Masala Cook:: Indian Food, Indian Cooking, Indian Recipes & More

What is Khoya in Indian cooking?

Another delectable indulgence, khoya or mawa as it’s also known, is the raw material for making a range of Indian sweets – barfis, laddoos, gulab jamuns, halwa and more.  The traditional method of making khoya, is a long, slow process in which whole milk is boiled in an open iron pan over a slow flame, until its water content evaporates, leaving behind the thickened milk solids.

Khoya is made in three consistencies – hard, semi-soft and granulated – depending on the type of sweet to be prepared.

What is Ghee?

Simmer a block of unsalted butter; when its water content evaporates and the milk solids settle, the light golden liquid that’s left standing is ghee or clarified butter. Ghee’s etymology is traced to the Sanskrit ghrt (loosely meaning “sprinkling”). The ancients considered ghee a sacred food. Ghee is still used in all important Hindu rites such as marriage ceremonies and funerals and in the preparation of native herbal medicines.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of ghee; modern medicine holds that ghee is an assured artery clogger. Be that as it may, ghee continues to be used in Indian cuisine, to add aroma, flavor and texture.  Several Indian sweets require generous doses of ghee – crumbly mysore pak, laddoos and halwas are a few examples of these temptations!

Smoky Sizzling Tadka

If a prepared dish is chef’s poetry then Tadka or Tempering is the music during cooking... literally. The sputtering sound coming out of the kitchen when certain whole spices are added to the oil. Tadka creates a musical, aromatic atmosphere with its smoky sizzling sound effects.

So what exactly is tempering?
 A process in which the spices such as mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander, etc. are added to clarified butter or vegetable oil and fried briefly to liberate essential oils from the spices. It is then poured, together with the oil, into a dish to add aroma and taste. Tempering enhances the taste of the dish and balances its food value. Of course, enough variations can be found in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. A close look at the age old cooking process will reveal that tempering is a technique that is used not only in the cuisines of India, but also in Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisines. Within India, the South Indian recipes rely on the use of peanuts and cumin seeds as spices for tempering, while the western states mostly use cumin and mustard seeds. North Indian recipes show further variation by employing ginger, garlic and onion as their flavors for tempering. There are several other whole or green spices whose tempered effect can be very different.

For cooking enthusiasts, cooking can be very therapeutic - from beginning to the end. Though in some of the preparations like lentils, spices are added at the end of cooking as a final touch, there are dishes where the tempering is prepared at the beginning of cooking, even before adding the ingredients. And some other dishes use tempering at the beginning and at the end - "double tadka".

If you go by the words of doctors and nutritionists, a complete meal should be rich in amino and fatty acids. The vegetable oils and the ingredients used in tempering contain these essential fatty acids. Moreover it helps vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E and K to release and promote their utilization in the body. The vegetable oils used in tempering are rich in vitamin E. Ingredients like cumin seeds and asafetida are known to be beneficial for their carminative properties. It should be mentioned here that the process of tempering transfers the carotene in curry leaves (a popular tempering ingredient in the South) automatically to the food. Tempering also has excellent digestive properties.

Tadka satisfies most of your senses. From the smoky sounds to aromatic smells. And of course the flavors the process imparts to the dish. In fact, this process of adding spices gives Indian cuisine a distinct flavor. After all, it’s the spices that bring out the real taste – be it life or dishes.

Is all Indian Food "Hot" & "Spicy"?

Warning: Excessive use of " " in this post... enjoy.

General conception rather misconception about Indian food is that the "curry" is  very "spicy" and makes your "eyes water".  We have shared in our previous posts that Indian food is more (much much more) than just curry. The same goes for the "spicy" rumor. Yes, Indian food can be called spicy as the chief characteristic of Indian cuisine is the sophisticated use of spices and vegetables that creates a hard to resist combination. But not all Indian dishes are "HOT". And most can be enjoyed equally at much "cooler" flavors.

Indian dishes are as diverse as the nation itself. Categorized into North Indian, East Indian, South Indian, West Indian and North Eastern cuisines, food of every state is marked by distinct taste and includes both spicy as well as non-spicy variety. In fact, an ideal Indian meal is an amalgamation of every taste ranging form bitter, spicy, sour and finally ending with a sweet note.  

So let us take a look at some of the delicious non-spicy Indian food.

