Indian Food is Associated with Culture

The Hindi word is Khana for food and another that describes the act bhojana derived from Sanskrit. Indians enjoy food more robustly as the economy is rising consistently. There are a large number of cooking shows on TV nowadays and people especially housewives and chefs participate with full vigor.

There are a lot of publications that thrive in society and hundreds of thousands of restaurants have sprung up all over India. Indian food is also being liked overseas and the UK alone has more than 15000 Indian restaurants. A large number of websites have sprung up selling or advertising specialties while some are based on cookery many of the sites sell powdered and whole masalas. These are high-traffic websites thus showing how important cuisine is for the citizens. People now consume regional cuisine readily all over the country. Regional food was once restricted to a particular community and regions with deep-seated cultural affinity particular to them.

Indian Cuisine is highly rooted in cultural and religious traditions. The prominence of vegetarian food is one fine example. Even sooking styles differ shaped by local traditions and culture. But not to say outside culture is also influencing the people but without impacting traditions. Bandhavgarh National Park.

A lot of cooking competitions are taking place and women take special enjoyment by serving special dishes. There are several small eateries pan India that serve regional food. Not to mention the huge industry that exists selling packet spices. The new trend is that of whole some masalas that are being sold in attractive packing.

Indian cuisine is divided into nonvegetarian food and vegetarian food. There are more than 30% pure vegetarians in India which is substantial. In modern times more and more countrymen are turning to consuming meat and nonvegetarian especial dishes are in the fashion mode.  Packages specialties are selling all over the country despite the invasion of the fast food chain. Anyway, the country is so deeply rooted in the culture that even overseas fast food chains have to indigenize the Indian way by adding a lot of chilis and masala and cooking the local way.      

If you wish to buy whole some masalas then Living Beyond Company in Mumbai sells them online. The masalas are pure and wholesome and easy to authenticate.  

Some Common Indian Spices

 Whenever you enter an Indian household food fragrance floats universally, and it also manages to enter the neighborhood. While Indians are known to use a wide array of spices or masalas some ingredients are routinely used.

People use almost 80 spices in their recipes in India. Of these, a large number of spices are grown in India to be consumed locally and exported as well. Remember almost all the masalas used in the country contribute to health and contain many antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals besides the medicinal properties. Some are even able to fight cancer, reduce cholesterol, and ward off common diseases. Spices used in everyday cooking as well as in special recipes are:

Coriander is used in the wholesome form and in powdered form. If you peek into the kitchen in an Indian household you will find round container comprises of smaller containers that contain spices and coriander is one of them. It is the best curry flavor with a citrusy fragrance a not-so-sweet taste with a nutty aroma. In many recipes, the whole spice coriander can be fun to crunch

Turmeric is known globally for a plethora of medicinal properties the woody spice is a dried rhizome. It is used both as a whole as well as in the powdered form. Usually, it is available as whole rhizomes and powdered before use.

Cumin is used as a whole especially during blooming along with its powdered form in most of the recipes and curries. It is simply indispensable. It is savory, nutty, and mildly pungent. Remember masalas when used in conjunction change the flavor and aroma of the recipes and rarely dominate as independent.  

Mustard seeds are used as a whole and rarely grounded. They have a strong pungent taste like mustard oil but the seeds are odorless.  

In India, most housewives store the masalas as a whole and ground them in measured quantities, and stored them for daily use. Small flour mills do the job of grinding for a small charge. Wholesome spices are readily available in Indian markets. Living Beyond sells wholesome spices in attractive packing. It also sells premix recipes in wholesome form.   

Indian Masala Coffee

 Masala Coffee

Coffee originated outside India and is not indigenous It originated somewhere in Africa. The first notable account of coffee as a stimulant originated in Ethiopia when it was noted to stimulate animals. The record of coffee drunk as a beverage is from Yemen.

Coffee in India 

Coffee in India was introduced by Baba Burdan a Muslim saint who brought the beans from Africa. This was in the year 1670 when he planted the seeds in India brought from a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Coffee is now grown in four states of India Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Cultivation is taking place in many other states but total production is hardly 5 % of the global production. Total production in India stands at 262000 tonnes.  Consumption in India is limited and hence more than 70% of coffee is exported to the EU. Most of the coffee consumption in India is limited to Southern India where it is grown. The rest of the Indians consume coffee occasionally but the trend is growing.

Indian filter coffee is a mix of dark coffee beans and chicory, sugar is added in small amounts to sweeten the beverage.  The consumption of filter coffee is limited to Southern India where in some quarters it is very popular. Filter coffee in India is also available in Indian coffee houses and Southern food stalls and cafes.

Masala Coffee

Indian coffee drinkers prefer plain coffee with milk or without. There are few takers of spices coffee but the trend is changing. Living Beyond is a Mumbai-based company that produces masala coffee with the choicest masala whole spice mix. It is called Kerala Magic Manthan. It is a vegetarian unadulterated chemical-free version with pure whole spices. It is creating a storm among coffee drinkers and attracting those new to coffee. The company makes varied recipe masalas and is becoming very popular in India and abroad.    

Common Kitchen Ingredients

In spite of the great diversity in Indian Cuisine, kitchens in Indian households stock some basic ingredients used to cook everyday food. Remember women in India spend a lot of time in the kitchen except few in major cities who are working. The daily routine of cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner prevails in almost all households in the country. That Indian food is terribly spicy and hot is a myth as far as the daily diet is concerned. The daily diet comprises mildly spiced food and is rarely hot as presumed. 

Indian Spices

While the staple fare is rice, roti, lentil soup or dal, and vegetables among vegetarians, meat eaters add meat to their diet often replacing the vegetable. Hence few commonly used spices in a staple diet are:

• Red Chili
• Cumin Powder
• Garam Masala
• Turmeric
• Mustard Seeds
• Cumin Seeds
• Ajowain
• Asafoetida
• Dried Fenugreek Leaf Powder
• Fenugreek Seeds

In most of the common recipes, mint leaves or coriander is sprinkled over to impart an herbal touch of freshness. These herbs are rich in Vitamin C and impart amazing flavor.   Although these seasonings appear too common, a magical amalgamation of these in varied proportions imparts amazing and varied tastes. It would be wrong to term these spices as commonplace they are health-giving and add to the basic flavor of lentils and vegetables. 

In South Indian Households, dal is replaced by sambar which again is a flavorful lentil soup with tamarind, tomatoes, and vegetables added to it. In Southern India, people are predominately rice eaters and they consume little wheat in the shape of chapatis. This is applicable to East India where fish curry replaces dal often.       

All the common ingredients described above are available in powdered or seed form in the open markets or in packets. Of late packet, masalas are capturing the market but the trend is moving towards whole spices in modern packing. Besides the whole spices, the trend is also favoring ready-to-mix whole spice recipes in modern packing. The recipe comprises popular dishes which are complex and require time and patience to make at home. 

The alternative in modern packaging is ready-to-mix whole-spice recipes that save time. All one has to do is open the packet, pour whole spices and roast them lightly and then grind. The powdered spice mix so obtained has to be mixed in the recipe to ready the dish. 

The concept of whole spices is picking ground as the ingredients can be judged for quality and freshness unlike in the case of packed powders. In the case of the latter is difficult to make out what is mixed in the powder and how fresh it is?  Thus, in time to come whole spices consumption in Indian kitchens will rise exponentially. 

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