INDIAN COOKING 101- REGIONAL FOODS PART 3

The part 3 actually took a while to show up, I must agree. As per the schedule I was suppose to post this a week back but as the story goes the household commitments and entertaining guests took the better of me.
But again as I always say, its better late than never.
Today I will talk about the EAST,that is the eastern part of India. The land that is rich in culture, history and literture. The soil rich and fertile, with lush green trees, marshes and paddy fields.
West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Orrisa make up for most of the eatern part of India, with a few spreading into north east. With so many different states, the food is as vaired and different, as the culture.

The staple

The area is home to cherapunji, the city with the highest levels of rainfall in the world. With wet marsh lands and hot summers, the eastern region provides ideal conditions for flourishing paddy fields.It can safely be called the rice bowl of India. Thus making it a staple of the people of this region. Puffed rice or muri, flat rice or chedva and a lot of other varieties of rice can be found in the region and in peoples homes. Accompained by a lot of locally grown fruits and vegetables, this region has a balanced mix of vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
The other most staple taste you would find here is "sweet".People simply love their sweets here.
The use of mustard oil, as a cooking medium is in abundance. "PANCH PHORAN" which simply means a mix of five different spices, is commonly used in all vegetarian preparations. Milk and jaggery are widely used for all the sweet treats.

A little about each region

BENGAL
The first region that strikes us when we talk about the east. I actually have this special connection with this region, as I was born and bought up there. well in kolkatta to be more precise. I remeber the rains in kolkatta, the street foods of kolkatta, the macher jhol, the mishti doi, the rasgullas,the warmth, the durgapuja. writting about it I miss it so much.......
Coming back to our main topic. Well, before I divulge any further, if incase in the course of this post, there is any hint of favourism to bengali food, its simply because of this invisible cord that connects me to the place of my birth and where I spent some of the best days of my life.
Bengalis are the agrarian types. Hence their food includes a lot of rice, vegetables, dals, and freshwater fish. Over forty varieties of these fishes are available. Traditionally bengali meals would include dals like mung dal, masur dal, chana dal. the cooking medium used is mostly mustard oil and posto or poppy seeds. A typical bengal meal would start with a bitter course. the portion size of this course is very small.



The idea is to simply cleanse the palate. bitter gourd or karela, is usally served. an other very famous items served under this course is SUKTA. a fine blend of various gourd vegetables, made in a ginger-mustard sauce. I love the taste of this dish with rice. The next course is the vegetable or SHAK course. The most common vegetables used are, spinach, pumpkin, fenugreek, amaranth. these vegetables are usually steamed and served with a mustard paste.
dal course is the next course, where one is served different dals. this is followed by the fish and the meat course. along with these bajhas, or vegetble fritters are served to add texture to the meal.then comes the chutney course, where vrious chutneys are served, like tomato, mango, papaya, tamarind. finally followed by the sweet course. this course holds a very important place for a bengali. no meal is complete without a sweet. usually made with cottage cheese, and jaggery it comprises mainly of mishti doi or sweet yogurt the all time famous rasgulla, chomchom, sandeesh.

macher jhol

mishti doi

snacks usually include jhal-muri or spicy puffed rice. the bengali cuisine saw the influnece of other cultures like the mughuls, the christians, and the chinese.
the all time famous chinese food in india actually originated in bengal. the famous rolls (my all time favourite), razala (a spicy stew like prepartion on meat), chap (ribs cooked on a griddle), are some of the delicacies that are best avaialable in bengal. to know about the cultural influence in bengal click here.
famous bengali dishes include

macher jhol
baigan bhaja
Doi machh
sukta
mishti doi
sandesh
chumchum
rasgolla
jaggery
petha

ORISSA



very close to bengal, this region is home to the world famous JAGANATH TEMPLE in puri. the staple is pretty similar to that of bengal. rice, lots of pulses and fish.
a surprising fact of this cuisine that I came across was, that the famous rasgolla, actually originated in orissa. That's something which I did not know.Apart from the regular staples of rice and dal, the rural people of orissa have a dish made out of rice, water and yogurt fermented overnight called Pakhala.people of orissa love their sweets too.
some of the famous dishes are

Dalma
Moong Dal
Besara
Chhencheda
Chhena Gaja
Chhenna Poda
Malpua

BIHAR

This cuisine is predominently vegetarian. the staples include simply prepared rice, lentils, chapati and vegetables. A dish that is typical of the bihar region is called CHOKA. Boiled, mashed vegetables mixed with finely chopped onions and green chillies,is often served with the regular meals. this is mainly prepared with potato and eggplants. another popular dish of this region is SATTU. this is roasted chickpea flour. it is made into items like "liti", or kneaded into a dough to make chapatis. it is a food item high in protein and is often consumed as a power food, that provides energy. sweets in bihar are more of the dry variety, unlike their neighbors, bengal and orissa. some of them are Khurma,Balushahi,Anarasa, Khaja, Motichoor ka Ladoo, Kala Jamun, Kesaria Peda, Parwal ka Mithai, just to name a few.

