Indian Cuisine
Cultural Flavors: The Basics of Indian Cooking
East Indian cooking uses unique cooking techniques and special ingredients. Despite its reputation as a “hot” cuisine, flavors range from mild to very hot.
Sit down to a full-course East Indian meal and you’ll probably start with soup or an appetizer. Spicy mulligatawny soup is a favorite and crisp papadum, a wafer made of chickpea (garbanzo
bean) flour and spices, may be offered alongside the soup. Pakora, deep-fried vegetables in a spicy chickpea flour batter is another favorite appetizer. Dip the papdum or pakor in a variety of chutneys, perhaps mint or carrot.
An Indian meal features one or more entrees. The entrees may consist of meat or may be vegetarian. Meat entrees usually feature beef, lamb, or chicken.
Basmati rice, a fragrant strain of rice grown in the Himalayan foothills, is a staple on the Indian dinner table. Basmati is steamed and served plain or may be mixed with spices, vegetables, raisins, or nuts to make a colorful pilau.
Another important element of the meal is dal, which is a well-seasoned soupy mixture made of lentils, chickpeas, or beans. Dal provides an important protein source when served with vegetarian entrees. Dal is often eaten as a topping on the rice, which absorbs some of the liquid.
Because Indian entrees are often spicy, a yogurt salad called raita is offered as a cooling element. Raita contains yogurt that is usually mixed with grated cucumber and onion. Mild spices season the mixture. Sometimes other fresh vegetables, such as carrots, are grated into the raita.
Flat bread, usually naan or chapatis, is also offered with the meal. Naan is a flat bread cooked in the oven. It can be flavored with garlic or with onion seeds. Chapatis are whole wheat flat breads cooked on a grill. Both breads are served warm, brushed with ghee (clarified butter).
Fragrant tea is served with the meal and also with dessert, which usually consists of a milk based sweet such as gulab jamin or burfi. Gulab jamin is made of balls of flour and dry milk, and cream cooked in a heavy sugar syrup. Burfi is a fudge-textured sweet that also uses dried milk, sugar, and ghee clarified butter. Rosewater and pistachios are often added to flavor the burfi. It is chilled and then served in small squares. (The original method for making gulab jamin and burfi required that milk be cooked over low heat for a lengthy period to reduce it to a thick liquid, but modern cooks have found they can substitute dry milk.) Rice pudding, which is another popular sweet, is often flavored with raisins, pistachios, and rosewater.
Another ingredient that finds its way into vegetarian entrees and into dessert is a fresh cow’s milk cheese called paneer. Paneer is prepared by scalding whole milk and letting it cool slightly. As it cools, lemon juice is added while the milk is gently stirred. Large curds are produced. The curds are placed in cheese cloth and are squeezed or weighted to drain the whey (liquid) from the curds. The drained curds are chilled and then cut into chunks for inclusion in vegetable recipes. Or, the curds may be mashed and mixed with sugar or other ingredients as the base for a dessert. Paneer has a delicate, subtly lemon flavor.
Note that the serious Indian cook prepares his or her own basic spice mixtures, using whole spices ground with a mortar and pestle. Such a mixture is known as gram masala. In the West, we know them as curry spices. Ghee is also made fresh at home, although it can be purchased at an Indian grocery.
Some typical meat entrees are tandoori chicken, which is chicken that has been marinated for about twenty-four hours in a mixture of yogurt and spices. The spice turmeric is a key ingredient and gives the chicken lovely red-orange color when mixed with the yogurt. When the chicken has marinated long enough, it is baked in a special clay oven.
Chunks of beef and lamb are often served on skewers; seasoned ground meat is also grilled on skewers. The grilled meat is often served on a bed of sliced, uncooked onion with a garnish of lemon wedges that are used to season the meat at the table.
Chunks of meat are also cooked on the stovetop in spicy “curry” sauces, appropriate for serving over rice. Among these recipes are vindaloo and korma preparations with thick spicy sauces made of vegetables.
Vegetarian dishes are served “wet” (with a sauce) or “dry” without extra liquid added. Both dishes start with ghee melted in a skillet. Both whole and ground spices are heated in the ghee. Then, the vegetables are added to the ghee mixture and sautéed. Extra liquid is added to the wet dishes so that the vegetables form a saucy mixture. In dry dishes, the vegetables are sautéed to tenderness, but remain intact and separate. Matar paneer, which consists of green peas and chunks of paneer in a tomato sauce, vegetable korma, a mixture of vegetables in a sauce, and bengan bharta, mashed eggplant, are all examples of wet vegetarian dishes. Aloo ghobi , a mixture of sautéed potatoes and cauliflower, is a dry dish.
If you want to make an Indian dinner at home, you can simplify the meal by making fewer courses and buying ingredients that would likely be made from scratch in the Indian home or restaurant. To save time, you can buy gram masala (also known as curry powder) and ghee. Other items that can be purchased are ready-made papadum and samosas (vegetable turnovers), which can be used as appetizers, and chutney, which is used as a relish or dip. The simplest vegetable mixtures can be made by melting ghee in a skillet, adding fresh peeled vegetables cut in small pieces and sauteeing the mixture. Fresh tomatoes or vegetable broth can be added. The mixture is then slow-cooked until the spices and vegetables make a sauce. The vegetables are served over rice and may be accompanied by chutney. In the meantime, basmati rice, available in mainstream American supermarkets now, can be steamed using the same technique as for long grain white rice. Raita can be easily made by grating cucumbers and onion and mixing with yogurt. The mixture can be seasoned with a touch of cayenne pepper, pressed garlic, and cumin.
