Indian vs Lithuanian food & cuisine

Long before anyone coined macronutrients, Indian cooks were already serving complete meals: protein-rich lentils, fermented batters full of probiotics, fiber-packed vegetables, cooling yogurts, and energy-giving grains. It grew from Ayurvedic principles where food balances the body through qualities like hot, cold, dry, and oily, and every bite served a purpose beyond taste.

The thali perfectly demonstrates this logic. A round plate carrying many small portions in deliberate order represents all six tastes. There’s always a balance: dry curry against runny dal, fried items with pickles, and cooling raita (a refreshing condiment) to offset the heat.

Traditional dishes aim for comfort and harmony, not contrast. Cepelinai, kugelis, and potato pancakes are smooth and hearty, enriched with sour cream, bacon, creamy mushroom sauces. Flavors are built through texture, which is usually soft and silky: potatoes, tender pork, and rich dairy. Seasoning stays simple – salt, pepper, dill, caraway, onion, and garlic.

Lithuanian food culture centers on home cooking. Eating out has never been central, shaped by rural traditions and Soviet times when restaurants were scarce. Even today, most people still value warm, homemade meals the most.

India has perhaps the world’s most sophisticated grain fermentation. Dosa, a savory crepe made from ground black gram and rice, and idli, savory rice cake batters, dhokla, a savory sponge dish, fermented rice – these are complex biotechnological processes that transform grain nutrition and digestibility. Few other cuisines utilize fermentation as extensively for grains as this one.

Indian breads are eaten extremely fresh. A roti or paratha (unleavened flatbread of flaky texture) must be cooked moments before serving. This ‘hot off the griddle’ approach is so important that day-old bread is already inferior. Most Indian breads are unleavened or use alternative fermentation methods. When Indians ferment, it’s often through natural fermentation using rice-lentil batters, rather than commercial yeast, to create different textures and flavors entirely. Indian breads actively use millet, corn, rice, sorghum, and combinations thereof. A single Indian household might use five different grains for different breads in one week.

Rye once fed everyone, while wheat was a luxury. Now, winter wheat is Lithuania’s main cereal crop, supplying flour for bread, pastries, and pasta.

Kepta duona, fried rye bread with garlic and a cheese or mayonnaise dip, is a beloved pub snack. Various pancakes (blynai) are everyday fare — made from curd, yeast, wheat flour, sometimes stuffed with cheese, meat, or ham, and served with sour cream, jam, or berries.

Barley, oats, buckwheat, and millet are also staples. Buckwheat (grikiai) in particular has seen a resurgence for its health benefits; it’s eaten as a side dish or even as a replacement for rice or potatoes. Buckwheat porridge flavored with butter is still a daily breakfast in many families today.

Extensive pickling achar is common, usually in mustard oil, spices, and acids. E.g., mango pickle, lime pickle, carrot pickle, green chili in vinegar. Indian pickles are very often oil-preserved, while other cultures more extensively use vinegar or brine. Vegetables are nearly always paired with lentils (dal) or flatbreads.

Some of the most popular produce in the cuisine of India are potatoes, onions, tomatoes, chillies, spinach, eggplants, cauliflowers, okra, green mango, bitter gourds, and bottle gourds.

A dry curry refers to a dish where vegetables, meat, or legumes are cooked with spices until the moisture evaporates, leaving a thick, clinging masala or no sauce at all. It’s the opposite of a ‘gravy’ curry. Dry curries are common in home cooking, especially for everyday potatoes, okra, or cabbage. Dry curry is not a traditional culinary term – it’s more common in English-language cookbooks to distinguish sauceless versions. In Indian kitchens, such dishes are simply called sabzi or sookhi sabzi (dry vegetable).

Indian cuisine uses some of the spiciest chilies in the world, like Bhut Jolokia ghost pepper and Naga King, but not uniformly across the country. Chili heat in India ranges from extreme in the Northeast (ghost, naga chilies) to hot in the South (Andhra curries, pickles), moderate in the West (Rajasthani chutneys), balanced in the North (curries with dairy), and mild in the East (mustard-based dishes).

In many other cuisines, fruits are eaten fresh or in desserts, but India incorporates fruits into main courses, curries, pulaos, and chutneys extensively. For example, pineapple pulao combines sweet pineapple with spices and rice, and mango is used in tangy chutneys and yogurt drinks like lassi.

Traditional produce reflects the country’s short growing season, unlike in southern cuisines, vegetables in Lithuania play a supporting role for meats, grains, or potatoes. Spring brings fresh greens, radishes, and sorrel for salads with sour cream and dill. Summer overflows with cucumbers, tomatoes, and new potatoes; autumn shifts to carrots, beets, onions, and cabbage, which are also widely pickled and fermented.

Foraging is part of Lithuanian life. Families collect mushrooms every autumn and cook chanterelles with onions, sour cream, and dill; save porcini and boletes for sauces, or Christmas Eve dumplings. Mushrooms are dried, salted, or pickled, but nothing beats fresh porcini sautéed with butter and bacon.

Pulses once mattered more, especially peas and broad beans, eaten boiled with bacon crisps or mashed during fasting or by poorer families. Lentils and chickpeas are modern additions.

