Indian restaurant menus are vast and varied. They are mysterious and intimidating when you are new in India — and probably for a long while afterward. Eating there is always an adventure; perhaps even a little scary at times, particularly in the beginning. This cuisine is full of possibilities and pitfalls. To further confuse the hungry traveler, recipes vary from region to region: where you were last the food was different from where you go next.
Westerners are naturally uneasy when confronted with what to eat in India. The words mean nothing you can relate to; you’re clueless about the ingredients, food preparation, and maybe even which of the daily meals you are ordering from. More often than not, waitpersons and cooks do not speak any (or at best very little) of your language so they cannot answer questions. However, exercising caution (while not uncalled for) can be overdone, and, as a result, you will miss out on an amazing cuisine.
It’s been ten years now since I began studying Indian foods and learning how to cook some of my favorites. And still I have much to learn and discover, which I find is an exciting challenge. I’ve taken a couple of cooking classes, including one with Lavi while staying at the yuturn restaturant in Greater Noida. Afterward, Lavi was kind enough to provide a number of her recipes which I plan to share in this series.
In addition, I lived at a guesthouse in the northern village of Naddi for five months during monsoons one year. During that time I ate dinners prepared just for the family by family members. They also delivered chai twice a day, and desserts, fruits and snacks would appear by surprise. This was a true adventure in food. No menu. No choice. The only thing I knew was that the vegetables were fresh, most of them came from family and community gardens. I just ate what the family delivered each day. I didn’t know what I would have each evening, but when the tray arrived I was hungry and eager to eat. I loved it!
One thing is certain, Indian foods are never boring. They are full of exotic flavors, tantalizingly aromatic, and are always made from scratch that day from fresh local products. In my experiences, other cuisines cannot compete. Which is why I decided to try to demystify the primary aspects of typical restaurant menu items that visiting foreigners to India will likely encounter.
Beginning in February I will attempt to simplify from month to month the basic menu categories: breads, condiments, dal, paneer dishes, curries and masalas, rice dishes, beverages, and so forth. In addition, I am compiling a a specific posting about the spices (and herbs) in Indian recipes and a separate primary food dictionary that represents this cuisine. This should keep me busy!
In the meantime, I will share that the following foods are my personal favorites.
Pakora - vegetables coated in a seasoned besan (chickpea flour) batter and deep-fried.
Paneer - a fresh soft cheese common in South Asia, especially in Indian, Pakistani, Afghani, Nepali, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi cuisines. It is not aged, is acid-set, a non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with food acids such as lemon juice, vinegar, or any other. It resembles tofu in consistency, but is much, much better.
Stuffed Paratha - pan-fried Indian flatbread stuffed with lentils and cooked vegetables, such as potato, onion, cabbage, etc. served hot with chutney, raita, etc.
Raita - a condiment made from curd (a tangy plain yogurt) with chopped vegetables such cucumbers, green onions, coriander and a spicy element: cumin, cayenne pepper, and ginger are common. Eaten as a dip.
Dal - often translated as simply lentils, but they really refer to ‘split’ lentils, peas, chickpeas (chana), kidney beans, etc. When a pulse is split in half, it is a dal. Split mung beans are mung dal. A stew or soup made with any kind of pulse —whole or split—is as dal (also spelled daal, dail, dha)
Idli - a savory steamed rice cake served with chutney, popular as a breakfast food but is also sold by street vendors as a snack. The cakes are made by steaming a batter made from fermented black lentils and rice.
Aloo - potato dishes.
Curry & masala sauces - specific spice blends cooked with onions, tomatoes, peas, etc. into creamy sauces usually served over rice dishes.
Jalebi - a deep-fried dessert made from Maida flour (a finely milled, wheat flour), saffron, ghee and sugar.
Chai - a spicy, frothy, milky, sweet hot tea.
Lassi - a popular chilled drink that is a blend of yogurt, water, spices, ginger, mint, salt or sugar, and, sometimes, fruit, such as banana, mango or strawberry. Yummy, refreshing, healthy for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
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