• Bhuna - medium, thick sauce, with some vegetables (bhunna in Urdu means "to be fried"). Cooked over a period of time.
• Biryani - spiced rice and meat/veggies cooked together.
• Curry - the most common name for a meats dish (most often chicken or lamb) with a medium-spicy, brown, gravy-like sauce.
• Dupiaza/dopiaza - medium curry (the word means "double onion", referring to the boiled and fried onions used as its primary ingredient).
• Jalfrezi - onion, green chili and a thick sweet and sour sauce.
• Korma/kurma - mild, white/yellow in colour, with almond and cashew powder.
• Madras curry - "the standard hot, slightly sour curry at the Indian restaurant."
• Pasanda - A mild curry sauce made with cream, coconut milk, and almonds or cashews, served with paneer, lamb, chicken, or king prawns. The name was derived from a Mughlai dish of lamb strips beaten to make them tender.
• Roghan josh - a medium-spicy curry, usually of lamb, with a deep red sauce containing tomatoes and paprika. It derives from a Kashmiri dish of the same name.
• Sambar - medium-heat, sour curry made with lentils and tamarind.
• Vindaloo - generally regarded as the classic "hot" restaurant curry. Progressively hotter versions are sometimes called "tindaloo" and "bindaloo".
• Tandoor - Indian oven, usually fired with coal, giving the food and bread a distinct and yummy flavor.
• Chapati - Indian wheat flatbread, full of flavor and very light..
• Daal - Indian lentils(There are at least 10-15 varieties of pulses/lentils in India).
• Paneer - Indian soft homemade cheese, known as cottage cheese too. Staple of every vegetarians diet.
• Kebab - Ground meat cooked in a tandoor over a skewer.
• Tikka - Refers to piece of meat or paneer, or a slice.
• Pakoda - A fried snack, a fritter. It is also referred to as bhaji in many parts of India.
• Bhurji - scrambled egg or paneer, made the Indian way with chopped onion and chillies.
• Paratha - Indian flat breads cooked with a little oil in a tandoor or on a tava.
• Lachcha - Layered Indian flatbread.

Enjoy eating!

The other day, cooking at home, asked my husband whether he would be okay eating his chapatis (flat wheat bread) with a dry vegetable dish I prepared with so much love. He looked sheepishly at me and agreed in a low voice. Whatever u cook will be okay for me, my love.

But I knew better, he likes his curries. Being an expat for so long has not changed his preferences. He cannot eat food without curry or a yogurt.

When we are talking about curry in India, ask an Indian from any part North to South, East to West, he cannot think of food without ordering a curry. At any given time, a curry consists of a minimum of 5-6 combinations of spices-Turmeric, Coriander, Cardamom, Cumin, some kind of pepper (black/red), asafetida. Each spice standalone helps us in the smooth working of our body system and helps build our defense system. The combination helps make curry such a strong influence in an Indian life. Whether it be home or a restaurant, curry is always a big part.

The selection of spices for a curry depends on the region and influence of culture. North traditionally uses more of cumin and South more of mustard seeds.Each region and culture lends a specific and colourful taste to a curry.The spices are added at different times while cooking or at the same time to lend the curry its flavor.

Curry, sauce or gravy are different names defining the spices which either coats completely the ingredients (semi gravy) or flavors with a broth. Eaten with a combination of wheat flat breads (chapati) and rice at homes, curry is normally a thick paste which can have vegetables, lentils, meat, seafood .

Curry houses and restaurants started opening across the world as the love for curry grew across the world. At first the curry was adopted to the tastes of the people where the curry house was. But now people have started craving for the authentic taste of the curry. United Kingdom calls curry its ‘adopted national dish’. Other than Britain, curry is amongst the main dishes in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, China and even Africa. Each country has its own delicious curry with dominant flavors and spices.

But the prominence and origin of Curry is in India, the colorful and flavorful my country which has always so much to offer.

The world will turn if I see my grandparents using a fork or a knife while eating. A spoon is still acceptable while eating a Daal. But cut your roti(Indian flatbread) with a knife and it is a sacrilege. What my perception is the fork or the twisting and piercing food machine came into the our lives(the Indian Household) with the invention and introduction of the GREAT NOODLES. Still the knife is a cutlery item, which you will not find in the basic table setting of an Indian household. Majorly because we think everything (even meat) should be cut bite size. Imagine getting a big chicken steak with curry and calling it chicken curry. No ways!!!!

The Indian motto behind using your fingers when eating food is “It becomes more delicious and you know you are eating the food with the right temperature and not burning your taste glands. So before and after eating the first thing to do is wash your hands well. You always eat with the fingers of your right hand thus not making your left hand ‘Jhootha’(I cannot find an appropriate English word maybe ‘dirty’). Never try to play ping pong with your hands. Using your fingers also blends your food well. So if you are eating a roti, tear it into bite size make it a cone/boat/paan shape and scoop your curry into it and take it all the way to your mouth without dripping. Eating rice is much easier so it is better beginners tries the rice and curry. But your goal should be ultimately to eat the roti the Indian style.

Indian food unlike the western food is served all at once on the table with only the sweet following. Guests usually start eating before the host. Ladies of the household hover around you filling your plate (till you completely give up and want to sleep their and then) and generally telling you ‘theek se khao’ ‘kitna kam khate ho’ ‘ ek roti aur du’ ‘arre abhi to kya khaya hai’ and so on.

