Introduction to Indian Food

Many people who do not know about Indian food tend to have a narrow definition Indian cuisine that basically boils down to some kind of a vegetable stew with lots of curry. Indian food is as diverse as many ethnic and cultural groups in India. Tradition, ethnicity, geographic location, religion or individual preference defines a typical meal Thali (a large plate with small bowls dishes).

Curry Powder

The name curry powder today is synonymous with the Indian food. The word Curry is believed to be derived from the South Indian Tamil word Karhi. During the British Raj in India, “Curry” evolved as the word describes Indian food cooked in thick spice sauce. Over the years, the foreigner, especially British who lived or visited India slowly started to introduce the curry to the outside world. The good commercial curry powder were hard to find during the early days. People had to make curry powder from scratch if they wanted quality. However, now many good curry powders are easily found in India as well as western supermarkets.

Curry powder is now often used in many Oriental, Middle Eastern cooking besides Indian cooking. Curry powder is blend or mixture of the different spices, which differs according to geographic regions or personal preference. A standard curry powder is not exactly traditional and authentic Indian seasoning. In many regions of India, Indian subcontinent and many other eastern cooking, spices are mixed together in local style. Usually, the curry powder reflects local availability of the spices in the mixture. For example, curry powder from south (hotter climate) tend to be high on chili so hot while the ones from the north tend to be less hot and more nutty in flavor.

The basic recipe of curry powder uses dried red chilies, mustard seeds, coriander (cilantro) seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, black pepper, fenugreek etc., however, the right choice of curry powder depends on personal taste and suitability of particular blend with certain food type.