Origins of North Indian and Pakistani foods Facts for Kids

Potato (Aloo)

Tomato (Tamatar)

Okra (Bhindi)

Cauliflower (Phool Gobhi)

Taro (Arbi)

Most of the food items which define modern North Indian and Subcontinental cooking have origins inside the Indian subcontinent though many foods that are now a part of them are based on fruits and vegetables that originated outside the Indian subcontinent.

Vegetable origins

Vegetable	Hindi name	Tamil name	Telugu name	Origin	Likely time of introduction	Notes
Bitter Melon	karela	Paavarkai	Kaakara kaaya	Africa
Cabbage	Patta Gobhi	Muṭṭaikkōs		Possibly European	During colonial times	Derived from Wild Mustard
Calabash	Lauki/Pankaj	Curaikkāy	Anapukaya,sorakaya	China/Japan
Cauliflower	Phool Gobhi		kosu puvvu	Cyprus	1822 CE
Chili pepper	Mirch	Miḷakāy	mirapakaya	Mesoamerica	1550 CE	india
Coriander	Dhaniya	Kottamalli	kotthimeera	North Africa or Mediterranean	1000 AD by Arabs	Mentioned in ancient Egypt
Brinjal	Baingan	Kattirikkāy	vankaya	India/China
Fenugreek	Methi	Ventayam	menthi koora	Near East	326 BC	Alexander's campaign to India
Garlic	Lahsoon	Pūṇṭu	Velluli/Elligadda	possibly Middle East	Unknown
Lemon	Neembú	Elumiccai	nimmakaya	South China or Northeastern India	2000-1000 BC	Lemon seeds found in the Harappan Bara culture excavations indicate time of spread
Moringa		Muruṅkai	Munakkaada	India
Okra	Bhindi	Veṇṭaikkāy	Bendakaaya	Highlands of Ethiopia and india	100-500 CE
Onion	Pyaaz	Veṅkāyam	Ulligadda,ullipaya,erragadda	India	Unknown, but present by 500 BCE	Mentioned in the Charaka Samhita
Potato	Aloo	Uruḷaikkiḻaṅku	Bangala Dumpa/Aloo Gadda	South America (Peru/Bolivia)	1600 CE	Likely introduced by Portuguese traders
Sweet Potato	Shakarkand	Iṉippu uruḷaikkiḻaṅku	Chilagada dumpa	South America	1600 CE)	Via Portugal
Taro	Arbi / Arwi/ Guhiyaan	Seppankizhangu	Chaamadumpa, chaamagadda	Unknown (India, Polynesia or SE Asia)	Unknown
Tomato	Tamatar	Takkāḷi	Tamata / rama phalam	Latin America (Mexico to Peru)	1600 CE	Likely introduced by Portuguese traders
Turnip	Shalgham	Ṭarṉip		West Asia or Eastern Europe	1500 BC	Very early presence in the South Asia
Yam	Zimikand/Suran/kachalu/banda		Kanda	Africa/Asia	7000 BCE	Different types of yams by taste, colour, size, skin, acidity

Fruit origins

Fruit	Hindi Name	Telugu Name	Tamil Name	Origin	Likely time of introduction	Notes
Apple	Seb		Āppiḷ	Central Asia (Kazakhstan)	Unknown	A healthy fruit liked by everyone , the fruit which is important for establish the idea for newton to find gravitiy
Mango	Aam	Mamidi Pandu	Māṅkaṉi	India	Unknown	Mango is mentioned by Hendrik van Rheede, the Dutch commander of the Malabar region in his 1678 book
Mulberry	Shehtoot/Toot		Malperi	China/Japan	Unknown	Its white type is toxic whereas red is very sweet
Orange	Santara	Kamalapandu	Ārañcu	India	Unknown	A sweeter Indian variety was introduced by the Portuguese in Europe (ca. 15th century)
Plum	Aloo Bokhara		Piḷam	Armenia	Unknown
Tamarind	Hunase Hannu/ Imli	Chintakaya/Chintapandu	Puḷi	Africa	Unknown	Known for savourish taste, the fruit has mention since Harappan times
Tangerine	Narangi	Narinja Pandu	Ṭēṅkariṉ	China	Unknown

Black History Month on Kiddle

African-American Labor Activists

Bayard Rustin

Jeannette Carter

Jeremiah A. Brown

All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:

Origins of North Indian and Pakistani foods Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

Origins of North Indian and Pakistani foods facts for kids

Vegetable origins

Fruit origins