Dinners Digest

Indian Cuisine

India is huge; its geography and climate ranges from the landlocked mountains around Kashmir, to the fertile Ganges river valley, to the arid Deccan plateau, to the steamy coastal regions around Goa and Madras. Her cooking is as varied as her land, and so, with apologies to the illimitable reality, here is a discussion of some of the elements and aesthetics common to "Indian food."
India`s people are Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Moslem, Zoroastrian, and Jewish. The gulfs between her classes are substantial. Eating prohibitions determining the sacred and the profane are taken very seriously. Hindus and Sikhs won`t eat the sacred cow. Strictly vegetarian Brahmins and Jains refuse even the spices associated with the preparation of meat, such as onions and garlic. The Parsees were originally Persian Zoroastrians who gave up beef as a gesture of thanks to the Hindu ruler who gave them asylum around Calcutta and Bombay in the middle of the 7th century. The Turkish Moghuls of Delhi and Punjab, being Muslim, refuse pork, but are great experts in the preparation of meats. Likewise, the Jews of Calcutta, who claim descendants from among the Babylonian diaspora over two millennia past, are prohibited from eating pork.
Now, where to begin? With spices, of course. Indian cooks, one and all, are masters of the spice. It is this knowledge, and its varied and subtle employment that unites Indian cooking into a cuisine. Where so much of the country is vegetarian, and so much poor, flavoring has evolved to a high art. What any average Indian cook can do with a bowl of boiled and mashed lentils will stagger the imagination. Each of the many spices in the Indian kitchen is known and understood intimately. Each has a function: some spices tenderize, others add heat, some color, others cool, some thicken, others bring a necessary tartness, others curb flatulence. Like colors on a palette they are combined for beauty and harmony and, the further south you go, for a heat that would take paint off a Buick. There is a long short-list of spices that go into Indian recipes: coriander, cumin, turmeric, red pepper, nutmeg, mustard, saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger powder, amchoor (green mango powder), paprika, mace. Other flavors are garlic, onion, and ginger, tamarind, pomegranate, and chile. Don`t think that because the chile is listed last, it is so in the spice mix. Indian food, especially in the tropical south, can be explosively hot. The chile`s heat helps cool the body, preserve the food, and some say it enhances the other flavors.
Curry seems to be a name granted by the British to any food that was spicy in an Indian-sort-of-way. It probably is a corruption of kari, which names both a leaf used in cooking and a particular method of cooking in the south. Curry powders sold outside of India tend to combine turmeric, cumin, coriander, red pepper, fenugreek, mustard seed, cinnamon, and cloves, all roasted dry and ground together. More "authentic" Indian spice blends (masala) are garam masala (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper), mughal garam masala, sambaar podi, tandoori masala, vendaloo masala. Each is associated with various modes of cooking or regions, seasons, and foods. Some are hot, others cool. Some are wet, that is, they are in paste form, others are dry.
The Indian Meal is made up of a main course, a side dish, and a central starch, which is the main source of calories. In the north, the starch is bread such as chapati (a flat griddle bread) or nan (a leavened bread cooked in a tandoor -- a brick oven ); in the south, it is a huge mound of basmati rice. Relishes, wafers, chutneys, and other "tongue-touchers" are served in small bowls around the main dishes. Traditionally, food is eaten by hand, though forks and spoons are also popular. Northern dishes tend to be drier, as soupy sauces are difficult to eat with bread, while southern recipes have sauces that soak into the rice. If there is a meat, it will be the main course. As so many cannot eat beef, the most common meats are lamb, goat and seafood. Dals -- purées of lentils, chickpeas, mung beans, or kidney beans -- can be of varying consistencies and accompany nearly every meal. Dal is served in a small bowl alongside the meal, and is accompanied by a spoon if it is especially liquid. Appetizers are a very modern addition to the meal, and are not widely served, but a sweet rice-based pudding may end a traditional meal. Savory and sweet (really sweet) snacks are extremely popular but are unattached to mealtimes. Indians don`t normally drink alcohol with their food; ice water or a yogurt or fruit drink are common.