often resemble dinners or lunches to the unaware eye. For example, breakfast food “may include a few servings of unleavened bread with richly spiced meat, poultry or fish curry, some spiced pickles, and a plate of vegetables with yogurt when convenient” (Balagopal, 2000, 21). Beyond that, meal cycles are relatively reflective of American culture, with meal times at similar intervals. Outside of the usual composition and cycle of meals, there are certainly Indian foods that are used for traditional celebrations and associated with religion. For example, Sikhs practice what is called a langar, or communal meal, usually served after religious services in a gurdwara (Pluralism Project, 2016). It is usually provided by a single family as a means of celebrating a particular family event and all families take turns. For Sikhs, “eating together in this way expresses the equality and unity of all humanity” and at the same time strengthens the Sikh community (Pluralism Project, 2016, np). While there are not necessarily special foods for this occasion, the communal meal in Sikhism represents one of the ways in which Indian food has come to signify community. However, there are special foods for traditional celebrations across India. For example, during the Festival of Lights (celebrated by both Hindus and Sikhs) sweets become much more popular in Indian cuisine (Sukhadwala, 2011). The most popular example is mithai, an Indian sweet that is a “cross between snacks, desserts, and sweets” (Sukhadwala, 2011, np). The process of preparing these types of desserts can begin up to a month before the October Festival of Lights celebration. On the first day of the festival, which is associated with wealth, it is not uncommon for families to use a special mixture of sugar and ghee to celebrate wealth in the kitchen too. Just like in every culture, celebratory meals are the least healthy. Adaptation to the United States Because Indian cuisine is so different from typical American cuisine, it is difficult to adapt it directly to the United States. For this reason there seems to be a strong divide between the cultural attitudes of immigrants and those of their children. As one study reports, “children in the United States have adopted bicultural identities on all four measures of ethnic identification” (Mathur, 2000, np). In addition to this, Indian parents who had lived in the United States for at least twenty years “emerged as bicultural on external aspects of ethnic identification and in terms of values ​​and behavioral skills” (Mathur, 2000, np). It is rather difficult to extend this type of research to the effects on foods, but it can be assumed that hand in hand with this comes the acceptance of different types of cuisine. It appears that through acculturation, the Indian population in America has become more bicultural than fully.