• Kashmiri Pulao (A kind of fried Rice originated from the state Jammu and Kashmir) – It is a vegetarian recipe hailing from the Nothern state of Jammu & Kashmir. The main ingredients of this dish are Basmati rice, chopped and sliced fruits, cranberries and peaches. Some of the rice preparation also consists of milk, cream and cinnamon.

• Sambar or Sambhar (South Indian style Vegetable Stew) –  A great example of varying level of "hotness" without compromising flavors. This recipe belongs to the Southern part of India. The ingredients required in making this dish are mustard seeds, turmeric, coconut oil, black peppercorns and red chilli flakes. You might also find potatoes or carrots in this dish. Sambhar can be most commonly found accompanying Idli (rice cakes) and Dosa at any South Indian restaurant in your area.
  
  
• Palak Paneer (Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy) – Healthy and delicious this recipe will make you lick your fingers. It is made with cubes of cottage cheese and spinach. The dish can be eaten with Naan, a kind of leavened Indian flat bread.
  
  
  
• Pudina Paratha (Mint Bread) – It is a type of folded wheat bread with mint leaves stuffed inside or sprikled on top. Whole mint leaves are kneaded in a mixture of wheat and gram flour. A great example of flavors without "spicy"

So give your taste buds a "full swing" with non-spicy dishes from the Indian paletter!

You’re a vegetarian huh. Get your protein - the masala way?

The native cuisine of India is epitomized by the use of locally grown spices, vegetables and grains. Ancient Hindu scriptures, in many references, encourage the vegetarian lifestyle. Therefore, vegetarianism is the ethical and religious belief for a lot of Indians. It is estimated that about 31% of Indians are vegetarian while additional 9% consume eggs.

So if being a herbivore is your preference - then Indian cooking can be a great way to get an adequate protein supply. There is of course the $5 smoothie with an extra protein boost at your neighborhood smoothie store, but a little variety, especially the masala way, is always good. Masala lovers balance their protein intake with whole grains, nuts, pulses (lentils), and dairy products.

One native Indian recipe is homemade (frozen version also available at any Indian grocery store) Paneer. It is often referred to as the “cottage cheese” of India. A soft, crumbly cheese made from whole milk that is boiled with limejuice until curdled and the whey is drained from the curds. Paneer dishes can be prepared as appetizers, entrees, or even as a dessert like the famous Rasmalai, which is the soaked “cottage cheese” in sweetened thickened milk.

Indian cooking largely includes whole grains. Particularly favorite and a fantastic source of protein are the lentils. There are several types of lentils: Urad dal (split and skinned black lentils), Channa dal (golden yellow-colored lentils), Masoor dal (as depicted on the left), Moong dal (yellow lentils) are split and flat, cooking faster than their colored cousins amongst others. 

Lentils are prepared in numerous ways; the most popular is boiling them to form the consistency of stew with a final touch of tempering, served over rice. If you have ever been to an Indian restaurant in the western hemisphere, chances are that you’ve seen the most famous lentil recipe called Dal Makhani on the menu. With thick consistency, it pairs well with Basmati rice or Naan.

An Indian flatbread, resembling puff pastry, called parantha is sometimes stuffed with lentils and other tasty vegetables. The companion of the dosa is a stew made of lentils. Additionally, many Indian recipes demand the use of various nuts, though moderately used, they can still act as a protein source.

Be sure to try out some of these dishes the next time you go on a masala expedition in your city.

Appetizer: Paneer Tikka

Entrée: Dal Makhani 

Dessert: Rasmalai

Meat on the Bottom? – Yoghurt marinades in Indian cooking

American lifestyles, in days past, typically called for sauces laden with butter or oil to flavor the meat in the dish. But these days, who can afford to eat real butter? Certainly not, the part of our species that lives in the urban jungle. But doing without fat doesn’t mean we have to engage in a futile search for the elusive ‘F’ word in the world of food – Flavor. 

Indian cooking has long used marinating as a way of injecting flavor in most meat dishes. In its most ubiquitous form, the simple, yet effective Indian marinade, consists of yoghurt flavored with aromatic spices. One of the most popular culinary delights of Mughlai cuisine, favored in Northern India, features meat marinated in yoghurt cooked at very high temperatures in a clay Tandoor – which by the way is, where Tandoori chicken gets its name from. Makes you conjure up images of succulent pieces of meat rubbed with fragrant spices, doesn’t it? 

