Hot n’ Spicy
India is among the most unique, oldest, and continuous civilizations in the world, begun about 4500 years ago. In India, there is an amazing cultural diversity throughout the country. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche. There is hardly any culture in the world that is as varied and unique as India. India is a vast country, having a variety of geographical features and climatic conditions. India is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, including four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
India’s contribution to the world is unforgettable, India invented number system, Zero was invented by Aryabhatta. Can anybody believe today's life without numbers when everybody is running behind numbers? When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu valley, which is also known as Indus valley civilization.
Sanskrit is the classical language of Indian and the liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is also one of the 22 official languages of India. The name Sanskrit means "refined", "consecrated" and "sanctified". Sanskrit is the mother of all the European Languages is an ancient language of India and is the most suitable language for computer software- a report in Forbes magazine in July 1987.
The Great Mind Game and favorite of the royal fraternity, "Chess" was invented in India, also known as Shataranja or Ashtapada. It is a descendant of a game called chaturanga, which was commonly played in India during that time. The name chaturanga is a Sanskrit word that refers to the four divisions of the Indian army, including "Elephants", "Chariots'', "Cavalry", and "Infantry". These pieces became the basis for the four types of pieces in the game. Two of the key similarities between chess and chaturanga is that different pieces have different powers and victory is based on what happens to the king.
Yoga is a complex system that focuses on harmony between body and mind. Yoga derives its philosophy from Indian metaphysical beliefs. The word yoga comes from Sanskrit language and means union or blend. The ultimate aim of this philosophy is to strike a balance between mind and body and attain self-enlightenment. To achieve this, yoga uses movement, breath, posture, relaxation, and meditation to establish a healthy balanced approach to life. This ancient practice has existed from the beginning of Hinduism. It is considered to be the oldest physical discipline in existence and symbolizes balance in every area of life. I feel pride in saying that I was born in India, who gave the world the chance to regenerate.
Now let's talk about Indian food which is getting popular day by day all over the world and again it’s a matter of pride for me that I am associated with this art and living it every day. As Indian civilization food is also having the same diversity and importance in Indian culture and it’s actually a way of living for Indians and they take it damn seriously.
Broadly Indian food is divided into four regional styles: North Indian cuisine (Benarasi, Kashmiri, Mughlai, Punjabi, and Rajasthani ), the South Indian Cuisine ( Andhra, Kannada, Kerala, and Tamil), East Indian Cuisine (Assamese and Bengali) and Western Indian Cuisine (Gujarati, Maharashtrian, and Malwani). The interesting thing here is the treatment of the spices and their blend which make these cuisines so different and diverse as the outcome is so unique and auspicious.
Spices play a major role in Indian cuisine and the fame of Indian spices is older than the recorded history. The story of Indian spices I believe, as old as humans come into existence. It is believed that the Parthian wars were being fought by Rome largely to keep open the trade to India.
It is also said that Indian spices and its famed products were the main lures for crusades and expeditions to the East. If you want to read more about the ancient fame of Indian spices then follow my next coming article where I will pick one spice and will try to make you familiar with it.
The variety of spices now being used were not all actually from India, they came to India through spice trade and invasion of different cultures and dynasties. Portuguese brought potatoes, tomato, refined sugar, and chili to India. Saffron's introduction to Indian cuisine as a result of the spice trade by Arabs.
But the beauty is that how Indians transformed all these foreign spices into Indian colors and now even converted them into Indian spices, as now they are an integral part of any Indian recipes.
There is a big misconception and wrong understanding about Indian food, "that its always hot" and some call it "spicy". But I want to clear this doubt for you all today by this post. I love to make my food spicy rather than hot because if one will not infuse the flavor of spices in Indian food then it is not Indian food and that person is not trained enough to cook Indian food. Therefore this is very important to know that spicy does not mean that food will be hot. So spicy and hot are two different things but in the case of Indian cuisine, they are generally misunderstood and confuses the people who know less about Indian food and scares them from trying this divine art of cooking. Let's discuss how the characteristics of spices that make them or their blends different.
In a broader way, there are three categories of spices, which are generally used in Indian cuisine-
- Strong flavor spices-
- Mace, Nutmeg, clove, Black cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, and bay leaf. The combination of these spices is also known as Garam ( hot) Masala (a blend of spices). It should not be mistaken here again by the meaning of garam masala, because garam means hot so it makes the food hot. No, it is called garam masala because the spices used to make this blend gives warmness to the body and at the same time excess use of these spices can create loose motion, burning sensation and even makes food bitter also. Garam Masala normally used for non-vegetarian dishes and sometimes it may be used for vegetarian dishes.
- Mild flavor spices-
- cumin, coriander, turmeric, saffron, fenugreek seeds, and dried leaves, carom seeds, green cardamom, Asafoetida and fennel seeds, etc. These all spices having mild and sweet aroma generally and commonly used for vegetarian dishes.
- Aromatic Spices-
Sandalwood powder, Vetiver(khus) root dried, Rose petals, Cassia (unopened flowers of cinnamon tree) buds, Stone flower, Fennel seeds, Beetle Tree Root, Camphor, Dry ginger, star anise along with some selected spices from the above to categories make a special blend of spices called aromatic spices. Aromatic spices are used for biryani or Indian pilaf.
So the above all spices are to make Indian food spicy and full of flavors but they do not make food hot. The only spice that is responsible for making food hot is chilli. Though if one knows how to use the spices can do wonders because Indian cuisine is rich in the use of spices and having the potential to tingle any body’s taste buds. So timing plays a major role in putting the spices in any dish and changing its whole taste and appearance
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