Curried Flavor

Food & Drink

The ingredients of India’s food culture are sown in its diverse topography – stark mountains and jewel-toned hills, arid deserts, long shorelines, dense forests, and vast fertile plains. They are then blended with the country’s ancient history and rich culture, which is reflected in the wide and varied cuisines across the different geographic regions enriched over the years by traders, settlers, conquerors, and colonists. It is impossible to package up all these flavors, textures, tastes, and aromas into a single term: Indian food. Yet one dish that’s synonymous with the nation, at least outside the country, is curry – a dish served in a gravy or sauce seasoned with spices. In fact, the term “curry” is controversial and has been criticized as a relic of the Colonial era. Nevertheless, the word has become deeply entrenched in the Indian culinary vocabulary to mean dishes made up of a protein or vegetables cooked in spiced gravy and made with a mind-boggling assortment of spices, aromatics, and thickening, souring, and tempering ingredients. Such dishes could be loosely divided into the allium-rich curries of northern India, thickened with nuts and enriched with dairy, and the southern Indian dishes fragranced with curry leaves and anchored in elaborate spice mixes. Then there are the mustard-based curries of eastern India and the fiery coastal curries from western India, sometimes mellowed by coconut milk.

Exquisitely presented tiger prawn biryani. Image credit: iStock

In the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh, you’ll find vegetarian curries such as palda (potatoes cooked in spiced yogurt curry) or mahani (a sweet and sour curry of bengal gram). Kitchens also turn out unique meat curries including khatta gosht (sour meat) – a tart lamb or goat curry flavored with smoky black cardamom. The distinct sourness/tang comes either from amchur (powdered dried mangoes) or anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), but traditional recipes often use burnt walnut shells to give the dish its burnished brown color. On the plains of the northwestern state of Punjab, the landscape is dotted with mustard fields and sugarcane plantations. This fertile, dairy-rich territory has used its position on the ancient Silk Route to create food anchored in local produce but rich with diverse influences. Think of the winter specialty sarson da saag – mustard greens combined with winter greens like spinach, amaranth, and radish leaves and sometimes fragrant fenugreek leaves, slow-cooked in mustard oil with a few spices until tender and mashed to a creamy consistency. Finished with a dollop of white butter, it is typically served with crusty flatbreads made with maize flour, a bowl of hot ghee, and a chunk of jaggery (a type of cane sugar). Some of northern India’s most iconic curries descended from the royal kitchens of the Muslim rulers, particularly the Mughals, who took their cues from Turkish, Persian, and Arabic cultures. Luxurious, slow-cooked korma and kalia curries use opulent ingredients of dried fruits and nuts, cream, saffron, and aromatic essences of rose and screw pine, the hallmark of the Mughlai cuisine of Old Delhi. Rajasthan, dotted with centuries-old forts and opulent palaces, is the land of the royals. A dish steeped in this region’s history is the laal maas (red meat). A restaurant staple, this goat curry is said to have been born in the royal hunting camps of the region’s Hindu Rajput kings. Originally prepared with wild game meat, the dish gets its intense red color from the moderately hot mathania red chilies that were used to mask the gamy odor of the meat. Farther north, Kashmir’s saffron fields, azure lakes, and natural springs bring their own flavors to this region’s food. One curry that speaks to the culinary sophistication and traditions is the gushtaba – soft, springy meatballs in a creamy yogurt gravy. It is the centerpiece of Kashmir’s fabled wazwan – multicourse celebratory feasts prepared by master chefs. Cooks spend hours pounding chunks of meat (usually leg of lamb) on stone slabs with a walnut wood hammer, often to the rhythm of old folk songs. Mutton fat and spices are added along the way and the silky meat paste is rolled into large balls that are simmered in a creamy gravy made of savory meat stock flavored with black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, dried ginger, and crushed fennel, served with thick yogurt.

