Indian Cooking For Dummies

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Monisha Bharadwaj. Indian Cooking For Dummies

Indian Cooking For Dummies® To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Indian Cooking For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box. Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Illustrations

Guide

Pages

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Getting Started with Indian Cooking

Exploring India through Food

The Early Use of Spices

How spices traveled outside India

The influences that make Indian cooking so diverse

The North: Of Conquest, Kings, and Empire

Delhi: The Mughals and Islamic influences

The foothills of the Himalayas: Basmati rice

Punjab and the Partition of India

Kashmir and its saffron fields

The East: Tea Plantations, Tempting Sweets, and Treasures of the Sea

Tea and the British

Kolkata and Bengali sweets

Odisha and fish with everything

The South: Of Temples, Coconut Groves, and Spice Routes

Sacred foods

Goa and the Portuguese influence

Kerala and its Hindu, Christian, and Muslim cooking

Tamil Nadu temples and their fragrant cuisines

The West: A Melting Pot

Mumbai and the Parsi influence

Pune and the Sindhi influence

Konkan’s golden coastlines

Gujarat and its extravagant thalis

Embracing India’s Love of Vegetables

A BRIEF HISTORY OF VEGETARIANISM IN INDIA

Putting Together Vegetarian and Vegan Meals

Bringing Ayurvedic Wisdom to Your Kitchen

Following eight easy rules of an Ayurvedic diet

Identifying the six tastes and sensations

INTRODUCING CHILDREN TO INDIAN FOOD

Eating with the seasons

Tools of the Trade

Making Prep Work Easy with the Right Utensils

Knives

Cutting boards

KEEPING YOUR KNIVES IN TIP-TOP SHAPE

Other utensils

Knowing Which Pots, Pans, and Griddles the Experts Use

Karahi

Tava

Dosa pan

Pressure cookers

Handling Spices like a Pro

A spice tin for storing spices

Tools for blending and crushing spices

Shopping for Essential Ingredients

Diving into Dry Goods

Spices

Grains

Nuts

Flavorings

Beans

Everything else

Pickles

Popadams

Dried fruits

Chai

Yes, We Can! Stocking Up on Canned Goods

Tomatoes

Coconut milk and coconut powder

Beans

Mango puree

Free-Range Culture: Shopping for Dairy and Eggs

Yogurt

Cream

Paneer

Eggs

Knowing Which Fats and Oils You Need

To ghee or not to ghee

Must-have oils for an Indian kitchen

Drop the Beet: Loading Up on Produce

Aromatics and herbs: Veggies with a punch

Eggplants

Potatoes

Mangoes

Shopping for Meat and Poultry

Getting Comfortable in the Kitchen

Common Indian Kitchen Techniques

Chopping Techniques

Chopping, mincing, and dicing

Peeling

Slicing

CUTS OF MEAT USED IN INDIAN COOKING

Butterflying shrimp

Marinating Meats and Other Foods

How long to marinate

How to build an Indian marinade

TRICKS OF THE TRADE: WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU

Sweating Over a Hot Tandoori Oven, er, Stove

Dum: All hot and steamy

Tarka: Don’t lose your temper, use it

Bhuna: It’s bhuna long time

Talna: Off to a frying start

Dhungar: A practi-coal solution

Using Staple Ingredients in Indian Dishes

Focusing on Ingredients

Standardizing recipes

Measuring ingredients

The Long and Short of Cooking Rice

Making and Storing Ginger-Garlic Paste

Preparing the ginger

Preparing the garlic

Making the paste

Happy Sour: Using Tamarind

Identifying the various forms of tamarind

Deseeding and making tamarind pulp

Trying tamarind in your Indian cooking

You Say To-May-To, I Say To-Mah-To: Using Fresh, Canned, or Paste

Fresh tomatoes

Canned tomatoes

MAKING LENTILS LESS GASSY

Tomato paste

Passata

Loving Lentils

Cooking lentils

Knowing the correct texture and consistency

I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying: Working with Onions

Knowing which type to use

Slicing or dicing

How to slice an onion

How to dice an onion

Cooking onions for curries

Drop It Like It’s Hot: Cooking with Chilies

How to choose the right chile

How to use chilies

Going Cuckoo for Coconut

Fresh coconut

Desiccated coconut

Coconut milk

Making and Using Paneer

How to make paneer

How to cook with paneer

Spices Make Indian Dishes Nice

We Seed to Talk: Using Whole Spice Seeds

Frying whole spices in oil

Toasting whole spices

Ground Sterling: Working with Ground Spices

Cooking ground spices at the start

At a later stage during the cooking

At the end of cooking

SPICE STAR: UPPING YOUR SPICE GAME

Creating a Series of Blends

Building a Curry

Defining Curry: What It is and What It Isn’t

Curry sauce

Curry powder

STARTING TO COOK

Curry leaves

First Things First: Choosing a Pan and Using the Right Oil

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

Paying Attention to the Order in Which Ingredients Are Added to the Pan

Building Different Kinds of Curries

Building a North Indian curry

Whole spices

Onions

Ginger and garlic

Fresh chilies

Ground spices

A main ingredient that needs searing

Tomatoes

Liquid