Mughals, who ruled India in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries, brought a strong influence from Turkish and Afghan cuisines to the regional cuisine of India. The Mughals were great patrons of cooking and introduced meat cooked in rich gravies and fruits, nuts.     

This marinade however, isn’t your typical 15-minute, before-dinner marinade. Most Indian recipes call for marinating meat overnight which requires planning to get to the delectable ‘Malai’ melt-in-your-mouth goodness. 

Legend has it, that it was encouraged by elders in Indian families that meals be planned ahead of time, which was thought to establish a foundation of good planning in life’s other pursuits. 

Why Marinate with yoghurt? A good reason to do it is because marinades tenderize meat. Only certain ingredients however, in a marinade, have the correct chemical composition to do this. Ingredients like yoghurt break the protein structures in the meat and help tenderize it. So the next time you reach for a Fruit-on-the-bottom yoghurt in the supermarket, think about where else this amazing ingredient can introduce unexpected flavor on the dinner table. 

Absolutely Basmatic!

Symbol of plenty, sacred offering, cultural marker and comfort food. In India, rice is all this and more, its tiny grains a unifying force in this famously diverse land.

A Versatile Cereal

Rice is grown all over India; the area under cultivation is said to be the world’s largest. Temperature, soil type, altitude, rainfall – whatever be the conditions, the adaptability of rice makes it suitable for cultivation from southern India’s sub-tropical, low lying, coastal areas to the chilly Himalayan regions, and all the land in between. India has two main rice-growing seasons – winter rice sown during June-July and harvested in November-December and a shorter summer crop sown during November-February and harvested during March-June.

Variety Fair

‘Basm’ in Sanskrit is aroma and, worldwide, Indian rice is virtually synonymous with Basmati, ‘the fragrant one.’  Prized for its extra long-grained elegance and distinctive flavor and smell, Basmati is grown primarily in the northern regions. 

But as any Indian cook would tell you, there are a number of other varieties grown across the country. There’s Parimal, a less glamorous cousin to Basmati from the Indo-Gangetic plain. Pokkali, grown in the southern state of Kerala is organically cultivated rice said to have medicinal properties. Medium grain Sona Masuri grown in southern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is a low-starch variety, easy to digest. Ponni, a variety developed in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, is widely cultivated. Indians also use parboiled rice – pre-cooked in the husk and nutritionally excellent.

Rice Preparations

Varied are the ways in which is rice is dished up in India. Basmati’s delicate, non-sticky quality makes it the perfect base for the biryanis and pulaos made famous by India’s Mughal rulers and now ubiquitous in Indian restaurants worldwide. History has it that biryani originated in Arabia, where nomads would bury a sealed pot of rice, meat and spices in a coal pit and dig it up much later for a meal. It’s also possible that the dish traveled to India from Persia. Whatever be the truth, biryani is indeed a royal treat. Meat marinated in yoghurt and spices is layered with half-boiled basmati and slow-cooked in a tightly sealed vessel. When it’s done, you have a sensory treat that’s hard to match. It’s said that the test of a great biryani is to drop a handful of it on the floor – if no two rice grains stick together, it’s perfect! 

 A simpler meal is the delicious marriage of rajmah (spicy, red kidney-bean curry) and rice, popular both as street food and home-cooking staple.

Follow the rice trail southwards and its grains become softer and rounder; it’s also more widely consumed than in the wheat-loving north. Rice is god in southern India, where a traditional, carb-rich meal often consists of three rice courses, leaving the uninitiated glassy-eyed with drowsiness. The four southern states specialize in a huge variety of meal-in-one rice dishes – lemon rice, tamarind rice, coconut rice, tomato rice, brinjal (eggplant) rice, curd rice and more. Coastal India loves its fish curry-and-rice, the spices in the curry varying from one region to another.

Khichadi in the north, pongal in the south, this gooey, pan-Indian, rice-and-mung bean combo spells comfort food anywhere in India. Simple and nourishing, it fills alike the poor man’s belly as well as the millionaire’s!

What’s ‘Lassi’ in ‘Mango Lassi’?

Some inventions are destined to become more famous than their creators. The next time you walk into an Indian restaurant don’t forget to thank the unknown genius who whipped up that delectable drink, the mango lassi, now almost as ubiquitous in America’s Indian eateries as tandoori chicken!

