All About Cooking - The Journey Begins
Indian cooking and aromatic spices are just inseparable. Every region in India has a distinct flavour to their cooking - North and South, East and West - they all have their own favourite spices contributing to the flavour, the aroma, the fragrance, the taste of their signature dishes - doesn't matter if it is a a humble everyday dish, or a unique dish reserved for special occasions. In the Western world, understanding of Indian food is often limited to Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, Paneer Makhani, or Biriyani. Those recipes are enjoyed for sure, but all of those four dishes are influenced by the cuisine from North India.
One can find a few South Indian restaurants in North America allowing westerners to sample South Indian food. Dosa, Idli, Uttapam are a few examples of South Indian cuisine, hugely popular at home and abroad. Most people are likely not aware of the fact that a significant number of Indians are vegetarian. As a result Indian cuisine has a lot to offer in the way of vegetarian dishes alongside their non-vegetarian menu. I am not a vegetarian, Bengalis are usually not vegetarian. However, some of the vegetarian dishes are so yummy that sometimes I feel, and a lot of people may agree with me, we could live our lives without eating meat. Don't worry, I am not asking you to be a vegetarian; Bengal has great fish and meat dishes to die for!
If you are planning to plunge into the adventure of trying your hand at Bengali cuisine, to begin with, you need to prepare your kitchen with at least five to ten basic spices which make Bengali cooking so flavourful and appetizing. All the spices are available in regular grocery stores as well as specialty stores, and people tend to pick the powdered ones, because they are ready and easy to use.
As a little girl, I woke up every morning to the grinding noise of a mortar and pestle (actually it was a flat rectangular stone with another heavy round-ended stone as a tool for grinding), and the irresistible aroma of the freshly ground spices - Turmeric, Chillies, Ginger, Mustard - coming from the very simple kitchen. Oh, how much I miss that smell!
A big part of my childhood was waking up every morning wondering what would be the special dish of the day! The job was not easy; whoever had this task of grinding the spices, constantly found themselves exercising their hands and arms, grinding onions and chillies to the point that would make anyone cry . All the spices would have to be ready before the cooking started, even before the fresh ingredients such as fish, meat and vegetables arrived from the market, because those were the basic spices needed for almost every item on the menu. It was almost like a ritual!
For my family's everyday cooking, we used to have five or six spices to begin with - Turmeric and Chilli Powder, Cumin, Coriander, Mustard seeds, together with onions, ginger and garlic. My own pantry today is stocked with the same spices. And I will always have onions, ginger and garlic too, in freshly chopped, grated or blended form. Today I don't use the grinding stone, Instead, I use a mixer-blender for wet grinding and a small coffee-grinder for dry. I was able to get hold of a mortar and pestle from an Indian store ( I think I have seen one in " Kitchen Plus" too!), but it serves mainly as a decoration piece in my kitchen cabinet. Don't get me wrong, I have seen famous chefs really ( Is it Jamie Oliver?) using it. Let me tell you something while we are on the subject of freshly ground or blended spices.
My suggestion would be - don't try grinding Turmeric roots as they would be too hard for a coffee-grinder to handle. Get the powdered ones from grocery stores. The colour is so vibrant and some brands will even have the authentic smell to it as freshly ground from Turmeric roots! I get whole cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds, and dry-roast them and keep them in a tightly-sealed jar. Whenever I need to add the spices, I take a handful and grind them in my dry coffee-grinder. Such a fresh flavour!
Let's now talk about the five important spices in detail. I will touch upon the variety of flavours and usually what kind of recipes they are used for. Turmeric powder or Haldi powder is the first and foremost among spices in Bengali cooking. It is added to anything and everything, starting from lentils and vegetables all the way to fish and meat. It enhances the flavour and colour of the food, and it is known for its antiseptic quality, which is why fish and meat needs to be coated with Turmeric before being cooked. Interestingly, Turmeric paste is extremely good for skin-care, and can be applied as a mask.
