Indian Spicy Foods

Curry Is Not The Name Of A Dish

Such a great is the range of food in India that a tourist who has grown on the belief that it is the land of curry and rice is in for a surprise. Curry, to the Indian, is not the name of a dish and it covers a whole class of dishes. There are several numbers of curries, made with meat, fish, chicken, vegetables and in some occasions, fruits. The only general factor is that they all include freshly ground spices, plus turmeric and with 'gravy'. The mixture of spices, often passed from mother to daughter or from one cook to his son, makes one curry totally unlike from other curries.

There is no standard curry powder blend. Every housewife has her unique mix of spices. And the magnitudes are varies from recipe to recipe. It may be exciting to note that most of these spices have a medicinal value which westerners, often with their antibiotic obsessions, tend to disregard. But an Indian cook knows which spice will have what consequence on the digestive system and uses it accordingly.

The most frequently used spices and herbs in Indian cooking are asafoetida, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, coriander, garlic, ginger, turmeric and aniseed. Let us scrutinize their uses. Turmeric is used more or less in every dish. It helps to conserve food and gives the dish a pleasant yellow natural colour and it has also digestive properties. Ginger is regarded good for digestion and many people like it not only in their food but also eat it as a salad. Coriander seeds or beans are used in most of the Indian dishes. They are believed to have a cooling effect on the body of a person who eats the food. Cardamoms are strong and sweet and they have a nice flavour. They are used in all dishes and in some curries too. They lend a hand in digestion. Saffron, the most expensive spice, can generate a lot of effect and fragrance with a little quantity. To produce one pound of saffron, quite a few thousand flowers are needed.

It is grown in the valley of Kashmir and is used for its aroma. Mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, cloves, poppy and caraway seeds are also regularly used in Indian dishes. Masala is the name for a blend of various spices and It may be dry or in liquid paste. The cook decides what will go in the spice blend. Garam Masala is a mix of only fragrant spices. It can be ready in advance and stored. Now, a variety of blends of packed Garam Masalas are available in the shops. The pack tells you for what kind of dishes it could be used. The Garam Masalas are normally cinnamom, cloves, cumin seeds, mace, coriander seeds, nutmeg, and black pepper.

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Vegetarian & Non-Vegetarian Foods

The food habits have been shaped over the years depending on the type of raw materials obtainable in a region. In the Northern India, there is abundance of meat, vegetables, almonds, dairy products, chillies and wheat. For that reason, we find people have a fondness for wheat bread in the shape of Naan, Chapati, Puri, Parathas. Differing to the belief that North Indians are meat eaters, a meat dish is only an supplementary dish while a vegetable curry and dal (lentil curry) are usually a must in a total meal served in an Indian home.

Cooking media in the north is pure Ghee (clarified butter) even if it is now used scarcely due to its high price and its high fat content potentiality. Other vegetable fats are now more regularly used as cooking media.

In the west and the east rice is the main diet and fish is plentiful. So, most dishes turn round these raw materials. The south is largely vegetarian except places on the coast. A whole lot of vegetarian cooking has been developed over the centuries. There is so much of assortment that a visitor is dazzled by the choice offered to him.

As the preparation of food is significant to Indians, its presentation is no less important. Customarily, Indian food is served either on a well washed large banana leaf or in a 'Thali'( a large plate made of brass, steel or silver. Porcelain plates are introduced in wealthy Indian homes in recent years.) On it, a number of Katoris (little bowls) are placed to hold small helpings of each dish. A typical meal may consist of a meat or fish dish, two vegetable dishes, dal, yoghurt and a sweet dish of Kheer or halwa. Other side dishes would be Pickles, Chutneys, Papads, etc. A small piece of lime may be sited in the Thali to be used by the guest, if he so wishes.

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India Offers A Vast Variety Of Breads

Different to the West, these breads are the basis of Indian meals. Chappatis and Nans are prepared in an oven or Tandoor. Thin and small Chapatis are thoroughly made on an iron griddle placed on gas or fire. Some bread akin to Puris is fried in deep fat and Parathas are pan-fried with a slight fat, if possible pure clarified butter (ghee).

The commonest bread is the 'Chapati' which you can find Indians making in any odd corner over Chulhas with wood or charcoal. Fundamentally, the Chapati is just wheat flour and water dough rolled very thin and cooked like a pancake on slow heat. These are hot and fresh and you can eat quite a few of them with your vegetable or meat curry. A richer variety of the roti is the Paratha, which is cooked with butter. It comes out soft and yummy. Indians also make Parathas packed with potatoes or other vegetables. Stuffed Parathas are whole meals and are eaten with plain yoghurt and pickles.

