Cookbook:Cuisine of India
Indian cuisine is the general term for the wide variety of cooking styles from India. In reality, India hosts an even greater number of distinct regional cuisines than the European continent. In general Indian food is prepared with delicate mixtures of many different fresh and dried spices, and the exact recipes often vary greatly from one household to the next. Thus the recipes listed here are just single examples of each dish, and should only be taken as general guides. Feel free to substitute liberally if some of the spices are not available to you.
In Western countries such as Great Britain, these complex formulae of fresh and dried spices are often replaced by simple dry powders such as red chilli powder and curry powder. Curry powder itself is an English invention and never used in authentic Indian cooking, and fresh green or dried red chillies are favoured over powder in most recipes. The very word "curry" is, in fact, a vague anglicisation with no real meaning in traditional Indian cooking; as in most cuisines, seasoned vegetable and meat dishes are called by thousands of different names depending on the region, ingredients and method of preparation.
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Main dishes
- Aloo masala (potato filling for dosa)
- Appam (Keralan rice pancake)
- Basic Indian Tomato Gravy (curry base)
- Southern Style Baingan Bartha (roasted eggplant with curd)
- Biryani (rice-based dish)
- Chicken Curry
- Dal (lentils)
- Dosa (crispy rice crepe)
- Egg Rice (an accompaniment that can also be eaten by itself)
- Kashmiri Pulao (basmati rice with dried fruits and nuts)
- Keralan Vegetable Stew
- Khara Pongal (spiced rice and lentil porridge)
- Mateer Paneer
- Puliyodarai
- Saffron Rice
- Tadka Dhal (lentil stew)
- Upeseru (Kannada lentil-spinach dish and broth)
Accompaniments
Breads
- Baati
- Chapati or Roti (thin flat bread)
- Mudde (ragi ball)
- Naan (flat wheat bread)
Snacks
- Samosa (fried appetizer similar to dumplings)
- Bengal Potatoes
Sweets
- Kal Kals (fried Christmas sweet)
- Kheer (rice pudding)
- Modak (fried coconut dumplings)
- Sheer Khurma (sweet noodle soup)
- Sweet Pongal (sweet rice and lentil porridge)
- Jalebi (syrupy sweets shaped like pretzels)
Beverages
- Masala Chai (hot spiced milk tea, traditionally referred to as just 'chai')
- Madras Filter Coffee (Sweet milky drip brewed coffee flavored with chicory)
- Lassi (yoghurt based shakes in either sweet or salted flavors, most common flavors include mango, rosewater and plain sugar sweetened lassi.)
- Jal-jeera pungent spice and mint flavored water drink enjoyed in summer.)