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by Benay Bernstein
Indian Cuisine
Will Indian Food be the new Sushi? You be the judge. The indications as I see them are arriving from two discrete sources: Europe and America.
New Style, "nouveau" Indian food has become tres chic in London and, I assume, throughout Europe. About five years ago Western trained Indian chefs introduced subtle changes in the preparation and seasoning of Indian food culminating in an Indian fusion food so wildly popular in Europe that three of London's five top Indian restaurants received Michelin stars. Feature articles, describing the new taste of Indian foods were published this past year by the New York Times and here in LuxuryWeb Magazine (see Purnima in Restaurant section).
Indian haute cuisine as presented in London is comprised of elegantly served, delicate portions of food with distinctive tastes. The difference in this cuisine lies in the careful deconstruction of complex Indian seasonings followed by minimalist flavor recombinations. Fewer spices are used in each dish, so that it is easy to differentiate unfamiliar seasoning. This is not to say that complexity and layering of flavors is abandoned; it is modified and clarified. Ingredients are fresh and often  cooked with olive oil using continental cooking techniques, which yields food attractive to western palates.
The second source is pure American in its brash, outright disavowal of the overwhelmingly powerful, pervasive flavor known as "Curry". Curried food never received mainstream acceptance as a comfortable taste in the U. S. It was always seen as too highly seasoned, very spicy in flavor, welcome on occasion for a change of pace, but never accepted as regular fare. Curry is clearly so problematic that Chef Manjeet Bhatia's new Indian cookbook proudly blasts the title, "Don't Say Curry" and is subtitled, “Redefining Indian Cuisine". The movements on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, combined with the focus on healthy, fresh ingredients, will surely lead us to the next ethnic food explosion just as Sushi took the world by surprise.
Chef Bhatia explains away curry in her "redefinition of Indian cuisine". She acknowledges the worldwide association of Indian food with Curry. But Curry, she explains, is English not Indian. It is a blend of herbs and spices, i.e. cumin, coriander, turmeric, etc. created by the English. Indian curry has no similarity to the product introduced to the western world by the English. In truth, Indian curry is a minor , minimally flavored plant only occasionally used in dried or powdery form. In India, the word curry generally refers to a gravy or sauce known as tari or rasta meaning liquid or soupy.
In "Don't Say Curry", Chef Bhatia explains that the jar of curry you buy in the supermarket is an extreme flavor that does not reproduce any generic Indian seasoning. Bhatia instead offers a seasoning mix of her own called, "Touch of India". Skeptic that I am, I kept asking myself if she is just promoting her version of curry. I think not. "Touch of India" seasoning is closer to an herbal mix or French "bouquet garni" intensified with the more pungent herbs of India. It is a limited combination of basic Indian flavors with which a recipe, replete with its own selected, additional seasonings can be built. Two dishes prepared with similar quantities of ingredients and Touch of India seasoning, Shrimp in Tomato Sauce and Mushrooms in Sour Cream, came out tasting entirely different when I prepared them. One was closer to but exceedingly better than a curry dish as we know curry, and the other was mellow and so flavorful it was the first and only dish to be totally devoured at a recent dinner buffet.
Bhatia, "redefines Indian Cuisine" in several ways. She describes cooking Indian food  as a pleasurable experience where success is easy if some time and forethought is given to the meal.
"… I believe in the truth." she writes, "The truth is, there are no secrets or magic to good, healthful cooking, whether it is Manjeet-style or any other. What you put into the cooking is exactly what you are going to get out." Bhatia's cooking methods familiarize the cook with typical ingredient combinations such as the holy trinity of diced garlic, onions, and ginger. (This is similar to the Creole trinity of onion, bell pepper, and celery.) She describes how to differentiate and prepare the various vegetable groups. Vegetables that can be eaten raw should be chopped small and will cook quickly. Vegetables that cannot be eaten raw should be cubed and can be boiled or sautéed. Bhatia's instructions to add the next ingredient when you see the oil is separated from the mixture, or, in the case of rice, when the rice floats, are clear and simple classic cooking techniques, unknown to many inexperienced cooks. Bahtia repeats similar directions in each recipe so that they become natural to the cook.
Unfamiliar use of ingredients jumps out of the page making Indian cooking exciting and exotic. Recipes for rice, sautéed cauliflower, lentils and chicken all call for the addition of lemon or lime juice at the end of the cooking. Easy substitutions of basil or mint for cilantro, elimination of onion (creates too much heat in the spirit to some Indians) and herb combinations, i.e. “try rosemary and coriander instead of cumin”, are sprinkled throughout the book as are recipes for several "Finishing Touches", the addition of quickly and lightly sautéed seasonings to completed dishes. Finally listed in the rear of the book are clear and concise glossaries of Cooking Techniques, Cutting Techniques and Preserving and Storing Spices, Herbs and Nuts.
We are poised at the tipping point of the next new food explosion. Nouveau Indian restaurants are sure to begin popping up all around the US. Soon Indian food will become as common as Sushi in our supermarket takeout departments. The perfume and flavors offered by paprika, turmeric, coriander, cumin, black pepper, cardamom, and saffron are enticing, tantalizing, and welcoming. Just a little bit of fine-tuning and the courage to face the need for change is bringing the time-honored excellence of Indian cuisine to homes all over the world and it is happening as we speak.
Do you agree? If not, just wait.
(Editor’s Note: For information or to order the cookbook or spices visit
www.saffronspices.com )
© December 2007 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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