Puris are made from the same principal dough rolled out thin and round with a wooden roller and deep-fried in clarified butter or vegetable fat. In the same way, hot bread made of somewhat different dough is called a Loochi in Kolkatta. It tastes very separate from Puris. In south, Dosa and Idli replacement for bread. Dosa is made from rice and prepared like crepe. The famous 'Idli' is streamed rice cake. Dosa is often stuffed with vegetables to make a whole meal. Boath are eaten with a vegetable soup called Sambar.

The 'Papad', spiced with pepper and aniseed, go with every meal. They taste very good when served up hot from the oven. They go well again with drinks.

India Is A Country Of Sweets

There is a whole range of curry dishes from several parts of India, each one having its own different flavour. For the purpose of handiness, we can broadly segregate Indian food into four distinct regions - related to Delhi for the North, Bombay for the West, Chennai for the South and Kolkatta for the East.

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Bread is More Commonly Eaten Than Rice

North Indian cooking is the most luscious in India. It owes a lot to the Mugals who came to India from central Asia, and the Mugalai food, related with northern India, derives its name from the influence of Muslims.

The ubiquitous 'Chapatti' is the common man's fare. Nan is kind of a extravagance and goes well with tandoori food. Another kind of bread is Parathas, a rich bread of wheat flour made with clarified butter and it is tasty and soft. The western countries are more familiar with India's Tandoori food as most Indian restaurants abroad serve it. Tandoori chicken or mutton is a barbecued food which is spiced and marinated in yoghurt for a few hours beforehand it is cooked. Tandoori chicken with Nan green salad and a dessert is actually the food for a Maharaja (King). Foreign visitors to Indian cannot oppose its temptation. It is not excessively spiced and is nearest to western cooking.

Delhi is also known as the Kebab country. Meat kebabs come in many varieties. Some of these are: Boti Kebab, Reshmi Kebab, Pasinda Kebab, Seekh Kebab, and shammi Kebab. The last one is made with a spiced paste of ground meat assorted with spices and fried over a low fire.

The other attractiveness of the Northern Indian cuisine is 'Biriyani' which is a dish or rice, saffron and marinated lamb or chicken. At VIP receptions, this dish is habitually served. Pulao is a somewhat less complicated version of Biryani. There is another electrifying version - sweet pulao - made with rice coconut, almonds, mangoes and papayas.

If you are not interested in tandoori dishes of mutton, fish or chicken, your other choices are Rogan Josh, lamb curry, Kofta, Korma or Do-Piaza. Do Piaza is prepared with lots of onions, Korma is predominantly rich and Koftas are meat-ball curry. Koftas come in many shape, small and large. The large ones are packed with boiled eggs. Supplementary to the North Indian meal will be a small helping of Dal (lentil soup). For people who do not eat meat, there are quite a lot of options - Paneer (peas with cheese), Sag Paneer (cheese with spinach), Bharta, a delicious vegetable made from egg plant and several other curry dishes combining cauliflower, potatoes and allied vegetables. Now they cook cauliflower and cheese dishes also in a Tandoor style. The dessert regularly made is Kheer, Firni (pudding) or Halwa. Kasmiri food has also been inspiration by Mugalai Food. It has further varieties of meat dishes. There is ample of lamb in Kashmir. Kashmiri food is a little extra spice than the typical Indian dishes.

If you are not alert, tea time in North India may make you forget about your dinner. With tea comes packed pastry, Samosa, fritter-like Pakoras and any number of sweets made from milk paste, i.e., Rasgulla, Gulab jamun or Barfi. As is the Indian custom, the host always persist you eat more, telling you have eaten very little - but careful it is your stomach!

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Bengali Special

In Bengal, food is plainer and depends on rice as the core of the meal. Catering is conceivably the most serious business in the life of a Bengali. The first thing he does in the morning is to shop for food and vegetables and travels quite a few miles to buy his fish, vegetables and sweets from his favourite shops.

For the majority Bengalis, sea fish is infra-dig. Their favourite is for fresh water fish. Luckily there is a large quantity of it in many homes in rural Bengal having their own fish ponds. Mustard seeds and mustard oil are normally used in cooking their fish dishes. Bekdi, is a special fish of Bengal, especially lends itself to western style of cooking and is highly recommended while you are in Kolkatta.