Strangely, you won’t find mango lassi so widely consumed in India. In all probability, it was an Indian homemaker in the US, who, homesick for the flavors of her native food, experimented with two intrinsically Indian ingredients – lassi and mango – and came up with this fabulous treat!

The word ‘lassi’ comes from Punjab (north India), a land of hearty people whose cuisine is now virtually synonymous with Indian food worldwide. ‘Lassi’ is essentially a cooling, yogurt-and-water drink, consumed with a main meal like lunch. Lassi may be flavored with salt and one or more of several ingredients. A few crushed mint leaves give a cool, fresh flavor, soothing in the long, hot Indian summer. Alternatively, a pinch of roasted cumin powder perks up the palate.  A mash of fresh ginger and green chili provides a surprising contrast to the blandness of yoghurt. Chilled and served in XL-sized steel glasses, lassi is the perfect accompaniment to a hot meal.

Its versatility, though, doesn’t end there. You can have your lassi sweetened with sugar or fruits. The ultimate luxury – saffron lassi – is popular in the Sindh region of Pakistan and Jodhpur (Rajasthan).

During Holi, the Indian festival of colors that marks the advent of spring, revelers frequently consume bhang lassi, bhang being a liquid derivative of cannabis – an occasion to let one’s hair down sanctioned by religion and culture!

Known by varied names in other regional languages, lassi is virtually a pan-Indian drink. Western India prefers its lassi sweet. The southern version is lighter, with more water added to the yoghurt; a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chilies are added for flavor.

Long before nutritionists came up with the term ‘probiotics’, traditional Indian medicine advocated the benefits of lassi as an ideal food to cure indigestion and ease the absorption of the various foods eaten in the course of a meal. It is also believed that a small glass of watered down lassi with a squeeze of lemon helps lower high blood pressure.

In modern Indian homes, fruits like strawberry and banana are blended with lassi – it’s one way to tempt fussy kids into eating healthy food. Breakfast on the go? Try blending cooked and cooled oatmeal, yogurt, a little water and a banana – a wonderful energizer for those busy mornings!

Restaurants tend to use mango puree for their lassi to ensure consistency in taste and texture. Ideally, the mangoes used to make this drink should be ripe, sweet and non-fibrous. Cream can be added to the blend if one is not calorie-conscious. Served with a small scoop of ice cream, mango lassi is a superb dessert. For an interesting variation, try adding a dash of orange juice to the blend.

An apocryphal tale goes that a representative of a washing machine manufacturer from Europe was sent to Punjab to figure out why their product had exceptionally high sales from this Indian state. Turned out that restaurant owners were snapping up the machines to churn – and mass produce – lassi!

All for the love of Chicken Tikka Masala!

Let’s do away with the masala myth first. Contrary to popular belief, an Indian dish that has the word ‘masala’ in its name is not necessarily hot and spicy. While masala is used to refer to a mix of Indian spices and condiments, you can still make an Indian dish with almost all the spices in the recipe, eat it and not get heartburn, or worse still, an upset tummy.

In the absence of a name to cover a whole bunch of gravies and dry dishes, the Indian cook/restaurateur decided the word masala sent a picture of mouth-watering delicacies to the foodie’s mind and, thus, an assortment of “masalas” was born – to delight many a non-Indian culinary adventurer.

In the widely popular Chicken Tikka Masala, tikka refers to the medium-sized chicken kebabs in the gravy. Made by soaking boneless chicken pieces in a marinade of Indian spices and yogurt overnight and then grilling them in a tandoor oven till they’re golden brown in color, the tikka are crisp on the outside and succulent on the inside. The masala is the gravy these tikkas are then cooked in, usually made with garlic, ginger, onions, tomato puree and red chillies or pepper. After this, a generous dollop of single cream is ladled onto the dish when it’s still hot, so that the cream mixes with all the flavors without being cooked to oiliness. And for the fiery red/orange color that strikes terror in every bland food lover’s palate, edible food coloring or strands of saffron (optional) are used.

The origins of this preparation are debatable – there are many claimants to the original dish, from India to UK and Bangladesh to Glasgow. One urban legend has it that an ingenuous chef, trying to placate an irate customer who didn’t want the dry grilled chicken chunks or tikka, made a tomato-based gravy, put it all over the chicken, and voila! The first Chicken Tikka Masala was born. The chef was originally from Bangladesh. Interestingly, today several charities and schools in Sylhet, Bangladesh, are funded by proceeds from the sales of Chicken Tikka Masala in the UK by the family owned business of Haji Abdul Razzah, who is also from Bangladesh.  Whatever its origins, the dish is so popular that British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has bestowed upon it a “true national dish” status in the UK!

