The Food of India

by Wickramasinghe, Priya; Rajah, Carol Selva; Lowe, Jason; Bensen, Alan

• ISBN13: 9781552853702
• ISBN10: 1552853705
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Whitecap Books Ltd

Summary

Winner, gold award, Best Hard Cover Recipe Book 2002-2003, Jacob's Creek World Food Media Awards, Adelaide, AustraliaThe Food of India captures the spirit of one of the world's great cuisines. It includes myriad exciting recipes for the vast array of dishes that are India's modern cuisine, from traditional Moghul dishes, such as korma and kofta, to a selection of breads, dals, and fragrant basmati rice dishes, including pulao and biryani. Stunning color photographs allow readers to explore the country's beauty and rich diversity: snack-sellers on the beaches of Mumbai, rossogolla-makers of Kolkata; the tea gardens of Assam and Munnar.About The Food of... series A culinary journey around the world.Each title in The Food of... series is a comprehensive introduction to one of the world's great cuisines. The books feature more than 100 delicious recipes highlighting the country's culinary treasures. Instructive color photographs of each dish in preparation identify the local ingredients, from vegetables and flavorings fresh from the market to street snacks, sweets, and colorful exotic fruits. Full-color feature sections explore the essence of each individual culture's food and cooking techniques.

Table of Contents

The Food of India

Recipes

Tiffin

Fish and Seafood

Poultry and Meat

Vegetables

Pulses

Rice and Grains

Breads

Accompaniments

Sweets and Drinks

Basics

Glossary of Indian Food and Cooking

Index

Food Journeys In India

Street Food- Chaat -- a walk along Chowpatty Beach

Seafood- From the backwaters of Kerala to bustling Mumbai (Bombay)

Spices- Aromatic ingredients from the spice coast of India

Breads- Roti -- from tava to tandoor

Sweets- Rossogollas, the foundation of a sweet empire

Tea- Making tea in the gardens of Assam and the Nilgirs

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

The Food of IndiaIndia is a very complex country culturally, geographically and from a culinary point of view. Cooking styles vary not only from state to state and town to town but also from suburb to suburb.Modern India is ore of the most diverse countries in the world. It is made up of 25 states and 7 territories and its people use 18 major (and over 1600 minor) languages and practice 7 major religions. Despite this, and its history of constant invasion end change, India has kept a strong sense of national identity and has used outside influences to its advantage. INFLUENCESHistorically, Indian cuisine has had many influences, one of the biggest being vegetarianism brought about by religious beliefs. Buddhism end Jainism came to India around the 6th century BC and though they faded as major religions in India, they were particularly successful in converting people to a way of life in which living beings are considered to be sacred. Hinduism predated both these religions but early Hindu texts such as the Mahabhoarata show that meat was not originally prohibited. Meat is still occasionally eaten by some Hindus. Over time, vegetarianism slowly pervaded Indian culture and today it is practiced by many people, particularly in the South. The sacred status of the cow, a Vedic idea from before Hinduism, also remains to this dayIn 1525, the Moghul emperors arrived and brought with them their own style of cooking, architecture and living, which affirmed their religion, Islam, and its Arabic heritage. Muslims had periodically been invading India since the 10th century but this later time was the period of their greatest influence and at one stage they ruled nearly the whole subcontinent. Pork was taboo but meats such as lamb and chicken were eaten as long as they were killed according to Muslim law.Many dishes were a product of the court chefs, trained in Central Asian, Persian and Afghani culinary styles. Money was no object and imagination was boundless. The Moghuls incorporated some of their favorite foods such as almonds, cream and dried fruits into Indian cuisine and introduced cold weather fruit such as peaches. cherries and apricots to the orchards of Kashmir. The use of saffron and gold and silver leaf reflects the opulence of Moghul cuisine, especially in sweets. These influences are most apparent in northern India and in areas such as Hyderabad, the site of an ancient court, where there were Muslim. settlements.China, another ancient culture, had also long had an association with India via its maritime and overland trading routes. The Karhai and wok are extremely similar in appearance, though which came first is impossible to say. Chinese-style bowls are used to serve soups and foods thought to have come from China. Some words, such as 'chiniani' meaning peach, start with 'chin'. The Chinese word for tea, 'cha', also became incorporated into the language when the British began to cultivate tea in India.Influences from further afield can be seen in Goa and Kerala where the Portuguese established ports, in Chennai (Madras) where the British set up the East India Company, in Pondicherry, a French enclave, and in Kolkata (Calcutta), the center of the British Raj. With the Europeans came more widespread Christianity (St Thomas had arrived in AD 52) and new styles of cooking to add to toe established Muslim and Hindu ways. Foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums (peppers) and chillies, imported from the New World via Europe, were gradually incorporated into local cuisines until in some cases, as with the chili, they became ubiquitous.The British influence on Indian cuisine was much less than the Indian impact on British food. For example, the British encouraged the idea of frequently nibbling on tiffin, which are little snacks. Also the Indian cooks of the British Empire, urged on by their memsahibs, learned to make cakes, yeasted breads and 'curries', which