And don’t forget you don’t ever enjoy the Indian food ultimately till you don’t eat it the Indian way.

With all the sumptuous dishes, intricate ingredients and tongue tickling flavors, Indian Cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. Indian cuisine incorporates a whole palette of flavors – sweet, sour, spicy, tangy – all at once. It is an amalgamation of a wide net of spices, pulses, seasonings and cereals.

Every region in India has its own unique cuisine indigenous to that locale. The types and varieties of dishes available in India are innumerable, all equally delectable. Listed below are 9 of the most popular Indian dishes.

It is a mixed rice dish which can include any kind of meat, eggs or vegetables. It is a flavorful blend of spices, saffron, rice, meat and vegetables. Every place in India is known for its unique type of Biryani. Even though it was originally brought to India from Persia by the Mughals, Biryani is now synonymous with Indian cuisine due to its extensive consumption and evolution by the Indians. The world-famous Biryani can be tasted in Hyderabad, Telangana and Lucknowi Biryani in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Originally from the South of India, Dosa has traveled not only all the way up to North India, but has taken its place on the world map of tasty foods. It is a crisp pancake made from fermented batter of rice and “urad” or the black lentils. Typically it is served with an array of Chutneys and “Sambar”. It is also prepared in a plethora of variations like Masala Dosa, Set Dosa, Uthappam, Paper Dosa, Rava Dosa, 70 mm dosa, Pesarattu, paneer dosa, chicken 65 dosa, cheese dosa and Pizza Dosa.

Think of the most popular Indian cuisine and you’ll think of Butter Chicken/Butter Paneer. It is creamy red gravy which is mildly spiced, yet extremely flavorful. The origin is often traced back to Punjab. Every restaurant and household in India has their own unique recipe for Butter Chicken and Butter Paneer. It’s one of the most popular Indian dishes.

Read more about it here: https://wonderfulwanderings.com/popular-indian-cuisine

Food. Everyone loves it, everyone has it. Everyone even talks about it. Food is something we can talk about for hours and hours. You might know different dishes and their recipes. But how much do you know about the history of Indian food? Or how many Indian food-related facts are you aware of? Here are 15 interesting facts related to Indian food you might not know:

1. 1. India is rightly called the Land of Spices. No country in the world produces as many varieties of spices as India.
2. 2. Greek, Roman and Arab traders have contributed a lot to the first foreign flavours in Indian cuisine. Who did you think brought the amazing saffron to India?
3. 3. Staple ingredients of Indian cuisine like potato, tomato and chilli don't have Indian origin. They were brought to India by the Portuguese.
4. 4. Not only this, the Portuguese also introduced us to refined sugar. Before that? Fruits and honey were used as sweeteners in Indian food.
5. 5. Here comes a blow! Our very favourite Chicken Tikka Masala, a popular dish in India, is not Indian. It was invented in Glasgow, Scotland!
6. 6. The first Indian restaurant in the USA was opened in the mid 1960s. Today, there are around 80,000 Indian restaurants in America.
7. 7. Very little is known about the food and eating habits of the earliest Indian civilization, Indus Valley Civilization, because the ancient language has not been deciphered yet.
8. 8. According to Indian Food Theory, our food has 6 different flavours: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, astringent and spicy.
9. 9. Who doesn't like chutneys? Indian food is incomplete without this delicious side dish. But do you know the Britishers loved our chutneys as much as we do? In fact, they named one of the chutneys as 'Major Grey's'. It is still sold in India and is quite famous.
10. 10. Mithais are an important part of Indian cuisine and celebrations. Payasam , one of the favourite sweet dishes of South India, is a must-serve at important ceremonies like weddings. According to South Indian tradition, a wedding is not over until Payasam is served.

Read more about it here: https://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernews/food-fact-2/

Eating food with hands not only fills your body but also the mind and soul. Most Indians still believe in the concept, especially in the south where people still prefer to eat with hands.

According to Ayurvedic texts each finger is an extension of one of the five elements. The thumb is space. Children at the age when they are unable to chew tend to suck their thumb, this is nature’s way of aiding the digestion. The fore finger is air, the ring finger is earth, mid finger is fire and the little finger is water. Imbalance of any of these elements can actually lead to many diseases or disorders in the body. When we eat with our hands we normally stick our fingers and thumb together to eat, therefore when we use all the five fingers to eat food that is when we put all the five elements energising the food and helps in keeping all our pranas in balance.

If you suffer from poor digestion, try eating with hands because the tips of fingers are one of the strongest and often used sensation in the body. The moment we touch our food with hands, the brain signals the stomach that we are about to eat. This in turn, prepares the stomach to digest the food it will receive, aiding in better digestion.

A recent study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition found that people with type 2 diabetes were more likely to be hasty eaters and used cutlery to eat, as compared to people without the condition. If you suspect that you might be eating too fast, ditch utensils and focus on your eating method. You have to deliberately slow it down and see how you feel after eating with hands. You will be amazed by how soon you will get full with less food if you eat with your hands. But do make sure that your nails are trimmed and hands are clean enough to eat food, otherwise you might end up having infection.

Read more about it here: https://www.indiatimes.com/health/healthyliving/eating-with-hands-has-many-health-benefits-including-weight-loss-252095.html