I'm working on expanding my knowledge of world food history. However, Indian food history is a vast area, and every time I look at it, I end up reading about either very focused topics, or very broad generalisations (mostly written by people who are not Indian and have not spent time in India).
Can someone provide me with a broad outline of major events in Indian food history (original regional cuisines, new cuisines, new foods introduced, major historical famines, etc)? I'm interested in the whole range of history, but somewhat more so in food before the Columbian Exchange. Reading recommendations will also be very helpful.
My overall knowledge of Indian cuisine is pretty small, but you might consider the following texts. If you've done much digging into the subject then you've probably already run into them, but still, these are the ones that I think are good starting points.
On cuisine, I can think of two things: one is Arjun Appadurai's classic essay "How to Make a National Cuisine," from 1988. Another is Lizzie Collingham's Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors.
Regarding famines, there are several important works that you should be aware of. Amartya Sen's Poverty and Famines is a major text for any study of famines; you've probably encountered some discussion of it with people like Cormac O Grada and studies on the Irish famine of 1848. Also important for the study of famines is Mike Davis's Late Victorian Holocausts.
Beyond these, my knowledge of the overall history of Indian cuisine is practically nil, so I'm interested in what you find.