filed under Indian Food

Indian Food Primer

So you have an adventurous spirit when it comes to food and you especially have an interest in trying out cuisines from other countries; however, there are those times when you walk into a restaurant, sit down and read menu that literally is in a foreign language. Yikes, what do you do?

Well, the first thing that usually helps is to do a little bit of research beforehand so that you don’t go in blind. Today, you’re getting a jump start on Indian Cuisine because below, you’ll be getting a list of some common dishes and ingredients you may find on a Indian restaurant menu. So are you ready to increase your foodie vocabulary?

Achar: any kind of pickle

Aloo: potato

Atta Flour: (also know as a chapatti flour) whole wheat flour widely used for making unleavened flat breads.

Basmati Rice: the finest Indian long-grained rise grown in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is known as the prince of the rice because of its fine flavor and aroma.

Besan: also known as gram flour, this is made from chickpeas. It is used to flavor and thicken curries and for making Pakoras and bhajias, pancakes and teamed patties.

Biriyani: a rice and vegetable, meat or seafood oven- cooked dish.

Biriyani Masala: This is a special sweet spice mix for biriyani dishes. Grind together the cardamom seeds from 8 pods, 25 g (1 oz) cinnamon stick, 6 cloves and 1 tsp fennel seeds.

Bhoondi: tiny balls of fried besan or gram flour.

Chana Dal: with their sweet and nutty flavor, chana dal is the most popular dal in India. They’re made from splitting a small relative of the chickpea in half and are a dull yellow

Chapati: the bread usually made on a circular cast iron griddle known as a tawa, which is slightly concave to give its distinctive shape. It is cooked without fat, over very high heat.

Chawal: rice

Chick Peas: also called gram or, in America, garbanzo beans.

Cocum: grows on trees along the Western coast of India. Has a deep purple flesh surrounding a large seed. It imparts a pale -purplish color to food as well as a sour taste. It is used by Sindhis in their gram flour curry, and by Hindu Goans in their fish curries. It is also made into sherbets (refreshing drink concentrates made from fruits) on the West coast of India.

Colam Rice: short-grain polished rice widely used in Western India. Most common varieties of shor and long-grain polished rice may be used for Dosas and Uttapams.

Corn Meal: flour made from pure maize (corn) which has been ground fine.

Dals (Pulses): dried split peas, usually bought skinned. There about sixty varieties of pulses available in India. These are dreid seeds of plants such as beans and peas and those most popularly sued include chick peas (kabuli channa), split black chick peas (bengal gram or channa), black gram (urid daal), red lentils (arhar) and yellow lentils (moong).

Dosa or dosha: is a flat bread made with flours, rice, wheat or legumes, cooked like a pancake. It may be served plain with side dishes or with a filling.

Garam Masala: a blend of ground spices used in many savory dishes.

Ghee: Clarified butter made by melting butter and separating the fat from the solids.

Gosht: meat

Gram Flour: made from chickpeas and also known as besan.

Halva: a  sweet dish

Idli: is a bread from the South, almost like a cake, round and thick, made with fermented rice from the Kerala and legume flour (urad), shaped and then steamed (the legumes have a leavening effect).

Jaggery: raw sugar, eaten as it is and used to flavor various dishes, even vegetable curries.

Kalonji  (also known as Nigella): small black tear-shaped onions seeds, used to add piquancy to vegetable curries and Indian breads.

Kewra Water: also sold in the stronger form of essence, kewra water is used for flavoring and has a delicate fragrance.

Khoa: full fat milk powder

Korma: braised meats in a thick, mild creamy sauce

Kulcha: tender, pita-like bread cooked in the tandoor

Lassi: a yogurt drink

Masala: spice blend

Masoor Dal: skinned split red lentils (they actually orange in color)

Moong Dal: skinned split mung beans.

Murghi: chicken

Mustard Oil: a yellow oil made from mustard seeds that is pungent when raw and sweet when heated. Much used in Kashmir and Bengal.

