Indian Desserts Recipes Halwa Kheer with Condensed Mild Pistachio Recipes Easy for Diwali Menu : Indian Food Indian Desserts Recipes Halwa Kheer With Condensed Mild Pistachio Recipes Easy For Diwali Menu Pictures

Indian Food Biography

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Petrina Verma Sarkar is an avid foodie and journalist. Born and bred in India, she has travelled her country extensively and sampled the varied and delicious dishes of its different regions. She learned to cook from her Mother, Grandmothers and various Aunts and loves to experiment with spice combinations in her own kitchen.
As a journalist, Petrina has years of experience writing on lifestyle subjects ranging from food to interior design and beauty to fashion. She has written about Indian food for About.com, for almost nine years.

Several lifetimes are not enough to discover and sample all the delights of Indian cuisine! It is the glorious result of thousands of years of evolution and assimilation! Like all things Indian, it has absorbed various influences from other cultures but managed to make them uniquely its own. It is exotic, sometimes complex and always delicious! Love Indian food or just curious about it? This is the place to be no matter what your level of interest or experience. Join me as we explore the delectable depths of Indian cuisine!
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India is a magical paradise for people who love food. Eating Indian food is an elaborate function. India is a land of diversified food culture because of religious, geographical and cultural verities. Moreover history of the country has great influence in its food.
Food of India has more vegetables than meat, fish or chicken, a deeply rooted combination of religious and economic factors. The majority of Indian is Hindus who are traditionally vegetarian, and meat has always been much more expensive and less widely available than vegetables. Fish has not made its place in all over India but few states West Bengal, Kerela, Goa people cannot imagine their dish without fish.

Another special effects of Indian food is its spices and it rightly known as the ‘home of spice’. There is no other country in the world that produces as many kinds of spices as India does. And there are such potent spices that even if they are required are very minimal quantities in a dish, their influence on the taste and aroma will be substantial. Vasco-da-gama took Indian spices to Europe for its taste, aroma and rich mineral content.
ice is the staple starch for the majority of Indian people and in south India they cook rice in a vast range of flavours, colours and texture. In North Indian states, however flat bread is the traditional staples, but today people throughout the country tend to eat a balance of both.

are eaten almost every day, although the dish chosen vary with occasion and place. Indian sweets, known as mithai, are a type of confectionery. Many are made with sugar, milk and condensed milk, and cooked by frying. The bases of the sweets and other ingredients vary by region

Gulab jamun is an Indian dessert made out of fried milk balls soaked in sweet syrup

Kulfis are Indian ice-cream, where the sweetened milk/cream is frozen in small metal cans to be served frozen. Usually it has a milky appearance, but additional colors may be applied for display. A summer-time favorite in most of India, especially in the northern India. It comes in variety of flavors such as mango kesar or cardamom
Sandesh is a sweet made from fine cheese made from cow's milk kneaded with fine ground sugar or molases. This is a signature sweet from West Bengal in India. Rasgulla is a popular relished sweetmeats in India. It was only then that Nobin Chandra Das of Kolkata modified its recipe to give it its current form. This dish is produced by the boiling of small balls of casein in sugar syrup. This sweet dessert can be found in many eastern Indian households
Bhetki/ Barramundi is a tasty but mild fish, so it works really well with my spice and herb marinade in this delicious baked dish. Learn hot to make Baked Bhetki Masala.

The word ‘milan’ means meeting, but in the context of this recipe it serves to emphasise the tasty and wholesome result of mixing together three lentils in the one dish.

I have eaten courtesy of my Mum and Dad) and cooked this delicious Daal (lentil dish a number of times and have unfailingly been blown away by its flavours! The great part about using three different lentils is that you can use ANY three, and the result will be just as tasty. I think the magic lies in the combination of the spices used! As I said, I have my parents to thank for this and I suspect the combination of spices is a reflection of their heritage.
Mix all the daals together in a sieve and wash under running water until the water runs clear.
Place the daals in a medium sized, deep pan. You can also use a pressure cooker to cook the daals... this is a faster process.
Place pan/ pressure cooker on the heat and add a tablespoon-full of vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil and the 4 cups of water.
Add the turmeric, ginger and garlic pastes, green chillies, asafetida, cumin powder, tomato paste and salt to taste. Mix well.
Cover and bring to a boil (if cooking in a pan), check seasoning and, now if you desire a little extra pungency you may add that red chilli powder.
Re-cover and cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes. If cooking in a pressure cooker, cook for 1 'whistle' or pressure release.
Remove cover and check that the daals have softened and the mixture has a uniform colour and a pouring consistency. If the daals are still not fully cooked, you may need to add more hot water and continue cooking. Remember to maintain the consistency - like that of a thick soup.
Check seasoning and keep on low heat and covered.
For the tempering tadka, heat the ghee in a small saucepan and add the cumin seeds and follow with fennel seeds.
When they stop crackling, add the curry leaves carefully. They will splutter and ‘spit’ so be careful!
When the spluttering stops, add the finely chopped onion and stir for about a minute.
Now add the garlic and sauté for a minute.
Add whole red chillies and sauté for another 30 seconds.
Now add this mixture to the daal, mix well and immediately cover to trap/ contain the aromas in the pot.
Take the Daal off from the heat and check the consistency again. Add some boiling water in case the Daal needs to be thinned in consistency.
Add the chopped, fresh coriander and serve with steaming rice or fresh Chapatis and Raita!