This Is Why Indian Food Is So Delicious

It's the lack of overlapping flavors, scientists say


Indian food in Doha is lauded for its curries, mouth-burning spices and complex flavor pairings. With its use of cardamom, cayenne, tamarind and other pungent ingredients, the resulting taste combinations are unlike anything found elsewhere around the world. But scientists in India have now discovered exactly why Indian food is so good — it’s the fewer number of overlapping flavors in ingredients.

Researchers at the Indian Institute for Technology examined how frequently overlapping flavor compounds factored into a dish’s ingredients. They reviewed thousands of recipes on TarlaDalal.com, scrutinizing the subtle molecular-level differences that distinguish the cuisine, reports the Washington Post.

“We found that average flavor sharing in Indian cuisine was significantly lesser than expected,” researchers wrote.

In Western cuisines, ingredients are usually paired together for their similar flavors. However, an average Indian dish includes at least seven ingredients, most of which do not contain overlapping flavors. Cayenne, green bell pepper, coriander and garam masala are usually paired with ingredients that have no chemical overlap, but each ingredient brings a unique component when incorporated into the final meal. This creates knockout dishes for a cuisine that uses approximately 200 of the estimated 381 ingredients known in the world.

Source-http://time.com/3731111/indian-food-curry-cuisine-tasty/

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The Rules For Eating With Your Hands In India, Africa And The Middle East

Eating with hands:

Watching a black and white James Bond 007 movie, the child asked “Why the hell he is running so mad”? “To reach a phone cabin”, explained his mom. “Oh Bond does not have a mobile?”, whispered the child. These questions definitely come to innocent minds that are brought up in iPhone age. But what the world would be like before cutlery?

During the summer, Oprah Winfrey happened to be in India and had a traditional dinner with an Indian family. She was eating sitting on floor when she inquired if people in India still eat with their hands. Her question and her observation was taken as a harsh criticism on Indian culture but that is still the custom in various sub-continent and Middle east countries and even in Africa too.

Although some take this to be uncivilized or even barbaric as people from West do not know how to eat with hands. But here we explain how things happen in various cultures without being rude to anybody as we talk about customs:

In India

Indians would wash their hands, yes they religiously wash hands and then use their right hands to scoop their food from the utensil where it was served onto a round-sheet like bread called ‘chapati’ or ‘roti’ or ‘naan’. The bread is eaten with curry or meat or veggies or even a mix of two or three with just a smart ease and convenience. Then the person uses his/her fingertips so the food could reach the mouth. People do not bring their plate to mouth nor do they lower their head either too. People keep taking small morsels of food one by one till they are full and the food does not reach their palms nor do the fingers enter their mouths. Their technique is very simple. They use their thumb to give a friendly ‘push’ to their food to inside the mouth. Some feel that using fingers, they can mix the food better producing a better taste. Some feel that using hands helps to connect brain to stomach and that is great for digestion as the use of hands adds a personal feeling to food.

In Africa

African culture also recommends using right hand for food. Fufu is a popular food which is made from a root of a plant like sweet potato that is boiled in water and mashed then given shape like balls. This is served with meat and soup. The person eating food should pick it using thumb and next two fingers to pick and then push it into the mouth. The host would place two water bowls to wash hands, one for before food and other for washing after the food. Some people also lick their fingers as they finish food.

In The Middle East

Eating with hands is almost the same like India and Africa. The traditional way of mixing food is different in all three places. Indians would keep mixing the food even while their mouth is full. Africans would do the other way and Arabs would place a common large plate in center of the table or in the middle even when they sit on floor for eating. Using right hand and washing hand before and after food is common in all three places. Arabs also enjoy hand-to-mouth eating and the etiquette doesn’t differ much from Africa and India than in the Middle East. It’s all the usual to use right hand only or scooping food using fingers and then wash your hands before and after the food.

You too, brace yourselves in USA

Some people have started eating with hands in USA too. There are places like Zak Pelaccio’s which is basically Malaysian-inspired Fatty Crab that encourage eating with hands. If you find someone deterring taking food by hand, you can enlighten him of the pros of taking food by hand to add taste and personal feeling. 

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Decorated Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor on his new Doha restaurant

Sanjeev Kapoor has opened a new restaurant in town. The celebrity Indian chef talks about the restaurant, which definitely imprints his name.

Tell us about your new restaurant in the city.

It is named Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor and is situated at the Meliá Hotel. As the name suggest, Signature not only imprints its authority on the recipe, but also on the ideas that are served. The food is art on a plate. We try to give you a complete dining experience – it’s a contemporary take on authentic Indian food.

What’s your favourite Indian meal?

My favourite Indian meal is kadhi chawal, especially the pakorewali kadhi that my mother makes. If not that, then a close second is rajma chawal.

Is this what you would cook at home?

When I cook at home, it is on special request, mostly made by my daughters, so the menu is totally dependent on what they want to eat!

Will you be making regular visits to Doha?

The Middle East is like my second home. I have restaurants and many friends and acquaintances in the region and I love the place! So I am constantly visiting and I will definitely make it a point to be there any time the team needs me.

How many restaurants do you currently have your name to?

54 operational and 20 more that are to open by end of the year, under different brands.

Describe a typical day for you.

A typical day orbits around work. Thankfully, for me, each day at work is filled with a new journey, new experiences and new people – all bound by food. When I am not working, I relax with music. I enjoy playing the drums.

Do you cook as much now as you would like to?

Not as much, but I take any opportunity I get to create something exciting in the kitchen. For me, cooking is therapeutic.

Which is your favourite IPL cricket team and favourite player?

Well, that changes with every season.

How can a young chef be the next Sanjeev Kapoor?

I don’t know about being the next Sanjeev Kapoor, but I would want the next generation to be better than me and reach a higher plane. I have full faith and confidence that they will. There is a lot of talent in India especially.

Source: http://www.timeoutdoha.com/restaurants/features/62967-sanjeev-kapoor-in-doha

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