Dining on Lake Pichola with City Palace views in Udaipur. image credit: Alamy

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The city of Hyderabad was once the seat of the Asaf Jahi Nizams, a Muslim dynasty of Turkish descent that ruled the region for 200 years. Its legacy lives on with Turkish, Arabic, and Mughal influences. Hyderabad’s cuisine is rich in meats, but some of the city’s favorite curries are vegetarian, including bagara baingan – small eggplants stuffed with spices and cooked in a thick, curry-leaf-scented gravy made with peanuts and sesame seeds. Salans are cooked with large, green chili peppers, okra, and Colocasia. Kudampuli is also added to fish curries in the coastal state of Kerala. At the heart of the global spice trade for millennia, the food here blends Indigenous culinary traditions with influences that arrived at its ports with Arab traders, Jewish merchants, Chinese sailors, and European invaders. Curries range from fish and seafood simmered in spicy tamarind sauce in clay pots to silky pepper-spiked stews thickened with coconut milk and robust beef curries rich with pepper. These are mopped up with crisp porotas (griddle-fried layered flatbreads) or soft appams (hoppers) made with a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk or simply boiled tapioca.

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An array of Indian cooking spices. Image credit: istock

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Gujarat, nestled on the shores of the Arabian Sea, is rich with culinary contrasts. A unique curry from the arid Kathiawar region is the vegetarian sev tameta nu shaak – a sweet and sour curry mixed with muddled tomatoes, tempered with mustard and cumin seeds, and topped with crunchy, deep-fried strands of chickpea batter. Goa is famous for palm-fringed beaches, old churches, and bohemian charms, and its food is predominantly a blend of Konkan and Portuguese influences. Favorites are the vinegar and chili-laden vindaloo or ambot tik – a feisty fish curry (ideally using firm fish such as shark, skate, or catfish, or sometimes prawns) which gets its hot and sour taste from a mix of chilies, peppercorns, vinegar, and dried kokum. Mutton xacuti is made with a complex blend of ingredients such as freshly scraped coconut, coriander leaves, and aromatic spices such as mace and caraway.

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Indian Thali cuisine in an attractive dining arrangement. Image credit: Alamy

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In the east Indian state of West Bengal, rice and fish are the staples. Fish is cooked into a myriad of curries, standouts made by gently cooking fried slices of fish in a sharp paste of freshly ground mustard and green chilies, with nigella seeds. Poppy seeds, a pantry essential in Bengali homes, can be added to enhance the taste and texture, and soften the sting of the mustard. In neighboring Odisha, fish is cooked in a spicy, pungent paste of mustard, chilies, cumin, and garlic to make macha besara. Ambula (slices of salted and sun-dried mangoes) are added to give the dish a tangy punch. A vegetarian version is made with brinjal – raw bananas and gourd cooked in a delicately spiced mustard gravy, finished with freshly scraped coconut. This is part of the spread offered to the deity Jagannath at the centuries-old Jagannath Temple in the coastal town of Puri.

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Chicken dopiaza (two onions) with flatbread. Image credit: Alamy

A distinctive swatch of land that juts out of the subcontinent, northeast India comprises eight states. The region is not only home to numerous tribal communities, each with its distinct culture and cuisine, it is a biodiversity hotspot. The cuisines use wild herbs, peppers, and berries, many unheard of in mainland India, along with techniques such as smoking, fermenting, and steaming. The Assam valley is known for the gardens that produce some of the world’s best teas. One of the region’s most loved dishes is tenga jool – light, tangy, soupy curries made with fish, vegetables, and leafy greens or deep-fried lentil balls. The tanginess is coaxed out of sour fruits such as thekera, tart, ripe Indian jujube, and the large, rotund, greenish-yellow elephant apple, which adds a mild fruitiness and texture. From the snowcapped Himalayas to the sleepy backwaters of Kerala and the vibrant streets of Mumbai, India’s culinary traditions, influences, and incredible spices are as rich and varied as its landscape and people. Plan your route to get a taste of the flavors of this endlessly fascinating country, and make sure to put a visit to a local spice market on your travel schedule.

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Indian curry and bread in Gujarat. Image credit: Shutterstock

It is impossible to package up all these flavors, textures, tastes, and aromas into a single term: Indian food

August 2024 (Volume 25)

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Food writer Priyadarshini Chatterjee leads us on a tour of her home country’s rich, delicious, and diverse cuisines