Trifter

In Indian cooking also, we have logical customs to get standard tastes and magical modernity to bring a taste that thrills the youth and makes them longing for it again of course with different kind of magic every time. Soft and delicious idlies and papery crisp roasted dosais are real magic in the hands of well seasoned Indian cook.

Staple Foods

In Indian cooking, we consider making sweets and savories are some thing special for extraordinary occasions. Though these special items are consumed more are less regularly, they are not staple foods. They do not fall in the food category. Hence we are now concerned about the regular Indian staple foods consumed daily by all sections of the people.

Please analyze the Indian breakfasts consisting of idlies, dosai, pongal, chapattis, poori, parathas, uppuma, kitchadi and some more items. Please also observe the South and North Indian luncheon foods. All are having traditional unique tastes. The side dishes for the break fast, supper and dinner too are having special tastes and are maintained at home and hotels too.

Basic Logical Steps in Indian Cooking

When you think in the logical manner, you will find any one or two of the following basic steps are followed in Indian Cooking.

1. Boil rice, pulses and vegetables separately. Make gravy with cooked pulses and vegetables. Make a vegetable side dish or curry with the cooked vegetables. You need to add salt, chillies and tomatoes.

2. Mix wheat flour with salt and water to make dough and again roll them to make chapattis to be heated and cooked. Make parathas similarly. Spread loosened rice dough on a heated plain tava and take roasted dosai. Well ground coconut with salt, tamarind and green chillies will act as a paste or puree to accompany the main dish.

3. Cook broken wheat grains, semolina, vermicelli or noodles in water and season them with some cooking oil, salt, onion and chillies. You will get kitchadis.

4. Deep frying of some papads, dry fry bites like potato and banana chips are common crispy foods for the side dishes. You need to add chilly powder and salt to make the wafers tastier.

The logic of Indian cooking is quite simple and it is just done by boiling or frying. In all these things the basic tastes impregnated are salt, sour and pungency; they are derived mainly from common salt, tamarind or tomato and red or green chillies. These three ingredients are added in various proportions to bring a range of tastes in different dishes.

Now the Indian Magic Starts

The magic of cooking is handled by home trained womenfolk and institute trained hotel chefs. They love the job of cooking to make our life more interesting. They have specialized in preparing breakfast, luncheon and dinner with the basics. They go further with varieties of foods drawn from the basic tastes; of course the ingredients may change.

Magical Functions in Taste

The salty combination is developed from common salt, salt available in the vegetables and green leaves, beside the Chinese salt called ajina moto.

The sour taste is derived from tomato, tamarind, lime, lemon, mango, goose berry, vinegar and other sour taste giving vegetable leaves.

The pungency is mainly drawn from red and green chillies. The other pungent spices and condiments are pepper, ginger, garlic, cinnamon and clove.

There are other intermediary tastes that come from multi various spices and condiments. They are onion, mustard, cumin, coriander, fennel, asafetida with varied others. All these tastes drawn from the different ingredients are different to give special combination of magical taste.

Magic in Form and Biting Sense

• The steamed rice idlies turn into fried chilly cakes, parathas into chilly parathas
• Cooked rice gets a value addition by becoming into fried rice or Briyani, lime, tomato and curd baths
• Parathas turn into Rumali roti and chilly parathas
• Chapattis may become roti, kulcha or vegetable spring rolls

All are having special tastes by incorporating the mixture of tastes from a number of ingredients. The change in crispness and taste by manipulation of ingredients and cooking methods gives out magic tastes.

Traditional Tastes in Territories

The tastes are exceptional and maintained in the way they are made by the mothers and mother-in-laws in a family and also with the individual head cooks in hotels.

There are special food preparations with in the territories of the royal kingdoms and districts. The food preparations are unique in taste with the areas of Tanjore, Malabar and Chettinad. They grind spicy masalas in a special way that is traditional to their area, culture and custom. They give magical taste in every preparation.

The logic of Indian cooking is simple, but the magic of Indian cooking is extra ordinary and wonderful in taste and form. Go and enjoy everything!