Indian Cuisine

Indian Cuisine

·         You can learn much about Indian food, its speciality its various forms, by doing an online search. The cuisine of India is characterized by the use of various spices, herbs and other vegetables grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism across many sections of its society.

·         Indian cuisine encompasses a wide variety of regional cuisines native to India. Given the range of diversity in soil type, climate and occupations, these cuisines vary significantly from each other and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Indian food is also heavily influenced by religious and cultural choices.

·         Indian cuisine consists of the foods and dishes of India and is characterized by the extensive use of various Indian spices,herbs, Vegetables and fruit, and is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society. Each family of Indian cuisine includes a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, it varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically-diverse subcontinent.

The ingredients and seasonings used in Indian cookery

·         ASAFETIDA, Ferula assa-foetida (Apiaceae), a perennial, Zone 7-9 (Bengali hing); native to India & Middle East; cultivated in Kashmir, Eastern Iran to Western Afghanistan. Useful part: Oleo-resin from thick fleshy taproot (lump or powdered form). Sulfurous smell when raw, converts to aroma of sautéed garlic/onion when heated in oil.

·         BLACK PEPPER, Piper nigrum, (Piperaceae) is a tropical, dioecious, woody-stemmed vine, Zone 9-11 (Hindi kali mirch); called “King of Spices”; native to S. & E. India. Useful part: Berries (¼”); black peppercorns from dried unripe berries (used whole or in ground form). Volatile oils: piperidine alkaloids.

·         CARDAMOM, Elettaria cardamomum (Zingiberaceae), a large rhizomatous perennial, Zone 8-10 (Hindi elaichi); “Queen of Spices”; Native to SW India; cultivated in India, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala. Useful part: Pods & seeds (dried whole & ground). Essential oil: cineol, limonene. Pods are harvested by hand (2nd most expensive spice).

·         CHILI PEPPER, Capsicum annuum (Solanaceae) is grown as an annual, hardy in Zone 8-11 (Hindi mirch); native to S. America; introduced to India by the Portuguese (1510AD); cultivated world-wide, mainly in Mexico.

·         Ajowan or Ajwain (Lovage): Ajowan is a plant native to India. It's seeds provide a sharp thyme-like aroma and flavor. Ajowan is primarily used in Savory Indian dishes such as snacks, pastries, vegetables and breads. Use these seeds in moderation as the flavor is quite strong.

·         Amchur or Amchoor: Amchur is a unique Indian spice created by powdering dried green (unripe) mango flesh. It is often used in marinades and chutneys.

·         Anardana (Pomegranate Seed): Andardana are the sundried seeds of the pomegranate fruit. It is used as a spice primarily in Northwest part of India. These seeds provide flavor to many common dishes like vegetable curries and samosas.

·         Asafoetida (Heeng or Hing): Asafoetida comes from a sap extracted from the root of the Ferula Assafoetida plant. Like Garlic, it has a strong smell and is used in many vegetarian dishes to enhance the flavor and aroma.

·         Tej Patta (Bay Leaf): The tej patta is a dried aromatic leave from a cinnamon tree or malabar leaf. It has a subtle aroma that is similar to cinnamon bark and milder in flavor. It is used to add sweet flavors to curries, rice and stews. The Indian bay leaf is not the same thing as the European bay leaf.

·         Cardamom (Elaichi): Cardamom seeds have distinctly sweet but slightly lemon-like flavor. Cardamoms come in green, black and white, although Indian cooking usually only uses black and green. Cardamoms are essential parts of spice mixtures like garam masala.

·         Celery Seed (Radhuni): Radhuni is also called wild celery.  It's a very strong spice with a smell similar to parsley with the taste of celery.

·         Chat (chaat) Masala: Chat masala is an Indian spice blend, also called a masala. It typically consists of dried mango powder, cumin, coriander, dried ginger, salt, black pepper, asafoetida and chili powder. It has a pungent almost egg-like smell and tastes both sweet and sour. Chat masala is used to flavor most popular Indian fast foods.

·         Coriander (Dhania): Coriander seeds come from the coriander plant. The seeds can be used whole or ground. The ground form often comprises spice blends like garam masala. Ground coriander seeds lose their flavor fast,

·         Fenugreek (Methi): Fenugreek seeds provide a tangy flavor and a powerful curry scent to many vegetable and lentil dishes. These seeds are always roasted before they're used.  The lighter the roast the mellower the flavor; the darker the roast the more bitter the flavor.

·         Garam Masala: Garam masala literally means "hot spice" and is a mixture of spices used throughout India. The mixture is added in small quantities to food because it has a very powerful flavor that can easily take over a dish. Typical spices include: cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns and fenugreek seeds.

