Indian regional cuisine

8/16/2019 Indian regional cuisine

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ASSIGNMENT20 INDIAN HERBS AND SPICES NAME AND CHARACTERISTCS

1. SPICES

English

aniseeds, fennel

seeds

These might look like Cumin Seeds, but when looked closely they are actually green

and wider. Fennel is another ingredient of the Panch Foron.These are also dry roasted

used with tiny sugar candies to make mouth fresheners after meals. Fennel is known

its digestie !ualities.

asafetida 1. This is sa" from stem and root of a "lant, dried into a hard resin.

#. The smell of this s"ice in the raw uncooked form is strong and "ungent$ so

un"leasant that it is often called as the deils dung, or the stinking gum.

%. &oweer this initial funky "ungent smell mellows and almost disa""ears, re"

by a smooth "leasant flaor when it is added to hot oil or ghee.

'. The flaor is not the s"icy fiery kind, but more like (eek or )nion. &ing is

definitely a gem in the kitchen.*. In its raw form, the strong aroma will contaminate other s"ices, so it is better

stored in an air tight container.

+. The resin form is hard and dee" amber in color It has to be "owdered before i

used for cooking or medicinal "ur"oses.

. I usually get &ing from India, in the hard resin form as you see aboe, as it re

the aroma longer than ground "owder, and use a mortar and a "estle to grind

need it.-. In Indian grocery stores, the hing is usually found in "owdered form.. / little goes a long way when it comes to this s"ice$ so only a tiny bit when

seasoning and tem"ering to flaor food.

bay (eaf 1. Te0 Patta or Tamal"atra as it is called in Sanskrit are used to flaor different c


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and rice.

#. The leaes are aromatic with a slight hint of the fragrance of cinnamon.%. The leaes are first browned in oil first to increase the aroma.

carom seeds,

thymol seeds,

oregano, bisho"s

weed

1. These are "ungent, tiny seeds grayish in color and often mistaken to be the

2isho"3s 4eed5.#. /0wain has ery strong flaors and the smell and the taste bears close similar

Thyme.%. They hae a shar" and slightly bitter taste on the tongue. In Indian cooking, t

/0wain is rarely used raw.

'. They are usually dry roasted lightly or tem"ered in hot oil or ghee and used f

seasoning a dish.

*. )ther

using the seeds for curries, the flaor of this s"ice works really well with brea

and are ery "o"ularly used in Paratha5 6griddle fried flatbreads7 in the north

regions of the country.2esides culinary uses, it is used for medicinal "ur"oses

aid in digestion and also as an antise"tic.

chilli "owder This is ground u" dried red chili "e""ers 6as shown below7. There are different arie

of Chili Powder aailable in the Indian groceries. They are made from different kind

"e""ers with different colors, aroma and also the s"ice8heat leel.

cinnamon 1. The cinnamon sticks or !uills are the dried bark of a tree.

#. There are two "o"ular arieties of cinnamon$ from Chin and from Ceylon.

%. They both hae similar flaors but the cinnamon from Ceylon has a sweeter a

and is found more as sticks than a rolled u" !uill.

'. The Ceylonese cinnamon is also not so easily aailable in local markets.*. Cinnamon 6and mostly the Ceylonese ariety7 in its stick8!uill for as well as


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"owdered, is used e9tensiely in Indian cooking, mostly for saory dishes.

+. )ften times a few bits of broken sticks are added as the oil heats u"$ this way

oil is flaored and the food is cooked in this fragrant oil.

. Sometimes it is dry roasted in a skillet before cooking, which intensifies the

aroma.

-. The warm sweet flaors make it a "o"ular s"ice for desserts in the western w

es"ecially during the holidays.

. It is one of the ingredients of :aram ;asala.

cloes Cloes are dried u" flower buds. The fully


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an airtight container only for a few days.

+. The seeds are "owdered either by roasting them first in a dry skillet or withou

roasting them.

. The roasted seeds "owdered hae a darker shade and a different flaor than th

other.

-. 2oth are used in Indian cuisine.. The seeds are usually used in the ground form to be a "art of arious s"ice m

like :aram ;asala, Sambar Powder etc.

cumin seeds Cumin or >eera is a ery commonly used s"ice all oer India. ?nown for its warm ea

aroma, it is used in the raw form, or cooked in hot oil or ghee to release its aroma.

Sometimes the raw seeds are ground and sometimes the seeds are briefly roasted in th

skillet and ground into a "owder. The roasted and fried cumin seeds im"arts a ery

uni!ue, smoky flaor to food.

green cardamom Cardamom "ods hold tiny little black seeds inside. The seeds are taken out and used

whole in cooking or in the form of "owder. It3s used in a ()T of Indian cooking whe

it be egetables, meat, rice or een desserts. Cardamom is also an im"ortant "art of :

;asala.

nutmeg These are seeds of a fruit. The "art that is actually used is the inner "art of this seed.

used in ground form, mostly in biryanis. =nlike in western countries, it3s almost nee

used in desserts in Indian cooking.


