Introduction

"Indian cuisine is the general name for the foods of the Indian subcontinent, characterized by the extensive use of various spices, herbs and other vegetables, and sometimes fruits grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society. Each family of Indian cuisine includes a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, it varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically-diverse subcontinent.Hindu beliefs and culture have played an influential role in the evolution of Indian cuisine. However, cuisine across India also evolved as a result of the subcontinent's large-scale cultural interactions with Mongols and Britain making it a unique blend of some various cuisines. The spice trade between India and Europe is often cited as the main catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery. The colonial period introduced European cooking styles to India, adding to the flexibility and diversity of Indian cuisine. Indian cuisine has influenced cuisines across the world, especially those from Southeast Asia and the Caribbean".


In this Blog I am going to try and share my limited knowledge of Indian cuisine, starting with the basic ingredients and explaining how to make a few dishes that I have learned to make.




Basic Ingredients


Although there are hundreds of different spices used in many different forms in indian cooking I am going to consentrate on the  7 main spices used in Indian cookin. Below is a picture showing these spices:-

There are 3 more very important ingredients used in indian cooking and these are used in paste form. To make a paste you simply mash the ingredient until a smooth texture is obtained. Below is a picture showing the 3 pastes:-

Other important ingredients include:-

Leomon Salt - made with 50% lemon juice and 50% salt, leave till juice has evaporated naturally, then use.
Gram Flour - made from ground yellow lentils. (used in veg/panneer pakora).
Hing (indian)
Kastrui mathi (indian)
Agnomota
Carvway Seed (Rai) (indian)

Note - * Some ingradients will be quite difficult to obtain back in the uk and are not going to stop the dish from tasting    good, so if you can use them do, if not don't worry, it'll still be good.

I am now going to describe how to make a few different dishes, the measurements given are only a rough guide and you will have to adjust things like salt and chilli powder to your own taste, these dishes are medium spiced. Portion size will also have to be adjusted accordingly so I would reccommend trying each using the specified quantities and then adjusting for more or less people, enjoy.