If Bengalis' first love is fish, then without a doubt the second one is sweet. Special and distinctive sweets that come from Bengal are Sandesh and Rasgullas, made in several ways from cottage cheese. One prominent exception is Misti- Doi (sweetened yoghurt). Bengali cuisine is only one of its kind in India where plain yoghurt is missing in its bill of fare. By tradition, no sweets are made at home. They are always purchased at a confectioner's and this goes for Misti-Doi also. The recipe seems to be a strictly held secret which no housewife has yet successfully been able to break through.

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Delights From Mumbai

Food in Bombay is separate from food in the rest of the country. This is possibly due to the presence of small but dominant communities of Parsis, who came from Iran a thousand years ago, and other minorities like the Sindhis, Punjabis, Goans and Khoja Muslims. Dhansak, a contribution of the Parsis, is a dish made with chicken or lamb and cooked with liberally spiced puree of an assortment of lentils and vegetables. Dhansak is served in many restaurants of Bombay, particularly on Sundays.

Till a few years ago, Goa was occupied by the Portuguese (it was liberated December 1961). The Portuguese inspiration is evident in the cuisine. One of Goa's finest known dishes is Vindaloo, chicken, pork or fish cooked with spices and vinegar, which received the name from the Portuguese 'Vinadalhos.' Different to other Indians, Goan eats a lot of pork and vindaloo is often cooked with pork. Their fresh sausages have also an individual taste. Goan also eats a lot of fresh seafood.

Belonging to Bombay are also two Muslim societies, the Boras and the Khojas. Each has its individual style of cooking. The Sindhis, who migrated from Sindh in Pakistan, have brought their identifiable cuisine. It is very-admired and is more often meat-based. Bombay Duck is the nick name of a seafish, very delicious when curried or fried.

The Maharashtrians and the Gujaratis, the original natives of this province, have their quota of meat-eaters. But the larger parts of them are vegetarians. Like their matching part among South Indian Brahmins, they have mastered the art of vegetarian cooking. Their cuisine occupies fine spicing and light cooking using sprouted lentils - to make tasty and nutritious meals. They prefer sweet and sour dishes.

People in the western province eat, both wheat and rice, though more rice than wheat. Foods in India has now become an All-India affair. One can eat any kind of provincial food in most important cities of India. So, if you want to eat North Indian Food in Bombay, just ask your hotel for information. They will direct you to a restaurant in the hotel itself or, if you wish, in the city.

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South Indians Eat Lot of Rice

It is also in the South India that curry should be observed with respect. Their curry may be rich as in North India but it definitely is hot. For Vegetarians, South India is a heaven. Their vegetarian food gives lot of range, especially the Brahmin cuisine which is not the same from the non-Brahmin food. The Traditional South Indian Brahmin is a stern vegetarian steering away from even garlic and onion for smell and from tomatoes because of their color (of the blood). His food in all the four states is based on the reward of the countryside. Tamarind grows here and so do chillies and Coconut is freely available. And the lentil that grows here is arhar, a yellow lentil. It is a mixture of this with tamarind, spices and vegetables which makes Sambhar their basic dish and is eaten twice a day.

Rasam (Mulligatawny) a thin, peppery, lentil sourced soup is taken at both lunch and dinner. Rasam is also the forerunner of the now famous mulligatawny soup, the name itself being a corruption of the Tamil 'Milagu Thannir', or 'Pepper Water'. An average meal in the South India consists of Sambhar, Rasam, two or three vegetable preparations, often cooked with grated coconut and yoghurt and eaten with boiled rice.

In spite of this, the most accepted dishes that have come out of the South are 'Dosa' and 'Idli'. Their reputation has spread throughout the country to an extent that the idli and dosa eating joints can be found as far in the Himalayas as Leh in Ladakh or in Sikkim, Butan and Kathmandu. Both are made with a combination of ground fermented rice and dal. They are supplied with Sambhar and coconut Chutney. The Dosas are griddle-fried pancakes and the Idlis are more like steamed dumplings. Even if there is a measure of likeness between the foods of the four states of South India, there is one pocket where the cuisine is not the same. That is Hyderabad and it was once ruled by the Muslim Nizams. Typical Hyderabadi food has Muslim associations and includes several dishes that are exclusive to this area, such as 'Baghara Baigan', a distinctive dish of mutton. The Biryani in Hyderabad also tastes different.

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