10 Fun Facts About Indian Food

Every once in a while we all run across a small tidbit of information that takes us entirely by surprise,  and there’s a full list of reasons why Indian Food is no different in that regard!  Top 10 anyone?

To open, “curry” isn’t actually a word India uses often.  I reality, there is a massive diversity of curry dishes out there that all have their own regional characteristics.

Further more, Indian food is diverse to the point that each of the 28 regions have their own particular ingredients, spices and ways to cook.  The North for example, often has cuisine that is less spicy and commonly uses red and green chillies, saffron, ghee and yogurt.

In the south however, black pepper, tamarind and coconut are all widely used in the hotter dishes.  Mustard is a common ingredient in eastern cooking, as are fish dishes.  Western Indian on the other hand has a bit of everything.

Indian food  spans across six different tastes, these being sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and sharp.  The dishes created attempt to balance these.

Going back to curry, a lot of people don’t actually know what it is.  It’s a blend of spices called garam masala, which most commonly features tamarind, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, cardamom and cumin, however amounts have a tendency from dish to dish.  These blends are a cook’s claim to fame and their reputations depend on it, so they always strive to have the perfect proportions so none of the flavors dominate the others.

Rice is actually the country’s staple ingredient, which is eaten on a daily basis.  The most popular types of it include basmati, ponni and patna.

As one of those people who love their bread, this one takes me by surprise!  The first Naan bread was actually made in Persia in the 12th century.

Chilli, the most popular spice in the world, has a number of health benefits such as combating heart attacks and strokes.

India is currently the biggest manufacturer of chili peppers in the world, but chillies didn’t start out there.  They were actually introduced by the Portuguese in the 15th Century!

Has anyone heard of the horrifying blazing inferno of tongue singeing pain and agony that is the ghost pepper?  Well as it turns out, India is home to one of the hottest chillies in the world, the bhut jolokia, also known as the “ghost chili”!  It’s about 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.

You just know I have to end with ghosts on Halloween week!

To read the Wales Online article in its entirety, click here.

7 Simple Tips for Healthy Indian Cooking

Plan on trying a bit of indian cooking on your own sometime soon?  If so, BBC goodfood has complied a list of tips for you to help keep not only healthy, but also authentic!

First off, use oil sparingly.  While olive oil does have great health benefits, it should only be used for stir-frying and pan-frying, and still only a little.  Additionally, using non-stick cookware can help you limit the use of oil when you’re cooking curries. (Happy National Curry week to any British readers by the way!)

Next, you can cut down on the fat.  If you really want to watch out for this one, the easiest way to do it would be to check your menu and make dishes and breads that don’t need to be fried.

Third, you can substitute coconut milk out.  If you’re trying to add richness to a dish, skimmed milk, cashew nut paste or poppy seed paste all work just fine!

Fourth, have you ever tried tandoori grilling?  It’s the best form of cooking where you can use minimal to no oil and the intense heat cooks the food quickly, retaining all the nutrients!

Simple swaps can also add up.  Wholemeal flour over plain, white rice in place of brown basmati and so on and so forth.

Keep the load light!  Beef up your dishes with legumes like sprouted beans and lentils and you’ll still have a substantial meal, just with less meat!

Lastly, you can always shoot for the options that use better bases!  Tomato bases are better then creamy curries, or low-fat yogurt can be a good substitute!

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

The Sarod

Amjad Ali Khan and his sons put on a fantastic show earlier this week at Peery’s Egyptian Theater called The Sarod Project.  Amjad himself is a huge name in India, seen as a master of the instrument, which he uses to play classical music.  Here in the States however, many of us might not even know what a sarod even is.

To begin, it is a lute-like string instrument in India, used most often in the classical music of the culture.  It’s popularity is about on par with the sitar, but is known for it’s deep, weighty meditative sound.  Additionally, it is able to create continuous slides between notes, which is extremely important in Indian music.

It has anywhere between 17 to 25 strings, divided between those used for melody, drone strings, chikari strings, and sympathetic strings, which are played indirectly through the tones of the main ones.  The strings themselves are made of steel or phosphor bronze, which are then plucked with a java.

Lacking a fret, or raised element on the neck of the instrument, in order to play the sarod on must press the strings hard against the finger board, whereas the strings can be stopped using the tips of one’s fingernails.

Playing techniques very between musicians based on their personal preference however.