Bengalis are all about roshogolla and maach-bhaat. Tamils mean idli-dosa. Punjabis crave kukkad. And Bihar is the land of litti-chokha. When we think about Indian food, we often box regional cuisines within the narrow parameters of a few clichéd dishes. But do we ask — how does the food vary between Nagaland's tribes? What ingredients do villagers in the distant mountains of Ladakh cook their meals with? Or, what's a secret recipe that someone's grandmother passed down in a home in Bhopal? Sadly, we don't. And as a result some of us are left with a frog-in-the-well understanding of our own culinary culture.

Trevor Moran