How well do you know Indian food? I took our son to the local Hatch End Tandoori restaurant in London for more than 20 years and thought I knew Indian food but I only knew north Indian food, from restaurants run by people from Pakistan or Bangladesh. Anglo-Indian food, with biriani which is not too spicy. The north majors on breads, with more rice in the south. South Indian food and vegetarian Indian restaurants are different again.
Desserts
And Punjabi desserts, gulab jamun (balls in syrup, served hot or cold). And mango lassi. Lassi is a refreshing, filling, drink of yogurt mixed with milk, which can be served sweet with sugar or syrup, salted or with fruit and fruit flavours.
A relative of mine was looking at the Indian breakfast menu from a hotel in Singapore. We tried to identify the food, with the help of an Indian friend in Singapore. (Singapore has its own cuisine, the signature dish being fish head curry, served not on plates but on green banana leaves.)
Here are some of our findings. I have grouped them A to Z for convenience. Note that spellings may vary because
Other language might not have uniform spelling,
Different languages have slightly different spellings for similar words,
Translation from other languages into English is not standard but phonetic.
A-D
aloo - potato (as in aloo gobi)
bhaji - onion bhaji is deep friend onion in semolina and flour batter, often coiled up in roughly onion shape
chapati - dry bread cooked in a pan on a griddle
chutney - mango is delicious. We buy Mrs Geeta's in a small glass jar when in London and carry it around the world
dhoka - rice and chickpea (cubes of sponge)
E-K
e
f
ghee - clarified butter (which keeps without refrigeration)
gobi - cauliflower
goreng - fried
h
i Idli - white puffball of rice, a circular mound of white.
j
kichdi - rice and lentils stew
L-R
l
mamak - Malaysian and Singapore style (of Indian food)
mee - Chinese for noodles
naan - flat bread baked inside and against the walls of a tandoori oven
o
Pakora - fried (chickpea batter)
paneer - cottage cheese
paratha - like a chapati bread but fried, north Indian; prata - South Indian
pava bhaji - vegetable curry
q
r
S-Z
sambar- side dish, spicy paste, or dipping sauce with (hot) chili (pepper plant)
t
upma - semolina
v
w
x
y
z
Post being compiled, saved to guard against loss. Come back in an hour for final version with photos of food.
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_cuisine
Also see my posts on Indian restaurants in Hatch End, London, England, which include Coriander, Sakonis and Social Dhaba.
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, specialising in food and drink, hotels and restaurants, people and places, romance, shopping for souvenirs and bargains, anything weird and wacky, love of learning languages. A little on music. Very little on sport except for swimming and beaches, statues, museums and team clothes.
Lots on the USA, UK, Singapore and Asia, Europe, a little about the Middle East, South Africa, South America, islands and everywhere else.
Lots on WWI and WW2, Holocaust and Jews, Christianity and the bible. Some on other religions, atheism, humanism and communist countries, especially food, personalities, buildings, temples, mosques and museums.
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travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com
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