ASSAM

the famous tea gardens of assam

an area more in the north east,the assam cuisine is marked with the use of exotic herbs that are locally grown. they do not use a lot of spices, but their flavours are strong.talking about strong exotic flavours, how can we not mention about the world famous darjeeling tea. home to the tea gardens of india, assam produces some of the most exotic varieties of tea.another exotic food worth mentioning is the "bhooth jolokia". The hottest chilli that has made its way into the guinees book of world records.
Rice, rice and more rice is the staple here too. they are eaten roasted, boiled, steamed. the most famour rice preparation is called "PITHA",which is often made on the occasion called BIHU. Made usually with soaked and ground rice they are either fried in oil with a sesame filling ,roasted in young green bamboo over a slow fire or baked and rolled over a hot plate with a filling.
other preparations include, pork, varieties of fish,and greens. Traditional preparations can be read here.

AT THE END
That some what summarizes a few broad areas of the eastern part of India. With so many similarities, yet each one with their own unique specialities, these regions provide culinary awakening. be it exotic flavours, speciality spices, or simply the way of cooking.
I must admit, that the amount of information that is available, is impossible to summarize into this one post. I always begin writting and as I come to the end I feel I could have done better. As I wrote in my previous posts, I would love to share recipes and any other information about the various regions of india through this series.Do link back with recipes famous to anyone of the above mentioned areas, I would also be going through blogs and compiling a list of various recipes and putting up a list soon. would love all the help I can get.
hope we can all exchange some good culinary knowledge and spread the flavours of India.
enjoy
have a great weekend.

INDIAN COOKING 101-REGIONAL FOODS PART 2

This was a great forwad I got in my email. apt for my series. right click to get a clear look

This is my third post dedicated to a series on India cooking. This time the focus being on another tasty part of India, and one of my very own favourites- SOUTH INDIA.
before I move on any further with my blog, I would like to make a request to all those who have authentic south Indian recipes posted on their blogs. Kindly create a link to this post, or email me the link to the recipe at karunakhera@rediffmail.com.
so that all the readers, as well as me, have an opportunity to try out some authentic delicacies. thanks.

DOWN SOUTH
The hot, humid and coastal climate of south India, make it suitable for producing lots of vegetables, fruits and rice.The most important fruit being coconut. The Malabar coast is famous for its aromatic spices like cloves, cardamom, black pepper,curry leaves,fenugreek, mustard seeds are some of widely grown and used spices. Its coastal proximity provides a good selection of seafood.

The staple
rice and lentil are the staple foods anywhere in the southern regions. unlike north India where wheat is the staple. nearly all the famous delicacies are made by mixing rice and lentils, in various proportions. meals are made by using locally grown ingredients like coconut, tamarind, red chillies, green chillies.
Due to the extensive growth of various spices, the staple includes a lot of spice mixes or podis.
Kura podi (curry powder),sambhar podi (sambhar powder), paachadi podi (hot chutney powder), to name a few.

another staple, as well as my favourite is the filter coffee of the south called kaapi

The cuisines
When some one mentions south Indian food, what comes to mind is steamed idlis, dosa, sambhar and chutney. But there is a whole lot more to this cuisine than just the usual.
In order to know more, we need to know, what actually makes up SOUTH INDIAN CUISINE.
The south Indian platter is divided into four major tastes,

kerela
karnataka
tamil
andhara

others include the hyderabadi, manglorian and the syria christian cuisines.
surprisingly the major difference in all these cuisines is the level of spiciness.

A little about each of them
I could have done away with this part, but when I was reading about each of them, and how each cuisine has a subtle uniqueness to it, I thought it to be worth mentioning a little about each one of them.

