Next time someone calls you for a restaurant outing for having the humble roti and dal, don't make a face. According to the just-launched India Food Services Report 2019, north Indian vegetarian food is the numero uno choice of Indians.
The survey, done by the National Restaurants Association of India, looks at habits of Indians who frequent restaurants, ranging from what they order, how much they spend and which type of places they like to hang out in. It also lists business aspects like the amount of investment that has come into the Indian F&B sector and other particulars of the restaurant business.
Overall, almost half of the restaurant orders placed in India are for north Indian cuisine, ranging from rotis and dals to paneer and of course, the ubiquitous tandoori chicken. In fact, if you include Mughlai food, which geographically emerged from areas in the northern part of the country, this share goes up to a sweeping 63 per cent.
And no, the idli-dosa staple of south India does not even make it to the second spot. At 27 per cent of orders, Chinese food is the second most preferred. South Indian, from masala dosa to the flavoursome Hyderabadi dum biryani, come up third with 23 per cent of the orders. Italian cuisine makes it to fifth spot at 16 per cent (after Mughlai, which has been taken separately to north Indian and is at No 4).
The regional variations are even more stark with vegetarian food ruling the roost in the north and west of the country, while non-vegetarian is most popular in South India at 70 per cent of the orders. Eastern India is also not behind in the non-veggie craze, with 57 per cent orders at restaurants being non-vegetarian. North Indian food's domination in the national sweepstakes is almost due to its complete dominance on the palate of restaurant-goers in northern and central India. In both south and west of the country, it is south Indian and Chinese that is ordered more. In fact, Chinese is the top favourite in eastern India, closely followed by Indian snacks, as well as wraps and rolls (think Kolkata's frankies).
