As the humidity went up with the rains and the human digestive system slowed down, for generations India’s kitchens have instinctively shifted towards warm, freshly cooked foods seasoned with digestive spices. From Bengal’s light khichuri, Kerala’s medicinal karkidaka kanji, Maharashtra’s steamed patolya, Assam’s fragrant hukoti shoroo or Tamil Nadu’s pepper-rich kumbakonam milagu kuzhambu, every region tells the same story in a different culinary language.