The adventurous cook will want to experiment with various gram masalas or curry powders to obtain the right degree of “heat” for each dish. Indian cookery provides a wide array of flavors and colors for both the meat eater and the vegetarian. In addition, Indian food provides variety and protein options, while tempting the vegetarian palate.
Sit down to a full-course East Indian meal and you’ll probably start with soup or an appetizer. Spicy mulligatawny soup is a favorite and crisp papadum, a wafer made of chickpea (garbanzo
An Indian meal features one or more entrees. The entrees may consist of meat or may be vegetarian. Meat entrees usually feature beef, lamb, or chicken.
Basmati rice, a fragrant strain of rice grown in the Himalayan foothills, is a staple on the Indian dinner table. Basmati is steamed and served plain or may be mixed with spices, vegetables, raisins, or nuts to make a colorful pilau.
Another important element of the meal is dal, which is a well-seasoned soupy mixture made of lentils, chickpeas, or beans. Dal provides an important protein source when served with vegetarian entrees. Dal is often eaten as a topping on the rice, which absorbs some of the liquid.
Because Indian entrees are often spicy, a yogurt salad called raita is offered as a cooling element. Raita contains yogurt that is usually mixed with grated cucumber and onion. Mild spices season the mixture. Sometimes other fresh vegetables, such as carrots, are grated into the raita.
Flat bread, usually naan or chapatis, is also offered with the meal. Naan is a flat bread cooked in the oven. It can be flavored with garlic or with onion seeds. Chapatis are whole wheat flat breads cooked on a grill. Both breads are served warm, brushed with ghee (clarified butter).
Fragrant tea is served with the meal and also with dessert, which usually consists of a milk based sweet such as gulab jamin or burfi. Gulab jamin is made of balls of flour and dry milk, and cream cooked in a heavy sugar syrup. Burfi is a fudge-textured sweet that also uses dried milk, sugar, and ghee clarified butter. Rosewater and pistachios are often added to flavor the burfi. It is chilled and then served in small squares. (The original method for making gulab jamin and burfi required that milk be cooked over low heat for a lengthy period to reduce it to a thick liquid, but modern cooks have found they can substitute dry milk.) Rice pudding, which is another popular sweet, is often flavored with raisins, pistachios, and rosewater.
Another ingredient that finds its way into vegetarian entrees and into dessert is a fresh cow’s milk cheese called paneer. Paneer is prepared by scalding whole milk and letting it cool slightly. As it cools, lemon juice is added while the milk is gently stirred. Large curds are produced. The curds are placed in cheese cloth and are squeezed or weighted to drain the whey (liquid) from the curds. The drained curds are chilled and then cut into chunks for inclusion in vegetable recipes. Or, the curds may be mashed and mixed with sugar or other ingredients as the base for a dessert. Paneer has a delicate, subtly lemon flavor.
Note that the serious Indian cook prepares his or her own basic spice mixtures, using whole spices ground with a mortar and pestle. Such a mixture is known as gram masala. In the West, we know them as curry spices. Ghee is also made fresh at home, although it can be purchased at an Indian grocery.
Some typical meat entrees are tandoori chicken, which is chicken that has been marinated for about twenty-four hours in a mixture of yogurt and spices. The spice turmeric is a key ingredient and gives the chicken lovely red-orange color when mixed with the yogurt. When the chicken has marinated long enough, it is baked in a special clay oven.
Chunks of beef and lamb are often served on skewers; seasoned ground meat is also grilled on skewers. The grilled meat is often served on a bed of sliced, uncooked onion with a garnish of lemon wedges that are used to season the meat at the table.
Chunks of meat are also cooked on the stovetop in spicy “curry” sauces, appropriate for serving over rice. Among these recipes are vindaloo and korma preparations with thick spicy sauces made of vegetables.
Vegetarian dishes are served “wet” (with a sauce) or “dry” without extra liquid added. Both dishes start with ghee melted in a skillet. Both whole and ground spices are heated in the ghee. Then, the vegetables are added to the ghee mixture and sautéed. Extra liquid is added to the wet dishes so that the vegetables form a saucy mixture. In dry dishes, the vegetables are sautéed to tenderness, but remain intact and separate. Matar paneer, which consists of green peas and chunks of paneer in a tomato sauce, vegetable korma, a mixture of vegetables in a sauce, and bengan bharta, mashed eggplant, are all examples of wet vegetarian dishes. Aloo ghobi , a mixture of sautéed potatoes and cauliflower, is a dry dish.
If you want to make an Indian dinner at home, you can simplify the meal by making fewer courses and buying ingredients that would likely be made from scratch in the Indian home or restaurant. To save time, you can buy gram masala (also known as curry powder) and ghee. Other items that can be purchased are ready-made papadum and samosas (vegetable turnovers), which can be used as appetizers, and chutney, which is used as a relish or dip. The simplest vegetable mixtures can be made by melting ghee in a skillet, adding fresh peeled vegetables cut in small pieces and sauteeing the mixture. Fresh tomatoes or vegetable broth can be added. The mixture is then slow-cooked until the spices and vegetables make a sauce. The vegetables are served over rice and may be accompanied by chutney. In the meantime, basmati rice, available in mainstream American supermarkets now, can be steamed using the same technique as for long grain white rice. Raita can be easily made by grating cucumbers and onion and mixing with yogurt. The mixture can be seasoned with a touch of cayenne pepper, pressed garlic, and cumin.
The adventurous cook will want to experiment with various gram masalas or curry powders to obtain the right degree of “heat” for each dish. Indian cookery provides a wide array of flavors and colors for both the meat eater and the vegetarian. In addition, Indian food provides variety and protein options, while tempting the vegetarian palate.
Source: essortment