A main ingredient that doesn’t need searing

Salt

Finishing spices

Tasting

Garnish

Building a South Indian curry

Whole spices

Onions, aromatics, and ground spices

Acidic ingredients

Sweet ingredients

Cooking liquid

Turning Up the Heat

Chilies

Pepper

Mustard seeds

Adding Depth to Your Curry

Achieving the Right Color and Consistency

Color

Consistency

MAKING A GRAM FLOUR ROUX

IMPROVISING LIKE A PRO

Jazzing Up the Look with Garnishes

Onions

Cilantro

Mint

Lemon and lime

Fresh chilies

Ginger

Salad vegetables

Nuts and dried fruit

Spices and dried herbs

Boiled eggs

Cream, butter and yogurt

Banana leaves

KITCHEN CUPBOARD CURRY: COOKING WITH FEWER INGREDIENTS

Bringing It All Together in a Deliciously Healthy Meal

Off the Menu: Restaurant versus Home Cooking

Classifying foods by heat levels

Aiming for the broadest audience

Using too much fat

Using too much salt

Charging an arm and a leg

Sticking to a limited list of ingredients

Taking the Worry out of Curry

Eating the rainbow

Talking texture

Popadams

Salads

Chips

Playing with temperature

Heating it up

Tickling your palate

Offer contrasts of flavor

TASTE VERSUS FLAVOR

Think of the top note

SWEET

SOUR

HOT

SALTY

PERFECT COMBINATIONS TO RELY ON

BITTER

Putting Together Indian Meals

Composing a weeknight dinner

Creating an Indian entertaining menu

Going all out: Creating a thali

Serving Up Indian Specialties

Lovely Lamb, Beef, and Pork Dishes

MEAT AND INDIAN RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Scrumptious Poultry Dishes

Delish Fish and Seafood Dishes

Vegetables Cooked the Indian Way

Rice with a Bit of Anything

Can’t-Be-Beat Lentils and Beans

Exotic Egg Dishes

Whipping Up Breads, Chutneys, and Tasty Treats

Dishes to Start the Day

Tasty Snacks and Appetizers

No-Bake Breads

Chutneys and Salads

Desserts and Drinks

The Part of Tens

Ten Time-Saving Tips for the Kitchen

Prepare Your Ingredients Ahead of Time

Store Your Spices Efficiently

Cook in Batches

Chop Ingredients Evenly

Freeze Basic Curry Sauces

Figure Out the Proper Prep Order

Reduce Food Waste

Keep Your Compost Pail Nearby

Use a Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot

Choose the Right Size Pan and Use a Lid

Ten Myths about Indian Food

All Indian Food Is Extremely Hot

Popadams and Dips Are Eaten at the Start of a Meal

All Indian Food Is Curry

Indian Food Is Unhealthy

All Indian Bread Is Naan

Adding Curry Powder Makes a Dish Indian

Eating with Your Fingers Is Unhygienic

Indians Eat Food off Leaves and Not Plates

All Indian Food Is Cooked in Ghee

Indian Food Is Mainly Vegetarian

Ten Tips on Indian Table Etiquette

Save Room for Seconds and Thirds

Eat with Your Right Hand

Don’t Double-Dip

Show Appreciation to Your Host

Wash Your Hands

Don’t Lick Your Fingers

Mix Your Food Intentionally

Clean Your Plate

Bring Flowers instead of Food for Your Host

Don’t Drink Alcohol with Your Dinner Unless You’re Offered It

Metric Conversion Guide

Index. A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

About the Author

Dedication

Author’s Acknowledgments

WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

Отрывок из книги

If you’ve eaten some amazing Indian food and you now want to re-create it in your own kitchen, this is the book for you! You’ve probably done some research and maybe you don’t know where to begin — everything looks so complicated!

Indian cooking is complex. After all, the country is not just vast but also very diverse, with numerous languages, religious beliefs, geographical differences, and social and cultural practices. The key to understanding where to begin is to respect this diversity — and to begin slowly and simply.

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But Bengali sweets are unlike those of anywhere else in the country, mainly because many are made with cottage cheese as a base. I’ve heard that the Portuguese, who were in India before the British, brought the skill of cheese making to Bengal. The Hindus considered the curdling of milk taboo, but that didn’t stop them from falling in love with the resulting delicacies. They quickly created recipes using fresh cottage cheese, spices, sugar, and nuts and produced pillowy-soft confections that melted in the mouth and left you wanting more. As these began to be mass produced in factories, the sugar content increased. Today, the gulab jamuns and ras malai you see on Indian restaurant menus have set the stage for everyone thinking that all Indian sweets are syrupy sweet.

The state of Odisha enjoys a long coastline along the Bay of Bengal, so it’s hardly surprising that fish features regularly on many dinner tables there. Lying on the east coast, Odisha nestles between the South and the North, so the food is inspired by both. The Northern part of Odisha, which borders Bengal, uses mustard paste in curries, whereas southern districts use tamarind, in keeping with South Indian traditions.

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