Exchange in daily life

Some of the biggest cultural exchanges of this period ended up on our plates and in our wardrobes.

In the kitchen:

• spices such as cardamom, clove, turmeric, coriander and black pepper went from royal kitchens to ordinary ones;
• curd (for marinating) and ghee became popular;
• khichri, made for over a thousand years, got new flavours;
• Akbar tried to eat less meat, himself and at his court, partly because of Jain and Hindu influence.

Naan, baked in a clay oven, shows Persian influence. And two foods we think of as fully Indian came the same way.

The samosa is the Indian version of the Persian sambūseh, brought to the Delhi Sultanate courts by cooks from West Asia. Its filling of meat, pistachios, almonds and walnuts was replaced by potatoes and peas.

The jalebi comes from the Persian zalabiyeh:

• the zalabiyeh has an uneven, flower-like coil and uses a syrup of honey and rose water;
• the jalebi has round coils and plain sugar syrup.

Notice that in both cases something was changed, not just copied. That is the difference between adopting and adapting.

Clothes changed the same way. Long before, Greek travellers had written about India's fine clothes, dyes, hairstyles, footwear (including high heels) and jewellery.

In this period:

• the jama and pyjama were worn at court, with versions for women;
• fine muslin dupattas were added;
• the sari carried on, in its regional styles;
• the angrakha, a robe worn by both men and women, grew out of Persian court fashion, adapted to Indian taste and cloth.

That is the chapter's conclusion in small: continuity and integration together, in art, music, languages, clothes and food alike.