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onion seeds,

nigella

These are tiny black seeds mostly forming a "art of the Panch Foron 6reci"e below7.

@igella is also referred to as )nion Seeds. They are mostly used in breads A like naan

tandoori rotis, "arathas, and also sometimes to season stir fries and curries. In the Eas

India this is e9tensiely used to season fish.

saffron This is "robably the most e9"ensie s"ice. (ooking like tiny orange threads, these ar

actually the stigmas of a flower called crocus. Saffron adds beautiful flaor and color

rice dishes, graies and desserts.

turmeric Turmeric is actually a ginger like rhiBome in the raw state. The inside is dee" orange

yellow in color. The rhiBome can be grated 6fresh7 and may be used in cooking. aw

turmeric is often times ground into a "aste and used to im"roe skin and com"le9ion

also has ery strong medicinal "ro"erties.

• &E2S

1. 2asil

/ close relatie to mint, basil has a floral anise< and cloe


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/lthough more commonly associated with sweet treats, mint lends its cooling, "e""ery bite to "lenty of

saory dishes, "articularly from the ;iddle East and @orth /frica. Fresh mint is "erfect for summer


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NAME 10 KITCHEN EQUIPMENTS AND THEIR USES

1. ?arai or 4okD Jou would need this basic utensil in almost eery Indian reci"e. 4hether it is for

frying, sautKing or dee" frying, no Indian cook can do without a karai. Ho not buy stainless steel

karais as they tend to burn easily. The fancy ones with co""er at the bottom are good for warming

and sering food not cooking. / good substitute for karai is a Chinese wok. /lways buy heay

bottom, carbon steel woks as thin walled woks tend to burn the food cooked in them.

#. Pressure cookerD This is another essential "iece of cookware re!uired for cooking Indian food.

Jou need a "ressure cooker for boiling lentils, meat and also for steaming food like egetables

and dum"lings like idlies. ice dishes like "ulao and biriyani also cook faster in a "ressure

cooker.

%. Tawa or skilletD / skillet is re!uired for roasting s"ices and bread like cha"attis. /lso fried bread

like "arathas and cre"es like dosas are cooked in a skillet. Traditional Indian skillets 6called

tawas7 are made of cast iron but any kind of nonstick skillet would do.

'. Chakla belanD Chaklaust make sure you clean the coffee grinder after you grind s"ices to aoid consuming

cumin flaored coffee for breakfastLLL

. S"ice holderD It is also a good idea to kee" s"ices in air tight s"ice holder com"artments as they

tend to lose their flaor oer time. / traditional Indian s"ice container is round with a lid and

multi"le com"artments for storing different s"ices. S"ices that are ke"t in the s"ice holder include

cumin, coriander, mustard, fie s"ice 6"anch "horan7, fennel, methi and turmeric. S"ices like

asfeotida 6hing7 and garam masala 6cinnamon, cloes, cardamom7 are best stored se"arately in

airtight containers. There are many kinds of s"ice 0ars aailable at the kitchen a""liances sections

in de"artmental stores.

-. S"atulas, ladles, slotted s"oonD In Indian cooking, food is stirred during cooking with a s"atula or

a long handled s"oon made of steel called a karchi or khunti. 4ooden s"atulas are generally

aoided as wood soaks u" flaors. If you are using nonstick cookware, use wooden s"oons. For a

wok and steel utensils, use the steel s"atulas as it is easier to stir and fli" food with the narrow

edge. Jou also re!uire ladles for transferring curries, daals and other li!uid food. / slotted s"oon

6like a Chinese wire skimmer7 is useful for remoing food after dee" frying as it drains e9cess oil.

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. ice handi8ice cookerD / handi is a dee" essel with a wide rim. It is useful for cooking rice and

other slow cooking food like "ulao, biriyani and dum aloo 6"otatoes7. I also like to inest in a rice

cooker as you can "rogram it to cook rice, lentils and other dishes and it switches off

automatically when the food is done. )ne less thing to monitor when you are cooking multi"le

dishes.

1. ColanderD Jou need a colander to wash and stain egetables. /lso good for staining water from

soaked and boiled lentils like chick"eas, kidney beans etc.

11. / set of Indian "late, bowls and glassD (astly you would need a set of stainless steel Indian "late

called thali along with small bowls called katoris for sering the food. / stainless steel glass for

sering water is also re!uired.

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Indian regional cuisine