Indian cuisine
Not one kitchen but a subcontinent: its shared grammar is spice bloomed in fat, ghee and pulses.
Where it comes from
India has no “one cuisine”: the wheat bread and ghee of the north and the rice, coconut and fermented batters of the south are separate worlds. The chilli now identified with Indian food came from the Americas and arrived with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. The Mughal court, founded in 1526, brought Persian-influenced rice and meat dishes; biryani is often said to descend from them, but its origin is disputed. Religious rules and caste traditions produced one of the largest vegetarian repertoires in the world.
At the table
An Indian meal is often gathered on a single tray (thali): rice or bread, one or two dals, vegetable dishes, yoghurt or raita, pickle and chutney. Sweets can share the same tray. In many regions the food is eaten with the right hand. Bread dominates in the north and rice in the south, but everywhere several tastes sit side by side at every meal.
Fat, aromatics and acid
Figures are approximate; apart from those that are a definition or a regulation, they vary by product, recipe and source. Where we have no measured value the line reads “—”.
- duman noktası / smoke point ≈230–250 °C Ghee — With the water and milk solids removed it goes far above the point where butter browns and burns, which suits blooming spice and frying. The figure varies by product.
- ≈30–60 s Tadka (tempering) — Whole spices — mustard seed, cumin, dried chilli — open in hot fat within seconds; when the mustard seeds start to pop the fat is poured over the dal. The aroma molecules dissolve in fat, so the fat is what carries the spice.
- — Turmeric — Curcumin, its colour, is fat-soluble and barely dissolves in water, so it goes into the fat early.
- ≈2–3 dk / min Ginger-garlic paste — It goes in after the onion and is fried until the raw smell has gone; too short and the sauce is harsh, too long and it turns bitter.
- pH ≈4.0–4.6 Yoghurt — In a marinade it tenderises the meat’s surface; in raita it tempers the heat. Added straight to a boiling sauce it splits.
How this kitchen cooks
- Blooming in fat Tadka.
- Toasting spices Toasting whole spice for garam masala.
- The chemistry of spices Why spice is opened in fat.
- Marinating Yoghurt marinades for the tandoor.
- Fermentation Idli and dosa batter.
- Pressure cooking The pressure cooker for dal and chickpeas.
- The griddle Roti and chapati on the tawa.
- Deep frying Pakora and samosa.
What is in the pantry
The historical claims rest on these books. Contested origins are written as contested.
- K. T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion. Oxford University Press, 1994.
- Lizzie Collingham, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. Chatto & Windus, 2005.
- Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner, 2004.