Indian cuisine is very famous throughout the world for its distinctive spicy and delicious taste. Among their most popular foods are humus, kababs and shawarma. Indian cooking was developed a long time ago by the ancestors of Indians. For them, what made their cooking delicious is the good mix of their herbs and belief in the balance of mental and physical state.

Chiefly vegetarian, Indian cooking is a healthy mix of flavors from eastern herbs and spices blended into mouth-watering concoctions. Indian cooking exhibits some Chinese influences. In fact, there are a number of Indo-Chinese recipes popular in Indian cooking the world over.

Indian cooking is more than just an appetizing mix and playful combination of good food and spices. It's also about your overall well-being. It offers practical nutrition guides that promote awareness towards one's body. Expert chefs would normally suggest little ways to strike a balance between your emotional and mental states. Increase energy by consuming more spices; decrease lethargy by eating more raw food.

As is the basic Hindu teaching, food is but a factor. The core goal is to be one with nature. Indian cooking is centered on helping you achieve and maintain a balanced mental, physical and emotional state. The Indian belief is that you'd feel out of synch, unnecessarily lifeless or unduly argumentative if you're out of balance. Indian vegetarian cooking helps bring together peace and harmony into your goals and decisions to achieve harmony in your mind, soul and body.

An interesting concept that's a huge part of Indian cooking is dosha. Dosha is your personal constitution, what you're basically made of. Indians believe everyone has a combination of earth (kapha), wind (vata) and fire (pitta). But knowing which way your personality is leaning will help determine which food items to avoid or increase intake of. Knowing what your dosha is reveals many personality traits you may not have been aware of. That in itself – awareness – is already a key to helping you strike a balance.

Indian cooking is also a mix of exotic and familiar, daring you to try foreign Indian dishes or stay in your comfort zone. Whether you're in the mood to experiment or not, Indian cooking is versatile enough for you to find something to suit your palate and your mood. Find familiar tastes in pasta, salads, breads, rice, tabbouleh, couscous, beans, tofu and masala. Be amazed by an exotic array of raita, rasgouli, kara, mooli, alumethi, bhindi, bharta, rejuvelac, and upma. Even the names sound exotic and you might have to research what these are on your own.

Interestingly, the basic non-dietary precept of Indian cooking is consistent with the goals in Yoga and would greatly supplement and support that goal. However, balancing your doshas in various Yoga poses and food choices does not involve calorie counts and energy charts. Harmony and oneness with nature, in the Indian belief system is unity in the forces of nature inside you.

So for an interesting exploration of Eastern cuisine with a unique view of Eastern culture and lifestyle, dabble in Indian cooking concepts and lessons. You'll definitely get more than just good, tasty and extremely healthy food choices. You'll find inner peace.