Reviving my roots with some Indian cooking: Basics on Indian Cooking

With my last post written a while back, I’ve been hiding under the safety quilt thinking I’m lost for ideas what to write about.. even though my cooking has not stopped. Yeah, the sheepish smile on my face with excuses: I did not click a picture of what i cooked or the pic was not go enough are sort of lame but then lazy is not a new word in my dictionary

Hitting a wall with baking cakes / cookies, I had to move to something else. With the occasional Italian and Chinese, what I am most enjoying these days is my roots: Indian cooking.

OMG, the aroma of spices, the vibrant colors, the fresh vegetables and my favourite: freshly chopped coriander.

Indian cooking is not new to the world and anyone who loves the play of myriad flavors would not be far from Indian food. For those faint hearted, the good news is that you can play safe with spices and add as little or as much as you desire.

With both my parents having a subtle palette, I know it is easy to achieve sumptuous meals by even keeping your hand low on salt, oil and spices.

When ever I try to work with a new cuisine, I spend my time reading a lot about the good to have cookware, commonly used spices, rubs, typical accompaniments. Since I never get this from a single site, I spend a lot of time researching.

Knowing the enthusiasm of people oot there wanting to learn about indian cooking and the basics, my post is dedicated to them.

Cookware:

Pressure cooker – wonder creation for almost anything: boiling potatoes, lentils, stock, steaming vegetables,

Cast Iron Tawa – for making chapati, paratha

Chakla, Belan  aka round rolling board and a rolling-pin

Puri belan aka a press for instant rolling of Puris

Colander

Sieve

Grater

Food processor

Kadchi aka slotted spoon

Spices/ condiments:

Zeera

Haldi

Green chillies

Red chilli powder (there is an endless list for the variety)

Coriander powder

whole grain Mustard

Heeng

Garam Masala

Dried curry leaves

Black cardamom

Cinnamon

Cloves

Nutmeg

Black/white pepper

Fresh herbs:

Curry patta

Fresh coriander

This list is no way complete and the essentials can differ from one kitchen to another. I’ll be working to update this post with valuable links for further information.

Hope this list was useful for the newbies in Indian cooking. I would love to hear from you so pls do drop in a line.

Happy Cooking

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Tags: Bollywood cooking, cooking, Healthy Eating, Indian food, whole grain mustard