Chicken Tikka Masala is truly versatile and can be used as an accompaniment to rice, all forms of Indian leavened bread, like rotis and naans, and even plain old bread. It can be mildly seasoned and spiced so that the average palate can appreciate and savor all its different flavors or it can be made extremely spicy for those with ironclad stomachs who prefer a zing to their food.

While sources will claim this dish’s similarity to another well-loved chicken dish, Butter Chicken or Chicken Makhani (Makhan is Hindi for butter), Chicken Tikka Masala uses cream as a final ingredient just before serving, while Chicken Makhani uses butter to cook the gravy. And there is the difference. In fact, Butter Chicken is thought to have provided the basic inspiration for the Chicken Tikka. Indian foodies rate the Butter Chicken, or Murg Makhani as it is known, much higher, and consider the Chicken Tikka Masala a poor cousin of the very rich Butter Chicken. Most connoisseurs of food would never settle for the ‘mongrel’ Tikka Masala and would give a double thumbs up to the Butter Chicken.

Fast facts:

• Surveys in the UK report that a leading supermarket in UK sells 1.1 million packets of chicken tikka masala every year.(Source: Food Standards Agency)
• According to an estimate, stacking all the chicken tikka masala sold in one year in the UK would produce a tikka tower taller than the Greenwich Millennium Dome 2770 times over! (Grove Publications)

Thaali Tales

Foodie Nation would be an apt term to describe India, where
Food = Love = God. 
Don’t believe it? Try an Indian ‘thaali’ and you’ll know what we mean!

The thaali (thaali or thaal means platter) probably evolved along the principles laid down in Ayurveda, the native system of herbal medicine. To the ancients, food was serious business. A meal was not something you gulped down on your way out the door or while multi-tasking around the house. It was an “experience” that was meant to leave one fulfilled in body, mind and heart.

Ayurveda talks of six tastes – the usual salty, sweet, sour, bitter and also spicy and astringent. Playing off one against the other in a meal reduces the craving for any one taste and provides balance and proportion, which in turn aids digestion. Balance is also sought in the physical attributes of foods – liquid and dry, cool and warm, heavy and light. An emphasis on any single food group is undesirable; on the contrary, variety is essential – whole grain, pulses, fruits and vegetables, dairy-based items, spices, nuts and fats.

Cooking according to these ground rules may not have posed a challenge in the extended Indian family, with several hands and household help available. But how about serving?  A western-style course-by-course service would not only take forever, but also generate a huge amount of dishwashing. Voila!  So happened the thaali!

Typically, the family members, children and men first, would sit together cross-legged on the ground (before the advent of colonialism and dining tables), sometimes in the large, spacious kitchen itself. Every meal was a thaali meal.

Traditionally, thaalis were made of brass or copper. Stainless steel is the preferred choice in modern days. On a large round platter with a raised rim, several small bowls reside around the periphery, leaving a space in the middle. The bowls accommodate side dishes – pulses, lentils and vegetables (or non-vegetarian dishes), and accompaniments like pickles, chutneys and dessert. The meal typically begins with the serving of wheat breads (deep-fried ‘puris’ or the healthier, no-oil ‘chapatti’) which are served in the centre of the plate, and then goes on to rice.

A good thaali is characterized by the choices it offers. Flavors, color, aroma and texture come into play, making the meal a feast for the senses. It’s science, it’s also art, and it’s fun all the way. You can crunch on a salad before dipping pieces of soft, crisp bread into a soupy lentil dish. Too hot to handle? Just move on to smooth, bland yogurt to cool off. If you’re feeling experimental, combine a piece of bread with gravy and vegetable, dip this into a sweet-n-sour chutney and pop the lot in, allowing the individual flavors to hit the right spots on your palate! The round shape of the platter means that there’s no hierarchy of foods here – you can even start off with dessert if you so desire!

Sadly, the thaali has now moved out of most homes with the breaking up of the joint family system and a lifestyle that revolves around demanding work schedules. Some communities still continue the practice; in many families, a thaali is now reserved for special occasions like festivals or when guests are invited home. It’s unlikely the thaali will become extinct, though – it now enjoys a flourishing second life on the menus of Indian restaurants worldwide.