Indian Food 101

[Sundae]

There are many different types of Indian food, in the same way there are many different types of Chinese food.

In Britain, Northern Indian cuisine cooked by Bangladeshi's predominates. It has been tweaked for a Western market, but the origins and ingredients are still Indian.

My co-workers would cook dishes very similar to these (butter chicken for example) every Eid/ Diwali. And although the recipes my friend would bring in nearly every day (she worried I wasn't eating properly) were not on this menu, they were along the same lines in terms of ingredients. She used to make fried chicken especially for me - a milder version than the one her and her husband were eating, giving the lie to the "leftovers" idea - and it would be hot enough to make my nose run.

I've eaten in restaurants where mine is the only white face, and the food is not dissimilar. The curries I ate in Sri Lanka were different for sure, and when the vegetarian Southern Indian restaurant opened around the corner from work I found the dishes has a similar style.

What would you consider Indian, Pie?
I'd love to have some recipes from a part of India I'm unfamiliar with.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

What would you consider Indian, Pie?

Sure, there's a zillion different definitions for what's 'Indian' food, just like... say, Italian, or Chinese. There are as many variations as there are grandmothers. However, most of what I see here is 'restaurant food', stuff no one would make or eat at home. Lots of grease and indigestion.

I'm south Indian (by genetics, at least!) so I'd consider 'real' Indian food to be iddlies, dosas, sambar, rasam, paruppu, dry veggie curries, yogurt or buttermilk. Lots of plain basmati rice. Uthappams, upma, fresh fruit. No sweets unless it's a festival day. (Sweets were a brit invention dontchaknow, but would include laddu, milk kova, coconut laddu.) Gonkura pickle, lemon pickle, my grandmother's hot mango pickle. Aviyal. Sweet or mooru kolambu. Thayir sadam. Khichdi. Murukkus. Coconut, coriander, onion or gonkura pachadi. Ghee in moderation.

Veggies might include potals, eggplants, green beans, potatoes, capsicum, okra, tomatoes, bittergourd, sweet potato, onions, squash of different sorts, bananaflower, jackfruit... Mostly stir-fried with chilies, ginger, mustard seed, dried chilies, curry leaves and a few dried lentils and a pinch asafoetida. Note: curry leaves have nothing to do with curry powder.


Here, read this article.