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Indian Cooking

Introduction to Indian Cooking

Like any art form, the foundation of Indian cooking is based on technique. There is a body of knowledge about the food itself - the vegetables, the spices, the herbs, the sauces - but this information is meaningless unless applied with sensitivity. I use the words sensitivity and knowledge in all of their nuances: knowing when a vegetable like the bitter melon, karela, is perfectly in season; understanding how to remove the bitterness; and, finally being aware of its healing properties. There's a perfect moment to eat karela, just as there's an appropriate time for an Indian raga to be played. There are monsoon ragas, morning ragas, and ragas that are played when the lover has gone. Music and food are always respected for their ability to cleanse the soul, and heal.

Indian cooking has always found a willing companion in art and music. They always seem to go together. Any musical gathering first begins with prayers to the gods and offering of food to them. Just as emotions are a part of music so are they a part of cooking. Thus in India one finds that to evolve ones palate one also studies the appreciation of music and art. In the Indian kitchen one entertains spices or masalas. The seeds, stalks and powders are all found. There are masalas that can set ones palate to receive taste sensations in the most profound ways. There are those that can alter feelings. Grains are an integral part of cooking throughout India. A vegetarian cuisine that would otherwise be nutritionally weak is complete by the mixing of lentils, beans, rice and vegetables. Rice has been know in India for over 5 thousand years... Maize, barley, semolina, millet, countless of lentils and beans and many peas form a crucial part of the Indian pantry.

Over many ages and several dynastic rules later, cooking in India has been honed into a fine art in itself. One of the older civilizations known to man, this country also proudly boasts a culinary repertoire that is eclectic at the very least. Over the length and breadth of India, in the different homes in India, of the rich and the poor, one comes across a wide range of flavors, styles and tastes. Many styles of cooking seen in different parts of the world can also be found in one or the other part of India. In India one can find Indian-Chinese cooking, Parsee cooking, Baghdadi cooking and within that the Jewish cooking of that area, Portuguese influenced, French influenced, British inspired and then the well known Mughal cooking. One sees these styles emerge from the invasion of India by many of these foreign powers and then in the case of the Parsee community, one sees the creation of a cuisine by a people that came as refugees. The Parsees are Zoroastrians who came to India to flee religious persecution in the middle east. Today they seem as much a part of India as any other segment of the population. They speak Gujerati, their food is loved by one and all and they are welcome members of the community. There is a very small Jewish population scattered across India. It may be small in number, but has been able to maintain it's unique character and has kept its cultural independence. Their foods and their customs are still a part of that heritage that makes India so diverse. In Cochin, in Calcutta and in Bombay one sees how these small pockets of a minority community has managed to influence a larger community and also taken from the other community. It is this secular fabric of India that has kept an ever fresh vibrancy in an otherwise very old culture.

In India one sees society, culture, language, food and people change dramatically as one goes from North to South or East to West. A country that has a couple of dozens of languages and several hundred dialects, also boasts of many different art forms and food styles. It is this change from region to region that gives India a mixed blessing. It adds greatly to the cultural wealth of this country and is a great teacher for a hungry traveler. But it also brings with it a mixed socio-economic bag. Each region, each state and each community in India, is steeped in local traditions. Many of these traditions are based upon the history of that region, the religious fabric of its people and the agricultural diversity. In India all the culinary styles are based upon the local produce found in that area. Thus to study Indian food as a whole one studies the regional influences that shape its many styles.

Spices which today signal the advent of cooking are found in abundance in India. Most come from that region and many have been studied not just for the culinary uses but also for the healing powers. Spices and fresh herbs are used in good measure and are a very intricately woven part of Indian life. Food, prayer and medical uses are some of many roles played by these inanimate ingredients. Turmeric is revered as an antiseptic, asafoetida to fight flatulence, carom to counter nausea and ginger as an aphrodisiac. Fenugreek and cumin seeds are given to nursing mothers to aid secretion. How a spice is used and when it is added to a meal can easily tell you where the food is from and who it has been cooked for.

Every kitchen has a masaal-daan, a spice box. In this box are found seeds, stalks, barks, stems and leaves that exalt Indian cooking. What combination one sees is typical of that chefs repertoire or of the region. In the north one would see whole garam masala, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, fennel seeds and some other spice blends. In the south one would find mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, whole red chilies, urad daal and chana daal, and other spice blends. In each of the region one will also find spices that are used in the other. This shows how deep the fusion of the styles is already. Each day, after the vegetable vendor has made his trip, the cook then plans a menu and will prepare the spices accordingly. Spices are ground daily to ensure freshness. A mortar and pestle is used most often as this gives the cook control over how fine to grind them. There are dishes for which one needs very finely ground spices and then there are those that require coarsely ground powders.

More info about Indian cooking, please visit Suvir.

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