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Much like humans relocate from one part of the globe to another, food has travelled the world and will most likely continue to do so. In a modern global marketplace, individuals often relocate to secure their livelihoods and improve their circumstances. Such relocations were not always voluntary, as seen in the case of the African diaspora, which often occurred without the option to take one’s belongings or artefacts along.

For the diasporic, food plays a prominent role. On the one hand, it contributes to affirming the diaspora’s feelings, and on the other hand, food serves as a means of communication with the host country (Marshall 2020) . Food, therefore, facilitates initial discourse and bridges cultural divides. Food functions as a conduit, linking individuals to their native soil while simultaneously aiding adjustment and fusion within their adopted environments (Chauhan and Mehta 2024) . When people relocate, their foodways consequently also alter their (and often their host country's) food landscape (Mintz 2008; Ray 2004) .

Food culture is more than ingredients, cooking methods and the social behaviour surrounding food – it is also about accumulated knowledge. During diasporic movement, relocated people seek community events and social integration with other groups to fulfil their information and entertainment requirements. These communal assemblies embody dispersal, embracing concepts such as selfhood, cultural blending, a sense of belonging, recollections, and a yearning for home. But food changes when in a new environment: often, when food, either as objects, processes, or even ingredients or ideas, spreads from one society to another, the receiving society would in all likelihood modify, often incorrectly, and usually to redefine what it has received. This also applies to

ingredients, where they are often “indigenized” by the borrowing society (Mintz 2008) .

When people, along with their food culture, are placed among other cultures, their own cuisine or diet does not simply adapt; rather, a newer ‘fusion’ type cuisine evolves (Marshall 2020) . This open call, therefore, is work research that explores the relationships between diasporic Indians through what they eat, the dynamics of their kitchens, the importance of diet in the context of identity, how new environments led to dietary adaptations, and the skills necessary to thrive in those environments.

The collection of works furthermore examines the critical role of nourishment in disseminating Indian heritage among the expatriate population and in its preservation. Scrutinising the modification of gastronomic routines, the influence of sustenance on the evolution of identity and cross-cultural synthesis, and the fiscal significance of Indian cookery within non-native communities illuminates the intricate dynamic between fare and exchange within these global systems.

Aim and Scope

As Indian communities have migrated globally, their gastronomies—comprising cooking, dining, and preparation styles—have travelled across space and time, evolving according to diverse social and environmental circumstances. Food serves as a primary vehicle for cultural preservation, navigating the tension between nostalgia for the homeland and the necessity of adaptation in a new environment.

This special issue explores the multifaceted role of food in the Indian diaspora, serving as a bridge connecting individuals to their heritage while facilitating cultural hybridity and identity formation. We invite interdisciplinary contributions that investigate food not merely as sustenance, but as a metaphor for memory, a site of racial anxiety, and a driver of global economic relevance.

We are accepting original full papers for publication in a book by Common Ground Research Networks. Proposals should be original research and review articles that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Culinary Authenticity vs. Hybridity: The "metamorphosis" of traditional recipes through modernisation and fusion in the diaspora.
Gastropolitics and Identity: How food choices reflect caste, gendered norms, and religious practices (e.g., the persistence of vegetarianism).
The Materiality of Memory: The role of specific ingredients, like traditional herbs and spices (e.g., turmeric, curry leaves), as cultural anchors.
Representation in Arts and Media: Food as a metaphor in diasporic cinema and literature, from Mississippi Masala to The Mistress of Spices.
Racial and Sensory Politics: Interrogating the "smell of curry" as a site of xenophobia and re-Orientalism.
Health and Traditional Knowledge: The vertical transmission of knowledge regarding medicinal benefits of Indian gastronomy across generations.
Economic Networks: The growth of the global Indian food trade and the impact of immigrant-owned food businesses on local host economies.

If you would like to submit your chapter for consideration, please click the button below!

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Call for Chapters: Foodways of the Global Indian Diaspora