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Questions tagged [indian-cuisine]

Questions with this tag should be about traditional ingredients, preparations or dishes from India - such as curries, naan, chaats, chutneys and desserts. Questions about ingredients common to Indian-style cooking, but which aren't about a specific Indian dish, should not use this tag.

Questions with this tag should be about traditional ingredients, preparations or dishes from India - such as curries, naan or butter chicken. Questions about ingredients common to Indian-style cooking, but which aren't about a specific Indian dish, should not use this tag.

283 questions
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5 answers

Which onions to use and how to cook them for an Indian curry recipe that specifies "fry until deep pink"?

One of the curry recipes in the book "50 great curries of India" says "Heat the oil in a cooking pot and fry the onions until deep pink." I think I know what it means when a recipe says "until deep brown" (which is what many Indian curry recipes…
Rinzwind
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16
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21 answers

How to ferment dosa batter?

I have never been successful in fermenting dosa batter properly in the US. I generally soak urad dal, rice and fenugreek seeds for a few hours and grind them together. Even if I leave the batter in 30°C temperature, the batter does not double in…
Avinash Bhat
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16
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6 answers

How to deal with strong, sizable spices?

I've been making a lot of Indian food, and I've repeatedly had problems with certain spices being "overpowering" when you get a bite of them. I'm talking specifically about cardamom and cloves, although cinnamon is also problematic since you can't…
Cowthulhu
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15
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9 answers

Does paneer have to be cooked?

I want to just toss it into some indian food I have. Does it need to be cooked first or is it ok if it just warms up a bit when I throw it in the sauce?
richard
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13
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2 answers

Oil separating from fried onion/spice mixture, why does it happen?

I was always taught when cooking Indian dishes to fry spices in a chopped/pureed onion and garlic mixture to release their flavour and essential oils. I was also taught that when the oil separates from the mixture, the spices are done and you can…
spiceyokooko
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13
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4 answers

"Indian Spicy" vs. "Thai Spicy"

What ingredient(s) make the spiciness from Indian food distinct from the spiciness of, say, Thai food? Indian good seems to have a longer, slower burn, rather than a "sharper" spiciness of Thai. I know spiciness in Thai food comes from Thai bird…
TJ Ellis
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13
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6 answers

Why rinse basmati rice?

Every Indian recipe I see seems to insist on rinsing basmati rice before cooking it. Why, I have no idea, because I never rinse it, yet I can discern no difference between my rice and rice cooked by other people that have, presumably, spent the…
Doug
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13
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6 answers

Are cardamom husks edible?

I have a recipe for a South Indian "allspice" mixture that includes cardamom among other spices. One begins with whole spices, toasted, and in the end they are ground in a coffee or spice grinder. Does one have to extract the black seeds within the…
AdamO
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12
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2 answers

In Indian cooking, what does it mean when a recipe says "until the oil begins to leave the side of the pan"?

In many Indian recipes I see the phrase "cook until the oil leaves the side of the pan". For example, this recipe says: Add tomato puree and cook until oil leaves the side. Similarly, this one says: [C]ook the gravy until the oil leaves the…
verbose
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12
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4 answers

What does "curd" mean in a South Asian recipe?

I've seen the word "curd" used in a few South Asian recipes (like, notably, some "Butter Chicken" recipes). In one video, it kind-of looks like it might be cottage cheese (or something like that), which would make sense given what "curd" means to…
Pointy
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12
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8 answers

How to make chapattis round and of same thickness?

I have tried making Chapatis many times. I can make dough for Chapati very well, but I am failing when it comes to structure of the roti/chapati. I make two mistakes: When I try to flatten it, one side (when you look at it horizontally) is thicker…
Santosh Kumar
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11
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2 answers

Why baking powder in rotis?

I just ate a store bought roti (a flat Indian bread, like a tortilla) and baking powder is a listed ingredient. Why does a flat bread need baking powder? There are no bubbles to grow, are there?
Hbar
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11
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6 answers

Name of an Indian dish with stuffed whole potatoes

I had a lovely Indian meal which I would like to find the name of. There were small whole potatoes with a little hole cut into them and filled with spices and (I think) some lamb mince. They were served in a spicy tomato sauce. Any idea what this…
Carla Dolfing
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11
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8 answers

Is “ghee” clarified butter or beurre noisette?

Reading the Wikipedia pages on “Ghee,” “Clarified butter” and “Beurre noisette” has left me somewhat confused as to what ghee is. Some statements on the pages seem to suggest that it's always clarified butter, some that it's always beurre noisette,…
Rinzwind
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11
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3 answers

Dried basil leaves instead of bay leaves

I have to make an Indian curry which requires bay leaves. Apparently I don't have them at home. I read on google here that dried Basil leaves can be a good substitute for bay leaves. Now dried bay leaves, which we use in curries and soups have a…
Ojasvi
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