·         Ghee: Ghee is also called Indian clarified butter. It is clarified without any solid milk particles or water. It is used daily to add flavor to many Indian dishes. Traditionally, ghee is made from from butter churned out of Indian yogurt (curd). It is boiled and stirred constantly until all of the water is evaporated. Then, it is further heated to get a pleasant flavor, slightly cooled and filtered through muslin to remove sediment.

 The regional cooking methods and service styles being practiced by the Indians

A good many dishes are braised.First the meat or vegetablaes are seared - cooked at high temperature in oil. Then they are cooked slowly in a variable amount of liquid in a cover pot. The dish Korma derives its name from the Hindi 'to braise', and a good many dishes (Rogan Josh, Dopiaza) are variants of Korma

It does seem that a good few dishes are prepared by shallow frying onions and spices then braising the meat and/or vegetables. Quite a few curries are cooked for a long period (and I frequently transfer to a slow cooker after initially cooking in a pan). Often the pot needs to be well sealed - if you don'r have a tight fitting lid this is often achieved by sealing the lid with a ring of dough.

Some dishes are simply fried quite quickly - Jalfrezi is an example. This is more common in the North where the food tends to be a little drier.

Also in the North, the tandoor is used a great deal. This is a circular clay oven fired by wood or charcoal and provides the intense heat. It is used for cooking both meat and breads. Naan bread is the most obvious example but many regional breads are cooked this way. Tikka dishes and kebabs are often cooked in a tandoor. It can be replicated to some extent using a heavy dry frying pan and the oven and grill. I use the oven for my raan of lamb but that would also be done in a tandoor

Deep frying is used for pakoras (vegetables in batter) and pooris (deep fried breads); and aloo chaat involves deep frying potatoes (like chips).

Steaming is rarer but idles are a very common breakfast food which is steamed.

Marinating is quite common in Indian food as well especially with meat dishes - there seems to be a deep desire to get all the flavors into the meat - it does also help to preserve the meat. When preparing food it is important to remember a few points:

- All the vegetables should be of the same size to create a good presentation, and this will also help to ensure even cooking.

- All vegetables are first peeled or skinned unless otherwise stated. If not used at once they should be soaked in water to prevent discoloration, especially potatoes and carrots.

- For curries all meat is usually cut into bite-sized pieces.

Similarly, you can shorten your work by grinding all the spices for one recipe together. For small amounts of dry spices use a pestle and mortar. For larger quantities an electric grinder is invaluable and often a small quantity of water makes the process easier.

During cooking, food may start to stick to the pan, in which case a little water can be stirred in. Remember though that there are many dry curries, which are not intend to be overly moist and do not have a large quantity of sauce.

Thin down a curry with a sauce, or a dall, stir in a little boiling water. Various combinations of ingredients and the innumerable aromatic spices create magical, mouth watering variety of the same dish, which may be very often different in taste, color, texture and also appearance, taking into accounts the regional variations.

The Indian breads are cooked on a heavy cast iron griddle known as a "tawa". (You may use a heavy, cast iron frying pan instead).The meat is either cooked in a wok (flat frying pan as the heat is distributed evenly around the food, allowing the food to be fried quickly in just a small amount of oil) or in a special tandoori oven – therefore it’s not fatty, neither overcooked. For cooking tandoori style, the food is fist marinated in spices and later cooked in a tandoor. Tandoor is very large earthenware pot which has a bed of burning charcoal inside. (see the picture below). This imparts a smoky flavor to the food. The food to be cooked is speared on large skewers which are placed vertically in the clay pot. To find more about Indian kebabs and find recipes

Special technique;

Adding yoghurt: this procedure has to be done carefully or the yoghurt will separate. Take the pan from the heat and add the yoghurt a spoonful at a time, stirring well between each addition. Then return the pan to the heat, stirring all the time, until the sauce bubbles.

Browning the onions: the more caramel - colored the onions, the richer the paste. With sweet taste (frying onions releases their sugars). Don't overly crisp them as the resultant paste can be bitter.

Fried onion paste is a key ingredient in many curries from northern regions of India and Pakistan. It provides a smooth sweet, dark brown paste that mellows out the harsh flavors of ginger and garlic.

Curry base building - the most of all the liquids is water. Many of legume curries use water to cook the grains, with a simple seasoning of spices to give flavor to the water; Acidic liquids like tomato sauces, pastes, and purees provide valuable moisture but also tartness and color. Dairy products like yogurt, buttermilk, cream, half and half and reduced milk solids not only provide a sauce base but also lower the hot tastes in curries.

