Indian cuisine distinguished by its sophisticated use of spices and herbs and the influence of the longstanding and widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society. Food is an integral part of India's culture, with cuisines differing according to community, region, and state. Indian cuisine is characterized by a great variety of foods, spices, and cooking techniques.
The most important spices in Indian cuisine are chilli pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin, turmeric, fenugreek, ginger, coriander and asafoetida (hing). Another very important spice is garam masala which is usually a powder of five or more dried spices, commonly comprised of cardamom, cinnamon and clove. Some leaves are commonly used like bay leaf, coriander leaf and mint leaf. The common use of curry leaves is typical of South Indian cuisine. In sweet dishes, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, saffron and rose petal essence are used.
This section of the IndianFoodsGuide.com website lists the different spices along with their English names and a description of the spice. Hope you find this section helpful.
Haldi or Turmeric (Curcuma longa, also called tumeric or kunyit in some Asian countries) is a spice commonly used in curries and other South Asian cuisine. Its active ingredient is curcumin. It is a significant ingredient in most commercial curry powders.
Turmeric is also used to give a yellow color to some prepared mustards, canned chicken broth, and other foods (often as a much cheaper replacement for saffron). It makes a poor fabric dye as it is not very lightfast (the degree to which a dye resists fading due to light exposure).
In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is thought to have many healthful properties and many in India use it as a readily available antiseptic for cuts and burns. It is taken in some Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which allegedly helps with stomach problems and other ailments. It is popular as a tea in Okinawa, Japan. It is currently being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer's disease, cancer and liver disorders. Sangli, a town in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra, is the largest and most important trading centre for turmeric in Asia or perhaps in the entire world.
Sanjeev Kapoor is one of India's most popular chefs and author. This book is the first in the series called "Khana Khazana: Celebration
of Indian Cookery" which has been planned in order to familiarize food
lovers with long forgotten regional cuisines of India. These recipes
will open the doors to the unexplored range of recipes that had been
relegated to the archives.
A lot of painstaking research has gone into collecting these recipes.
Each state and region included in this book has its own cuisine and
local flavour. In this book the author introduces a variety of dishes that
have been perfected by our ancestors. At the same time care has been
taken to ensure that the ingredients used are easily available and if
not, a substitute has been suggested. Chettinad Fried Chicken, Kombdi
Wada, Chingri Malai Curry, Rayalseema Pesarettu, Kolhapuri Pandhra
Rassa, Kesari Rajbhog, Khajoori Shahi Tukra are just a glimpse of the
fabulous tongue tickling recipes you will find between the two covers
of this book. They will not only bring in India's diversity into your
home kitchens but also help you to satiate the best of gourmet palates.
If you are new to Indian Cooking then your journey to learning how to cook Indian food may be a little simpler if you could see it visually. This section of the website has a number of videos of some of the most popular Indian dishes like Chicken Makhni, Chiken Tikka, Alu Gobi. We will be constantly adding new videos to this site as we come across them. All of the videos are from partner sites that have approved these videos for use on this site.
If you own an Indian Restaurant, an Indian Grocery Store or a blog
related to Indian food, you are entitled to your own free listing on
this website. Think of this as a free ad for you. You have the
following options for registering your site
1. Registered Listing - If you register on this site, you can submit your entries, add images and make changes all on your own.
2. Unregistered Listing - You can submit your listing but you cannot edit it.
3.
Claim Your Site - If you site or business is already listed, you can
claim your site. Once you place a claim for your site, our
administrator will get back to you within 48 hours and you can then own
the listing.
top
Most of the content on this site is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors
(see full disclaimer)
Indian Foods - Home 
Indian Herbs and Spices 
top 