KERELA
The food here is like a mixed platter of tastes. Vegetarianism is followed predominately because of the vast majorities of hindus living in the area. however, there are some parts of muslims as well as christians too who eat non-veg food. so one tends to savour the gastronomical selections of both vegetarian and non-vegetarain food.coconut and its products like coconut milk, grated coconut, coconut oil are used in abundance here. lots of plaintain, bitter gourd, ash gourd, colocasia is used in the cooking. fish and spicy fish dishes are a speciality of the syria christian cuisine. some of the most famous kerelite specialities are:

PUTTU (dish made out of rice powder and grated coconut)
APPAM (a fluffy pancake like dish)
STEWS (that are both vegetarian and no-vegetarian)
FISH PORIYAL
AVIYAL
THORAN
PAYASAAM (sweet dish)

to name just a few.lots of pickels, and spice mixes along with the famous pappadums are served along with the food.

TAMIL
The cuisine of tamil is more popularly known as the Chettinad cuisine. the people of tamil nadu strongly belive in good hospitality which comes forth by their love for food. Tamil cuisine emphaisis the need to include all the six basic tastes of food, that is sweet, sour, bitter, astringent, pungent and salty. This is pretty evident by the various items that are served on a typical banana leaf. the chettinad cuisine is high in spices, and non-vegetarian dishes. due to the dry climate, dried salted meats, and vegetables are used. lots shrimp, fish, lobster, and prawns are cooked.
here are a few of the all time famous ones.

KARUVADU KOZHUMU (dried preserved fish flavored curry),
CHETTINAD PEPPER CHICKEN,
FISH FRY
PANIYARAM,
VELLAI PANIYARAM

KARNATAKA
This is most mildest of all the cuicsines. The use of red chilli powder is very limited, and the use of plam sugar is in abundance. typically a vegetarain cuisine, ragi is a staple grain that is used here. there is a lot of useful information here about the karnataka cuisine.
The all time famous masala dosa, and medur vada originated in this region.
some of the specialities are

BISI BELE BATH
RAGI ROTTI,
AKKI ROTTI,
SAARU, VANGI BATH,
KHARA BATH,
MYSORE MASALA DOSA
and MADDUR VADE
Among sweets, MYSORE PAK,
DHARWAD PEDHA, PHENI, CHIROTI are well known.

ANDHRA
The most spiciest of all the cuisines. there is an abundance use of chilli powder and tamarind. rice being the stapel, andhara cuisine has a lot of non-vegetarian dishes to offer. with the capital being hyderabad making hyderabadi cuisine one of the most famous cuisines of the region.
Pesarattu is also a key item in Andhra cuisine. It is more similar to Dosa but the batter is made of green mung beans. usually thinner and crispier the taste is unique. the filling is that of with onions, green chillies, ginger pieces and coriander chopped. It is served with Chutney mainly made of ginger.
all time favourites

KODI IGURU( chicken fry),
KODI PULUSU(chicken gravy),
CHEPA PULUSU (fish stew)
PESARATTU
PAPPUCHAARU - (Lentil / Redgram based vegetable soup)
PULUSU - A vegetable broth resembling sambar, but very different in preparation and tast

AT THE END
wowow, that is a lot of information. yet I feel there is a lot more to know about this vast region. As I was writting this post, I myslef learnt so many things that I had simply assumed earlier on. As I mentioned earlier, that each part of india is unique, with its very own specialities. I hope I have managed to put some light on the varieties and specialities of yet another colourfull part of india.
again I would like to request all my foodie friends to send me some authentic mother's special recipes of the items I have listed above. It would be great if you could include the region and a little background to it. I will then update this post with all the recipe links. Though there is a lot available online, but there is nothing like good, authentic, individual recipes.
I am looking forward to sharing some great recipes.
enjoy
Have a great long weekend.

INDIAN COOKING 101- REGIONAL FOODS

Its a week already since my introduction to Indian cooking. With constructive responses from fellow blogger, I was happy to know that there are a lot of folks who would love to know more about Indian cooking. Well I hope, I can provide all the readers with as much good stuff as possible.

"variety is the spice of life" is personified by the cuisines India. with so many different regional cuisines, the food varies not only in taste, but in the method of cooking, the use of authentic cookware, dominant ingredients, way of eating the food and the use of typical spices.

If I were to delve into all the regions of India and their speciality cooking, I would probably have to dedicate an entire blog to that and not just a weekly series.

The regional food scene in India is divided into four major categories.

• North
• South
• East and West

with further divisions among them.

UP NORTH

North indian cuisine is made up of cuisines of punjab,kashmir, rajhasthan, himachal, delhi and uttar pradesh

This cuisine is the most popular cuisine of India not only in India outside India too.

the mouth watering chicken butter masala, the tandoori chicken, the naans, that one gets to savour in any of the popular Indian restaurants, outside India, are just a portion of the plate.

