Anand Mittal  
Indian cuisine has an ancient cultural heritage, which is dependant on religion, geography and socio-economic conditions. Traditionally Indian cooking has been handed down through generations by demonstration and word of mouth. The guru-shishya tradition where mothers would teach their daughters and master craftsmen only to their disciples has resulted in a great culinary loss to the Indian cuisine. Either documentation was absent altogether or not preserved properly. Strong impact was made on the Indian cuisine during the reign of the Mughals in 16th century. They were fond of good living, cooking and eating and encouraged the birth and prosperity of Mughlai cuisine, as is presently known. Since then well known dishes have evolved which have soon developed into a culinary art and is a part of the Indian cuisine. Muslim cooking was based on meat and their influence was strongest in Northern and Central India. In the extreme South, their influence was slight and cooking is mainly vegetarian.

Regional cooking is influenced by staple food of the area - in the North wheat grows whereas in the South rice grows, and gravies are thinner. Climate also influences food habits - because of heavy rainfall, vegetables grow in abundance and make vegetarian cuisine varied and interesting. Unlike Southern style, the Northern cooks use steaming as a cooking method rarely, except for a technique learnt by the mughals called 'doing a dum'. Half cooked rice and meat dishes, liberally sprinkled with aromatic flavorings such as attars, saffron, garam masala and browned onions, moistened with curd, gravy and water are put into a pot and the lid is clamped shut with a seal of dough. The pot is then placed over a thin layer of smoldering ashes. A few ambers are placed on the lid as well. The dish 'steam - bakes' thus, slowly and gently. When the lid is removed, the food are not only cooked through but also impregnated with haunting aromas.

The heart of Indian cuisine is the 'masalas' or spices, a combination of herbs and spices. Defined in the Oxford dictionary as "One or other of various strongly flavored aromatic substances of vegetable origin, obtained from tropical plants, commonly used as condiments". Spices have been used for thousands of years throughout Asia, Arabia and the Mediterranean. India grows over fifty of the total of seventy different varieties of spices grown throughout the world. Total production is about 2.7 million tonnes. 8 to 10% of this total production is exported to more than 150 countries. Indian share in the world trade of spices is 45 to 50% by volume and about 25% by value.

Spices comprise of different plant components like -

Floral parts Cloves, Saffron

Fruits Chillies, Cardamom

Berries Black Pepper, Juniper

Seeds Aniseed, Caraway, Coriander

Rhizomes Ginger, Turmeric

Roots Horseradish, Angelica

Leaves Bay leaves, Mint, Fenugreek

Kernel Nutmeg

Aril Mace

Bark Cinnamon, Cassia

Bulbs Garlic, Onion

These may be used whole, powdered or ground with vinegar, water, curd or coconut milk to form a paste. The combination of spices is endless and each cook follows his own taste and regional preference.

According to the ancient Indian system of Ayurvedic medicine, all spices and herbs have been assigned medicinal properties. Turmeric is an antiseptic - both external and internal, asafetida is a digestive, garlic is good for circulatory ailments, cloves for toning up the heart and black peppers for giving energy to new mothers. Ayurveda is the knowledge concerning maintenance of long life. The aim is salvation - to keep the body as well as possible to give life such quality that one can progress beyond it. Life is a combination of mind, body and soul and this is the central subject of Ayurveda. It understands the properties and actions of food differently from the Western science. For example - vegetable oil and ghee from cow's milk are not merely seen as fats (like in Western cultures) but in terms of their effects on the human body. Ghee is cooling to the body whereas oil heats it. Ghee assimilates the good properties of the food it is mixed with while oil undergoes a transformation.

Ayurveda divides the human body into seven elements - skin, blood, muscle, fat, bone, nerves, marrow and reproductive secretions. Treatment using foods are divided into six tastes. Too much of any one taste is harmful to any constitutional type.

The sweet taste gives strength to the tissue element, is good for nourishment and harmonizes the mind. Not only sugary but rice, ghee and fruits are also included in this category. These are heavy on digestion.

The naturally sour taste stimulates the digestive fire and enzymes. Sour foods such as tamarind and lemon are easy for digestion and good for the heart.

The salty taste stimulates and increases the power of digestion, cleans the obstruction in the channels of the body, causes sweating but tends to deplete reproductive secretions. An excess of salt causes graying and wrinkling.

Pungent tastes as in onion, pepper and garlic help digestion, improve metabolism and dilate channels of the body.

Foods with bitter taste culminate bacterial element, purify the blood and are light on digestion. For example - Fenugreek seeds, Bitter gourd and Lemon rind.

An interesting fact is that the only other cuisines that give an importance to sour, hot and astringent tastes are those of China and Thailand!

Gravies of Indian foods are prepared in a variety of ways. The basic difference lies in the nature of the spices added and the manner in which they are added. The gravy is prepared by use of certain thickening agents - onion, ginger, garlic, coconut, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, almonds, cashew nuts and tomatoes. These also serve as flavoring agents. In order to make the gravy a homogenous mixture, it is necessary to reduce the ingredients to a puree in either the preparing or the cooking procedures. That is why onion is cut very finely or grated, ginger, garlic, coconut etc are ground to a paste while curd is beaten and tomatoes mashed before use. The flavor of poppy seeds, coriander seeds and almonds can be enhanced by roasting them slightly on a hot griddle before grinding them to a paste, while the flavor of ginger and garlic becomes stronger when their juice is extracted and added separately to the gravy rather than being ground with other ingredients. In case of onion gravy, they are well browned till they start floating in the fat in which they are being fried because they have to be ultimately reduced to a puree. In all gravies, whole, powdered or paste of masalas is generally added to medium hot fat till they are cooked and begin to leave fat around the sides. Then a little water or moisture (curd, tomato puree, etc) are added, little at a time till the whole is consumed, reducing the mixture to a puree. Ginger juice, a teaspoon at a time may be added to cooking meat as it prevents the meat from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Jun 23rd 2007 07:04