Some curries are meant to be thin-bodied, and some are naturally thick because of the inclusion of a nut, vegetable, fruit or legume puree. Then there are a few that need to bulk up, and for that we look to flours made form chickpeas, rice and wheat. Some curries employ cornstarch and other potatoes as a natural built -in thickener.

Cooking the spice paste until the oil runs clear

The point of this is to allow the spices to absorb as much oil as they can, and thus to give out their full flavor. When the spices are saturated, the excess oil runs out of them (you can drain it off, if you like), and you can proceed to the next step in the recipe.

Colorings: the use of subtle coloring in Indian cooking is commonplace. Saffron and turmeric are often used. However the latter imparts a particular and sometimes overwhelming, flavor and the former is expensive, so a popular alternative is to make up a weak solution of orange or yellow food coloring.

Dry roasting: When all the spices for a recipe require dry roasting, they can be roasted together for convenience.

Many spices are dry roasted for a few seconds to heighten their flavors. This is best achieved by gently heating either a non-stick or heavy-based frying pan. Add the spices and over a very gentle heat move the spices around the surface of the pan. Because of their pungency, dry roast chilies in a covered pan.

Dropping spices into hot oil - this is often either the first or the last step in an Indian recipe. The oil is heated until very hot and then whole spices or dried chilies are dropped into it. Within a few second they pop or expand and their concentrated flavor is released.

Grinding spices: a coffee grinder is ideal for making a spice paste. You can also use a blender or a pestle and mortar.

Tempering (Baghar, Phoran, Darka): the terms given to the process in which a seasoning, combined with oil or ghee, is poured over a dish before it is served. The purpose of this is to either add a flavor without incorporating it in the cooking process or to increase the amount of oil.

Thickening sauces: flour is not used as a thickening in Indian cookery. Instead, spice pastes, yoghurt, tomatoes and coconut are all use to thicken and add their own individual flavors.

Fish: the people of Bangladesh and the Bengalis use mustard oil to cook the fish. The fish are frequently cooked with skin, bones and head intact, giving the dish full benefit of all the nutritional value, and this extracts the most flavor from the fish, too. If you use frozen fish, cut or slice the fish before it is completely thawed so that the pieces retain their shape during preparation. Chili powder is used in these recipes. As it can vary in strength use it cautiously.

Instead of frying the fish it can be arranged in a baking tray, brushed with oil and either placed under a preheated grill or baked in a preheated oven 180° C (350° F).

Meat: As a general rule, all the tougher cuts of meat are cooked by a moist method such as stewing, braising, boiling or currying. Tender meat such as fillet, rump, loin and shoulder are good for dry heat cooking e.g. roasting, frying and grilling. For curries choose middle neck, shoulder, leg and scrap end, and it is common for the bones to be included, too. For biryani and pulao choose leg or shoulder, and for kebabs and keema use leg.

The materials and equipment used by Indian cookery

·         Brass or Copper Lota-Another common sight in the traditional Indian home is the brass or copper jug or lota. The vessel is commonly used and seen at a number of if not all Indian rituals. The brass or copper jug or lota is a part of the alter in every Indian home.

·         Chakli and Sev Maker-The sev and chakli maker is an important kitchen requirement, at least in the traditional Indian kitchen. The design of this very versatile equipment includes a base container that is open both ends, but narrower at the lower end

·         Kadhai or Indian Wok Like the rolling board and pin set in the kitchen, another must have is the kadhai or Indian wok. It hardly matters whether or not the metal wok is coated or not. Its being non-stick does not add to the versatility of use in any way.

·         Marble Dry Grinder-The dry grinder or ‘pistle and mortar’ set made of marble is seen in practically every Indian home. The pistle is the elongated marble piece that is used to crush and powder the ingredients.

·         Panch Dhatu (Five Metals) BowlThe use of an amalgamation of five or more metals is very common in India. It is believed that wearing or eating out of such a mix adds to the potent of the food and improves health

·         Stainless Steel Utensil-The need to preserve and store drove man to designing a number of basic utensils. The cupped leaves gave way to the use of metal, wood and stone.

·         A small heavy bottomed skillet: This is useful for dry roasting the spices. The appropriate way to roast the spices is to do them in small batches and for a few minutes.

·         A steamer or steaming pot: There are several dishes especially in south India cuisine that need to be steamed, a good pot that allows for this is immensely useful.

·         A crock pot: I find this immensely helpful for stews that need a lot of slow cooking time. It retains the flavors and lets the stew simmer without any attention.

·         sA Pressure cooker: This on the converse end of a crock pot cuts down cooking time tremendously for beans and other items that take a long time to cook.

·         Sarashi: A pair of metal tongs, these are useful for turning breads and other hot foods.

·         Jhajri – A metal turner with holes, this is round, it is useful for frying since it allows you to drain the oil.