STAPLE FOOD

the dry, arid and cool climate of the north makes it ideal for growing wheat. which is the staple food in the form of chapatis, or "rotis", naans, puris (thin discs of rolled out dough that is deep fried).

stuffed paranthas, a kind of flat bread, are a staple for breakfast all over north india. the stuffing is done with spiced potatoes,cauliflower, radish, or onions and then the rolled out parantha is

cooked over a hot griddle or "tawa"

The use of dairy and dairy products are very prevalent in northern cuisine.

paneer or the indian cheese, ghee or clarified butter, milk and yogurt are used in abundance all over nothern india.

lentils or 'dal" as they are called is the basis of a complete meal.

chicken and lamb are eaten the most. fish is not a staple of this region.

for more on the main dishes of all the various north indian regions click here

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

the main influence in the northern part of India was that of the Moguls. not only is the influence seen in art and architecture, it is also seen in the food. their cuisine saw a use of nuts like almonds, pistachios, cashew to make gravies. they introduced Indians to the process of cooking over charcoal on "dum" or steam. the process involved mixing the meat, or rice with all the spices and letting it cook slowly in a clay pot over charcoal. the sides of the pot was then sealed with dough, so that none of the flavours escaped.

till date authentic mughlai delicacies are cooked in this way.

the Mogul influence is felt in the cuisines of extreme northern regions like Kashmir, which is famous for its 24 course banquet called the wazwan. I wonder how long would that take to eat!!!!

the all time famous kabobs are yet another speciality of the region. minced meat mixed with spices like cardamom and nutmeg, cooked to melt in your mouth perfection.

Biryani is yet another speciality bought to us by the Moguls.

SWEET AND SAVOURY

snack items include samosa, which is a flour dough, shaped in a triangle and filled with minced meat, vegetables, potatoes or paneer and then deep fried. pakodas or gram flour batter mixed with spices and then fried are also very famous.

sweets often make use of ghee or clarified butter as the cooking medium. these include "halwa" . this means a mixture made out of sugar and butter along with some nuts. the most famous being "gajar ka halwa" or carrot halwa.

other sweets that are a speciality of the region are "koolfi" a milk based frozen dessert.

"jalebi"spiral rings of fried and flavoured dough dipped in sugar syrup.

AT THE END

Initially when I started to write this post, I had thought that I would cover a little about all the regions. But as I went on to write, I realised that , that was not going to happen. With so much to talk about each and every region, how could I cover everything in just one post. so I thought about doing them all separately. I would love to hear more comments and feed backs. And all those who have tried out any north Indian speciality, I would love to add those recipes here.

some of the all the time famous north Indian recipes that I have prepared so far

CHANA MASALA

PANEER BUTTER MASALA

BLACK DAL

KASHMIRI DUM ALOO

PANEER TIKKA MASALA

INDIAN COOKING 101- INTRO

Isn't that a cool blog title? thanks to chefectomy. He left me a comment on Foodbuzz, appreciating my blog and giving me this brilliant idea of writing about Indian food for all the no-Indian food lovers.
That was a real cool suggestion. I started to think as to how I should go about doing this in order to provide all the readers with helpful information, tips, suggestion and some easy recipes. I decided that I would do a series of blogs dedicated wholly to Indian cooking and to all its aspects.

And indeed there isn't a better time than now, as India completes sixty one years of independence on the 15Th of august.

Starting today, every once a week I would post a blog dedicated to this topic. I would love to hear comments, views, ideas from all my readers so that I am able to make this an informative post series.

INTRO
India is a very vibrant land, filled with diverse cultures, languages, regions and offcourse with diverse flavours. Each part of india showcases a different connection with its food.
For indians food is an important entity, that is beautifully interwoven into our religion, our society, our culture and our daily livelihood.
The cuisines of india vary from one region to the other depending on its ethnicity. Where on one hand people follow complete vegetarianism, on the other hand non-veg foods are an integral part of all family gatherings.
The use of different herbs and spices gives each cuisine of india a unique flavour and identity. From cookware to cooking techniques it differs region to region.

A LOOK AT THE PAST
Indian cuisine was greatly influenced by those who came to rule it. The kings, the Moguls and the British, each one bought something unique to the plate that stayed on to become a part of its unique flavours. Religious practises like Jainism and Buddhism gave way to vegetarianism.
Trading bought in a variety of spices, nuts and fruits. And as a result Indian cuisine nurtured itself to one of the most varied and diverse cuisines of the world.

Next week

regional foods of India

happy eating