Naan: a kind of bread popular in North India. It is made with leavened dough (chopped onion or cilantro can also be added to it), and is often made from buttermilk or yogurt. The dough is stretched by tossing the piece of dough quickly from one palm to the other to form a thin oval flatbread, slightly thicker around the edges than in the center. Traditionally is baked on the walls of a tandoor oven, brushed with a thin coating of oil or ghee and served hot. It can also be stuffed with cheese, vegetable curry or meat. In this case, the filling is placed on part of the dough which is then folded over on itself before being rolled flat with a rolling pin.

Pakora: fritter dipped in a spicy chickpea batter; can be made with vegetables, cheese, chicken or seafood

Panch Phoran: mix of five spices – cumin seeds, onion seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and anise.

Paneer: cheese

Pappadum: spicy lentil wafers

Paratha: a bread; richer version of chapati, crispy and cooked in ghee on a griddle. They are very thin and are stacked up like crêpes.

Poori: is a bread fried in hot oil, completed submerged so that it puffs up.

Poppodums and Pappads: the pre-made and precooked flat breads (made from legume flour (urad) and rice flour) that need only be immersed in hot oil to puff up instantly; they are turned with a skimmer so that they stiffen up slightly and then are drained and served while still crisp. Some are plain, others are spiced with mixtures of spices. They can also be prepared under the broiler, thus eliminating the chore of frying.

Pulao: an aromatic rice pilaf

Raita: a cooling side dish made with yogurt

Rasam: a thin, spicy broth

Rattam-Jog: this is the dried bark of a reed like plant grown in India, used mainly to color food. When cooked with meat or vegetables a small piece imparts a deep red color to the dish.

Roti: The name is related to the French word “rôtie,” meaning toasted bread. It is made from whole wheat (aata), millet (bajra) or sorghum (jowar)

Rumali: Toasted bread, or handkerchief bread, which is also found in other eastern countries, is made up of numerous layers of dough like a folded handkerchief.

Saag: spinach, but can also refer to other greens

Sambar: an extremely spicy broth popular in southern India

Sambar Powder: a southern Indian spice mix for vegetable curries.

Samosa: flaky, pyramid-shaped pastry stuffed with potatoes or ground meat; a traditional Indian snack

Silver leaf (Varq): editable silver leaf is used as a garnish over sweets. Silver foil is very thin. it is very fragile and often breaks up during use. It has no aroma or taste.

Tamarind: the most popular souring agent in Southern India. The pods are collected, de-seeded and dried. Before cooking the acid flesh is soaked in water, and the juice is squeezed out. It is this tamarind water that is used in the curry. In some Goan recipes, the tamarind flesh is ground with spices. Nowadays tamarind concentrate can be bought in any grocer’s shop.

Tandoor: A deep, clay oven that has very high temperatures

Tandoori: any dish cooked in a tandoor

Tava: a flat cast iron pan used for making bread.

Thali: a large tray, often of wrought metal.

Toor Dal: a glassy dark yellow split pea, similar to chana dal.

Toran: style of cooking where the dish remains dry.

Uppama: a flat bread whose dough is made from semolina instead of flour. It can be quite rich and may include onions, chilies, ginger, mustard seed, nuts, various vegetables etc.

Urid Dal: polished split black lentils, often used as a spice in southern India. It takes quite a long time to cook.

Varak: silver leaf used as a decoration for both sweet and savory dishes.

Vindaloo: a highly spiced and hot curry, traditionally from Goa.

Wheat Flour (Gehun ka Atta): flour made from whole wheat (usually a variety low in gluten), very finely ground for making bread. A fairly close substitute is whole wheat pastry flour. Regular whole wheat flour gives heavier results and is stiffer and more difficult to work with than chapati flour. If regular whole wheat flour must be used, sift is several times through a very fine sieve (to get a fine flour and to remove bran) and substitute refine flour for half the whole wheat flour in a recipe.