India
by Moriah Joseph / 4A
Agriculture
- Lemons
- Cow's milk
- Cashew nuts
- Chickpeas
- Ginger
- Okra
- Guavas
- Goat milk
- Mangoes
- Buffalo milk
- Papaya
- Mangoes
- Banana
- Sorghum
- Tobacco
- Rapeseed
- Tomatoes
- coconuts
Native customs and beliefs
- the majority of their customs and beliefs are linked with the deities of Hinduism.
- Indians eat with their right hand and they only use their fingers and not their palm
- They use their thumb to catapult their food into their mouth
- they tear the rice-based items
Holiday celebrations
Onam is a traditional ten day harvest festival that marks the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali. It’s a festival rich in culture and heritage. People strikingly decorate the ground in front of their houses with flowers arranged in beautiful patterns to welcome the King. The festival is also celebrated with new clothes, feasts served on banana leaves, dancing, sports, games, and snake boat races. The Onam sadya has some very special items from the Kerala cuisine. For example, avail (curd curry), thoran (dry vegetables), pickles, lemon, salt and boiled rice are some of the main dishes served in the feast.
A very important Tamilian festival in India is known as Pongal, which means "boiling over." Pongal celebrates the harvest. Indra, the sun god, is given thanks for providing rain and a good crop. Pongal is celebrated on January 14 of each year. Originally the festival lasted four days; however, in recent times the people of India have restricted festivities to two days. Each day of Pongal denotes a different type of food. The food for the first day is rice eaten with fried chickpea patties, known as vadai, and sweet pancakes called poli. Meals are eaten with family members on the first day; friends and neighbors are included on the second day. On the second day, the women of the house are responsible for cooking. Venpongal, a salty combination of steamed rice and dal, is eaten along with chakkarainpongol, a sweet dish made from jaggery and ghee.