Purists may discourage such conversation, but the truth is that the overlap in the various cuisines of India is a natural occurrence. Food, after all, is not just a mish-mash of a few ingredients but akin to a sponge, which along with these ingredients also soaks in the multifarious cultures they come riding on. As such, politics, geography, history and society have played a unique role in shaping our food.

That's precisely why coconut, kokum or tamarind are so commonplace in coastal cuisines. The first thought is that it's easier to paint them all with the same brush, but the current tide in the food industry is more inclined towards putting these culinary aesthetes into neat little boxes. That's not just difficult to do, but also no fun. The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin (CSB) community, for example, finds its roots in Kashmir. Having migrated from there and settled in a pocket in Karnataka, the Deccan way of eating has impacted the cuisine. But a little less than a century ago, many CSB families relocated to Maharashtra, bringing along their culinary traditions to the city.