In Lithuania, fruit means apples for most people. Families still store them for winter and use them in pies or pancakes. Even now, when supermarkets offer bananas and citrus year-round, apples remain the default choice. Berries and stone fruits – strawberries, cherries, plums, cranberries – are abundant in summer, often turned into jams, compotes, and pickles for the colder months. Lithuanians still take pride in their homegrown, handmade produce.

Consumption is higher in Kerala, West Bengal, Goa, Nagaland, and the Northeast, where Christian and Muslim communities are larger and Brahminical norms weaker. Urbanization, income growth, and safer supply chains are also driving demand.

Chicken leads the domestic market, while buffalo meat is exported as ‘beef.’ In India, ‘mutton’ usually means goat, not sheep, and is tied to special occasions.

At home, meat is stewed, fried, or simmered in gravies – like rogan josh in Kashmir, pan-Indian chicken curry, or Bengal’s slow-cooked mutton kosha. Biryani is another classic: marinated meat layered with rice, sealed, and steamed. Ground meat (keema) fills breads, kebabs, or curries  keema matar.

Abroad, Indian food is often represented by butter chicken or tandoori, with smoky grills that fit Western ideas of meat. But everyday Indian meals are saucier, designed to soak into rice or bread.

And that famous chicken tikka masala? It’s not Indian at all—likely invented in the UK by Bangladeshi chefs for British tastes, inspired by but distinct from Delhi’s butter chicken.

Nothing says Lithuanian summer like šašlykai, marinated grilled meat skewers. Large chunks of meat are marinated with onions, salt, pepper, and a touch of vinegar, kefir, or mayonnaise before grilling. Served with cucumbers, tomatoes, and tomato sauce, šašlykai are a true summer favorite.

Cattle were traditionally kept for milk or farm work, so beef is smaller; it appears in soups, stews, and steaks (though this is a very modern trend). It’s more common now but still carries a sense of occasion.

Chicken and duck are well-established in modern cooking. Chicken goes into soups, cutlets, or Sunday roasts.  Duck is more of a celebratory bird, roasted with apples or berries for Christmas or Easter.

Venison, wild boar, and hare once marked noble feasts. Today, they’re seasonal, often found in  high-end restaurants, focusing on historical noble cuisine. Game meats are usually paired with mushrooms or berry sauces that highlight their earthy flavor.

Indian seafood is almost always served with rice – not naan or roti. Fish is often shallow-fried, steamed in banana leaves, or simmered in thick gravies – not grilled or raw. Even in seafood dishes, Indian cuisine incorporates vegetables and legumes, creating more complex, balanced meals rather than focusing solely on protein.

Smoked fish, especially eel, perch, catfish, and mackerel, are also favorites. They’re not eaten daily but often enjoyed at fairs or coastal markets, where stalls selling freshly smoked fish draw eager locals.

True marine seafood wasn’t part of traditional cooking, but modern tastes are changing. Imported shrimp, mussels, and octopus are appearing in restaurants. The one native “seafood” Lithuanians have is actually a freshwater crayfish — caught in summer lakes, then boiled with dill and served as a big treat.

*FAO per-capita data may overstate actual fish consumption in Lithuania because of the country’s large seafood processing industry, notably Vičiūnai Group, which exports much of its output.

Milk, kefir, and buttermilk remain everyday staples. Kefir, a thick fermented milk drink, and buttermilk often accompany boiled potatoes. Lithuanian butter and cream are famously rich. Sour cream is everywhere — served with soups, salads, dumplings, potato dishes, and even herring.

Curd cheese (varškė, baltas sūris) is typically flavored with caraway and paired with honey. The white curd cheese Lietuviškas varškės sūris holds EU PGI protection. And for a sweet touch, try sūrelis, its a chilled bar of sweetened curd cheese, flavored with vanilla, cocoa, or jam, and coated in chocolate.

Indian desserts stand out globally for being milky and dense, sweet-forward, spiced, perfumed, and technically demanding, despite humble ingredients. Built around milk, sugar, ghee, and time, they are intensely sweet, especially traditional ones like jalebi, a crispy, chewy, and sticky confection; gulab jamun, deep-fried balls from milk solids; or boondi laddoo, deep-fried droplets of gram flour batter soaked in sugar syrup.

There’s rarely a contrast of tart or bitter to balance the sugar, unlike in Western or East Asian sweets. Cardamom, saffron, rosewater, nutmeg and kewra (fragrant extract from pandanus flower), are common.

Indian desserts avoid eggs almost entirely, fruits are rarely a star, with the exception of mango and banana halwa, and chocolate is rare.

Šimtalapis (hundred-layer cake), of Tatar origin, is now a cherished Lithuanian dessert. It’s made from many thin layers of buttery dough filled with poppy seeds, sugar, and sometimes raisins. Each layer is brushed with butter before baking, giving it a flaky, rich texture similar to a dense croissant.

Kūčiukai are uniquely Lithuanian. These tiny baked dough pieces of flour, poppy seeds, yeast, butter, and milk are crisp on the outside and slightly chewy inside. During Christmas Eve (Kūčios), they’re soaked in poppy milk, a mildly sweet, nutty drink.