India: The Land of Spice

Throughout India, much like the huge variety of languages people speak, different regions are known for different specialities. Curries, Dahl, Tandoori, and Naan, India is know for its food, and fulfils its reputation of being the 'Land of Spice.' Here are a few basics to help you figure out a menu at an Indian restaurant.

Rice: the base for most Indian dishes, particularly those from the South. It comes in a wide variety, from Assam's sticky rice to Kerala's red grains. The most popular, though, is basmati, a long-grained rice exported to many other countries.

Roti: thin flatbreads, also called chapati that accompany many Northern Indian dishes. You can use it to scoop up the food or put vegetables inside and roll it, kind of like a crepe.

Dahl: all throughout India (and Nepal), this is a staple. It's made from cooked lentils of all colours, split peas, or beans, like kidney or black-eyed peas. It can be eaten on its own or scooped onto rice with curried vegetables.

Vegetables: are found in almost every dish! Many Indians are vegetarian, so vegetables are prepared in many ways to provide variety. They can be cooked sukhi (dry) or tari (in a sauce) with spices, and can be fried, curried, baked, roasted, mashed... you name it! Common ones I've seen are potatoes, cauliflower, onions, carrots and peas.

Tandoori: despite the many vegetarians, there are several popular meat dishes called 'Non-Veg,' mainly made from chicken, lamb, and goat. Tandoori is my favourite, cooked in a tandoor, or clay oven, that's from areas in Northern India.

Spices: dishes can come from mild to hot, but you'll notice that they all have a lot of flavour! Common spices are chilli, curry, cumin, turmeric, pepper, and various masalas.

In India, it's common to eat with your hands, or more specifically, your right hand only. You can use the bread as a kind of shovel to help get the food into your mouth.

There's no better way to learn something than by doing it, so not only have I dove in to all kinds of new food, but I also tried my hand at a cooking course. It was a ton of fun, and I'll arrive back home with the new recipes to add to my cookbook! Here's a look at my new cooking skills in action!

Dahl: We cooked mixed lentils, made a garlic-onion-ginger-chilli paste and fried it together with a few spices like cumin, fennel, and turmeric.

The Dahl simmering away!

The Channa Masala simmering.

Channa Masala: We sauteed onions, pureed tomatoes, garlic, a cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and spices, then added chick peas. We let it cook for about a half hour on low. In the meantime, we cooked basmati rice for the base of the Briyani.

Next, we cut chunks of onion, cauliflower, potato, ginger, and tomato to heat for the Briyani sauce.

Then all there was left to do was enjoy it!

Briyani

The meal we made!

At the end, we gave a huge thank you to our teachers, Deepa and Hemat for giving us the gift of food. We can't wait to try the recipes out at home for our friends and family! I hope I've inspired you to go out to an Indian restaurant and try something new, or to eat again one of your favourite Indian dishes!