Believe it or not, I, as a teenager, used it, when the market was not overflowing with numerous commercial beauty-products. In India, I have always seen dried Turmeric Roots, which are hard to grind. In Chinese stores in North America, I see fresh and soft Turmeric Roots, which I have tried in my cooking; I pureed them in my blender, and kept them in the deep freezer in ice-cube trays. Whenever you need, get a cube or two. How convenient!
TURMERIC ROOTS
Next spice we will explore is Chilli Powder or Lanka. Hot dried up peppers are ground to make Red Chilli Powder. Fresh green chillies are also added to some dishes to bring out a distinct flavour. Chillies are indispensable in Bengali cooking, although you can always balance the level of heat you would like to have in your curry. Of course every household has their own tolerance level.
RED CHILLI
Cumin or Jeera seeds could be used as whole or powdered. The seeds have a warm earthy flavour. It can be ground raw, or after being roasted on a skillet for a short period. If I am not running out of time, I prefer to roast them before grinding. This brings a whole new level of aroma. I use cumin powder mostly for my vegetarian dishes.
CUMIN SEEDS
In the same way as Cumin, Coriander or Dhania seeds are ground fresh, or ground after being roasted on a skillet till they turn darker. These seeds are supposed to have a nutty flavour, and are often used together with cumin seeds.
Coriander Seeds
Quite a few kinds of Mustard seeds are available on the market. The most common are - Black,White and Yellow. Different people have their own preferences, but black mustard seeds, which might have the strongest pungent flavour, are used the most. My mom used to say that you have to always grind Mustard seeds with green chillies so as not to have a bitter taste. And also, apparently the angrier you are, the sharper the flavour is! Isn't that funny?! But this would not be possible with a coffee-grinder, so I grind them separately, and then mix them together with a little bit of water
Mustard Seeds
These spices look so colourful that at one point, I, with my students, created a collage-painting using a variety of spices - whole (e.g. Fennel, Mustard), and powdered ( e.g. Turmeric, Chilli). The picture looked stunning, and my students had an awesome experience.
I spend a ridiculous amount of time watching shows by famous chefs on TV. They mostly present Italian, Mexican, Chinese or simply North American dishes. That's understandable in North America, but I have my favourites, and I never get tired of watching the masters of the trade. This year I had the opportunity to watch Gordon Ramsay, a celebrity chef from England, trying his hand in Indian dishes (e.g. Chutney) while also talking about the variety of spices used in the exotic cuisine. He did not forget to mention that he recently spent some time in India to learn more about the techniques and ingredients. I have to admit, he was quite successful with tackling the dishes, and I even found myself trying his recipe for chutney which definitely is not the traditional way.
In Bengal, chutney is a sweet and sour sauce, usually prepared with tomatoes or mangoes, and served at the end of the meal. Gordon Ramsey used a lot of fruits like apples and pears, and added onions to flavour the sauce. That's very interesting! I wonder if he learnt the style from any Indian chef, because in India, onions are traditionally used for non-vegetarian dishes like meat or fish. Perhaps Indian chefs are also experimenting with onions in their chutneys! Why not?
It is actually very impressive to see a celebrity chef like Gordon Ramsey experimenting with a cuisine quite different from his own usual style and comfort-zone, although England is very much open to exotic Indian food, and many popular Indian restaurants to be found all over the country. When travelling with my family, I remember once dining in a restaurant in Kensington Place and quite enjoying their exquisite dishes including Chicken Tikka Masala!
In the same year we were travelling from Milan to Venice by train; when we reached Milan railway station, we were starving after a long day of visiting the Technological Museum; guess what we found? A gorgeously Jaipur-style decorated Indian restaurant so close to the station and the service made us feel like royals having dinner at the Jaipur Palace in Rajasthan, India. I am not going to forget the Biriyani, ever. It was just divine!
So, here we are, we are ready to begin our journey with a bit of knowledge about five major spices. We have a lot more in store for next time!
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