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A GREAT DESTINATION
THE CUISINES OF INDIA
There is more to Indian cuisine than curry, the all-purpose word that
was invented by the British to cover the whole range of spiced Indian food
, which hardly does justice to the infinite diversity of Indian cuisines.
Curry, to an Indian, is not the name of a dish. Rather it encompasses a
whole class of dishes made with meat, fish, fowl, vegetables or even, on
occasion, fruit. The only similarity between them is that they all contain
freshly ground spices including turmeric and have a "gravy".
The basic art of Indian cooking lies in the careful blending of different
spices to yield subtle variations called
masalas.
The combination of spices
is what makes one curry totally different from another.
The sheer diversity of Indian food makes eating a gastronomic
adventure. In the course of its chequered history the country has absorbed
many culinary influences. Regional differences in religion, culinary,
culture and local produce have also influenced eating habits to yield an
amazing diversity of exotic, tasty dishes.
Although all Indian food is certainly not curry, it forms the foundation
of Indian cuisine. The basic art of Indian cooking lies in the careful
blending of different spices to yield subtle variations in flavours called
masalas.
Regional differences in religion, culture and local produce have also
influenced eating habits to yield an amazing diversity of exotic, tasty
dishes.
Traditionally the cooler north is associated with milder curries. The
mildest dishes are from Kashmir where the produce of the region like
almonds, walnuts and apples are associated with almost every dish.
Kashmir Dum Gosht may taste a little sweet because almonds roasted and
ground to a paste are an ingredient. Kashmir tea is flavoured with saffron,
cardamom and almonds.
A Kashmir Wazwan (royal dinner feast) consists of 17 meat dishes. It
will include such dishes as gushtaba (meatballs cooked in yoghurt and
spices), tabakamaz (shin of mutton cooked in cash- ewnut, poppy seed and
onions), kababs and biryanis. Roghan josh, mutton cooked with yoghurt
and ginger, is a dish which originated in Kashmir.
In the northern parts of India (Delhi and Uttar Pradesh) there is a
strong tradition of Mughal orMughlai cooking — the classic biryani, meat
tenderised in herbs, spices, nuts, raisins, coconut and cream and then
placed in an oven with rice which cooks slowly absorbing the flavour and
juices of the meat. Another North Indian
speciality is Kababs, meat tenderised in spiced yoghurt and papaya
paste. There are different kinds of kababs such as reshmi kababs, pasinda
kababs, sheek kababs, kakori kababs and shammi kababs, the last made of
a spiced paste of ground meat and lentils, and not boiled but fried.
Tandoori cooking, another Mughal contribution to Indian cooking, uses a
clay oven (tandoor) to cook marinated chicken, mutton or fish. Tandoori
chicken is a special favourite.
In the north which is a wheat-growing area, a wide range of breads is
available to supplement the meat dishes. The chappati is the simplest. It is
wheat flour moistened with water, kneaded and fried in a frying pan. When
fried without oil the chappati blows up and becomes a phulka. When basted
with ghee or butter, it becomes a paratha. When deep fried in oil it
becomes a puri. When the dough is cooked in an oven or tandoor, it
becomes a naan (baked leavened bread).
Proceeding towards the east, Calcutta and Bengal, sea food appears on
the menu. The mustard oil used in Bengali cooking gives it a distinctive
flavour. Fish is flavoured with yoghurt, ginger and turmeric, prawns are
cooked in mustard oil with garlic and coriander. These are eaten with rice
or with loochi, deep-fried bread, like puri.
In the west, Gujarat's distinctive regional cuisine is almost totally
vegetarian as Gujarat has always been a centre for the Jains with whom non
- violence to all living things is a basic creed. Popular dishes include
khaman dhokla, a salty steamed chickpea- flour cake. Undhyoo is a winter
speciality of aubergines, broad beans, potato and sweet potato cooked in an
earthenware pot buried upside down (undhyoo) under a fire. Gharis are a
rich sweet made of milk, clarified butter and dried fruits.
Bombay's restaurants cater to the culinary tastes of every region of
India from Bengal to Gujarat and the South. The sea food of Bombay has
produced certain dishes associated with the city. 'Bombay duck', pomfret,
lobsters and prawns are prepared in the restaurants according to different
regional tastes. The Parsi dish dhansak is a lamb dish containing two dozen
ingredients and spices and cooked with lentils (dhals) and vegetables. In
season the Alphonso mangoes are eaten straight or spiced with cardamom
in a dish called aamras.
Goa on the west coast has its own cuisine which reflects the
Portuguese rule there from 1510 to 1961. Superbly cooked sea food can be
had here - lobster, prawn, oyster, crabs, mussels, shrimps etc. Local
Indianised Portuguese dishes are chourisso (Goan sausages), sarpotel (pig's
liver), suckling pig and vindaloo (meat cooked with spices and vinegar).
Hyderabad in the Deccan, gateway to the South, the capital of the
enlarged Andhra Pradesh State which incorporates the Muslim princely
state of Hyderabad, is the setting for both hot, spicy Andhra food as well as
Mughlai dishes. Its speciality dishes are baghara baigan (small egg plants
stuffed with spices, cooked in tamarind juice and sesame oil) and mirchi ka
solan (stuffed green chillies). On the Mughlai side, Hyderabad offers
biryanis, tikka kebabs and haleem, leisurely pounded wheat, cooked and
blended with a lightly spiced mutton gravy. For dessert there is khobani,
dried apricots cooked to a puree.
The dishes of the deep south are generally hotter than those of the
north. Combined with lots of rice, soothing fresh curds and