Indian Class 2/24/06

Naan
Pappadam
Idli
Dosa
Chappati
Scallops Korma
Gobi Panch Phoran

Eggplant Navratan Curry
Pudeena Chatni
Chai
Dahl
Nargisi Kofta

Thoughts about Indian Cuisine

• Many dishes with wildly varying tastes and textures served at one time. It is up to the diner to determine the shape of their dinner. Maybe sweeten palate first, then spicy alternating with bland.... Or?
  
• Finger foods, right hands only. Bread used to scoop in the North
  
• Indian cooking very labor intensive. Women expected to cook three meals a day with six different dishes. Lunches sent to men in offices in tiffin carriers.
  
• Restaurants a feminist institution in India. Although men get most of the paid restaurant jobs, a night out at a restaurant is a big deal for women who are expected to do all the cooking.
  
• Restaurants are traditionally for people not able to get home, travelling salesmen, etc.. Real men have women to cook for them. Restaurants not traditionally at pinnacle of Indian cuisine, the extended families do the best foods.
  
• Richness and fullness of flavor are extremely important here. Concentration of flavor as in Murg Makhanwala (which could have milk cooked down to a paste as an ingredient), very intense relishes like Mixed Pickle and Pudeena Chatni. Indian meals stay with you for a while, unlike Chinese, say.
  
• Tandoor ovens, originally for bread, adapted to meats
  
• Many regional differences: Wheat/Bread in the North, Rice in the South
  
• Dairy all over, cow revered as metaphor for Mother. Dahi/yogurt/kefir used for tart/rich flavor. More coconut in the South
  
• More important than how much of a spice is used, or even which spices are used: How spices are used. Some dry toasted, some fried, some added in middle or end as garnish which is much more than visual.
  
• Hotter/spicier in the South
  
• Strong/flowery aromatics, sometimes in savoury dishes.
  
• Food often well/over cooked to produce full blended flavors.
  
• Panir fresh cheese looks like tofu, treated somewhat like it, often fried before braising in sauce
  
• Curry refers to consistency of dish, not specific spice combinations. The word for spice mix in hindi is "masala". Every locale in India has different spice combinations, but Indian restaurants worldwide tend to just use a few.
  
• Dishes often take many steps and a long cooking time, so restaurant food tends to be somewhat tired, with re-heated dishes
  
• Fermentation of dosa/ idli batter releases different nutients, changes texture.
  
• Very difficult to get smooth textures with food processor, hard with blender, easy with wet grinder.
  
• Chappati a good example of how recipes with few ingredients can be difficult to perform well. Flour must be precisely ground, right amount of protein. Sifted whole wheat flour with a little white flour can substitute. Dough needs to be just the right wetness and kneadedness. Grill needs to be exactly right temp. Also, chappatis need to be served right after cooking, one reason women eat after men.
  

• Cooking over very high heat tends to concentrate sauces relatively faster than it cooks meat/seafood. If you are worried about overcooking meat/seafood before a sauce thickens sufficiently, scoop solids out with strainer, concentrate sauce, re-add solids.
  
• Deep-frying temperature control: too cold and steam doesn't push oil out so soggy fritters, too hot and outside burns before inside cooked. Pay attention to amount of oil, amount of heat stove produces, amount and temperature of stuff being fried.
  
• Tandoor oven very labor intensive.
  
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