My Intro to Indian Cuisine

I am working on a blog outside of GAIA, dedicated to my explorations in Indian food, and when I get a some substance submitted there, will provide a link that will explain my own interests in Indian food.  I will, however, say that I have been cooking Indian off-and-on for about fourteen years, though I really didn't 'get it' until recently.  My main introduction (besides my nose and taste buds) was a book by Yamuna Devi about vegetarian Indian cooking.  It's a great book describing one school of cuisine. 

My blog is here:  http://sambarsunset.blogspot.com/

I started this group because GAIA needs one!  Please join in and if you are so inclined, introduce yourself.  And post recipes.  And share information.  And ask questions.

Re: My Intro to Indian Cuisine

I first ate Indian cuisine with my first bite of solid food! Well yes- I'm Indian, from the north of India. In India, each state, and even each sub-group of people have their own distinctive cuisine! Most of the food we cook at home isn't found in restaurants - a little like the food I had in Mexican friends' homes was nothing like that in Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants!

I have cooked from recipes, but I learned to cook from my mother who would spice things according to the time-honored technique of 'andaza' - approximation, in this case! And also, of how to plan a meal so that different people of different tastes can enjoy it; and also so that we get the food value that's needed. This has actually been passed down from my great-grandmother.

Looking forward to sharing in this group, Fulcanelli; even though as I tell friends - Indians don't call our food 'curry' as in 'Oh, you're cooking curry?!”  Just as Greeks, I imagine don't say - Oh, I'm going to make Greek salad; or French don't say - I'm going to cook french fries [well, they'd say pommes frites, naturally!]..'nuff said.

Re: My Intro to Indian Cuisine

Thank you for joining.  You add a touch of authenticity to the group from the very beginning, since you are the first member other than myself.  At any time, please feel free to correct anything I say or write.  I am a honkie white guy from America without, to my knowledge at least, a drop of Indian blood.  Perhaps if I continue eating this way (and I fully intend to), the constant intake of dal, sambars, rasam, kootu, poriyals, and chili peppers will alter the DNA structure of my cells and I will have some authentic Indian blood/heritage.

I chose the word “curry” for this group mostly for the misunderstanding that gringos have for this idea.  I wrote about this in my blog.  As I understand it, curries are really any dish with a gravy/sauce.  That encompasses quite a few Indian dishes.  As for curry powders, there are some that are added as regional spices (like Punjab curry, Madras curry) that feature favorite spices of that region, but for the most part, this idea of 'curry powder' is really more of an English invention, as the English wanted to take the delicious tastes of India back to England, thus creating curry mixes.  One of the first things I noticed about Indian cooking 14 or so years ago was the total lack of “curry powder” in the ingredient list.  I thought 'curry' would attract attention to the group. 

Please feel free to post some recipes.  As a novice, I haven't the experience to 'guess-timate' the amounts of ingredients, but you can see from my just-posted Moong Dal with Vegetables, that I like to improvise and clear my own pathway to my stomach.

Re: My Intro to Indian Cuisine

thanks for the welcome, Fulcanelli, wannabe honorary Indian !. I can completely understand the name of the group. It is a word used so often for Indian food.

I am in awe of your being able to rattle off such foreign words with such ease, and rather than correct a way of cooking that is essentially fluid; will try to keep up with your generous sharing!

Re: My Intro to Indian Cuisine

Thanks Meenakshi.  I am experimenting with quite a few different regions of Indian food and have found the northern foods very different than the south.  I just made two batches (two different recipes) of Makhani Dal, and both were quite delicious.  I did substitute yoghurt for the called-for creme, and used a chuck of butter as well.  And unlike in the north where breads are more common, I ate it with steamed basmati rice.  Breads still scare me, but I am about to embark on a journey with fritters.  That might be easier.  A few weeks back I had a brunch meal at a Southern Indian restuarant and tasted the idli.  It was so delicious, but after looking at the steps involved, will probably not venture into that preparation for a while.   I have a cookbook of the Gujarat region.  I especially like the various dal preparations. 

This group isn't about what I want.  Some northern recipes would be fantastic!

As for using “curry” in the name of our group, I did so only to make it more visible to the kinds of people who might be interested in joining.  Curry means sauce.  And there are many Indian preparations that result in sauce.  Westerners unfortunately link 'curry' with Indian food in general.  The funny thing is when I first started cooking Indian about 16 or so years ago, I was surprised not to find 'curry powder' listed as a key ingredient in most recipes.  In fact, I rarely found it listed at all!  It was then that I learned what Americans (at least where I live) know about Indian food is entirely false.  I think we can partly blame the Brits for this, as they invented all sorts of spice mixes to be used at home, after experiencing the wonderfully tasty foods of India. 

I realize that by using 'curry' in the group name, I am also attracting the wrath of natives who probably are irritated by the use of that spice mix to identify with all of Indian cuisine.

Again, please post some recipes!  At this time, I don't have many that I could call my own, and without modifying them, would just be posting other people's.