Indian food

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>>9370937
Not sure how to make it, but I've had chaat before and it's supposed to be pretty easy to make

I'd avoid making desserts - that's expert level (at least the ones you've posted)

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>>9370937
I've recently gotten into making legit classic Indian curries, I'd recommend setting up your spice cabinet first. Whole spices always make things taste way better, it's a little expensive at first, but really worth it.

Also I have a pretty good cookbook (pic related) that explains a lot of the techniques and theory behind Indian cooking.

>>9370937
If you live in a city with indians there's probably a big indian spice market place, they will have bulk spices you can buy small amounts of. Just wandering around there is pretty inspiring

>>9370952
hnggg chaat is amazing esp dahi puri.

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>>9371023
What's the difference between North Indian and South Indian foods (high-level differences)?

>>9370937
How are these candies called and what are they made of?

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>>9371067
I don't think they're candies (like hard candies), but I believe some of them are called Kulfi. It's like a cake.

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>>9371071
>>9371067
Or it could be cham cham/kaju katli

>>9371057
think about geogrophy

north india is dryer, more forests, deserts, cooler, the south in mountains, rivers, tropical wetlands, more cost

south indian food is coconut, north india food is yoghurt

north indian food is richer and fattier, more meat
south indian food is lighter, sharper, less meat, more fish and vegitables

the south uses more curry leaves, mustard seed, turmeric, and some strong mixes of fewer spices

the north has more mughal influences
the south has some bits of portugese and south asian influence

there is a lot to break down

>>9371057
north indian food is the stuff you find in most restaurants. a lot more dairy is used and tandoori foods are a thing. would also like to mention that most seafood dishes served in indian restaurants are of southern origin.

south indian food uses a lot more coconuts and rice. wheat based breads are not really a thing and they make these crepes called "dosa". also vegetarian food is more commonly consumed in the south compared with the north. i would say that south indian food has a more limited scope in terms of variety of popular dishes.


>>9370952
bhel puri is easy to make

>>9370968
i have this book. really nice photography

>>9371057
beef in the north. North Indian guy i worked with would always bring in his wife's 'cow curry' and parade it in front of the south indians cackling like a hyena, he was a gc

>>9371143
north? beef? outside of muslims/sikhs from the north i feel like ive known more south indians(kerela) who ate beef/recipees for beef from the south(portugese influense, pork also shows up more)

>>9371130
How hard is it to follow that book? I have Indian ancestry (grandparents), but was never taught how to cook/speak an indian language

>>9371206
its a pretty nice easy to follow book, would still recommend finding videos of people making similar dishes just to get a sense of the technique.

I tasted those things after grandma brought them from a trip. I googled the names you dumped and after reading about them I can say that:
>>9371071
It wasn't an ice cream, more like a confectionery.
>>9371073
They are called barfi, although kaju katli and cham cham are a type of barfi.

>>9370937
Best results I have had was to set my google search settings to Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi, etc, and then use google translate to understand them. Searching in English results in 95% of the recipes being dumbed-down westernized shit. Also watch videos on youtube. Even if you don't understand the language you can usually identify what's going on visually.

>>9370937
Indian sweets look great but they taste like cardboard

>>9374130
Really? I've tasted some and enjoyed them. Most of the pretty ones are really sweet though

>>9374410
I must have tried twenty different types and they were all either dense and bland, or soggy and bland. The pistachio kulfi/icecream is good though

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>>9374416
I tried Jalebi which looked really nice and was crispy/warm, almost like a funnel cake but crispier and stickier, Gulab Jamun which was very sweet/spongy, and ras malai (also sweet/spongy). All of them were extremely sweet, but really good if you just ate one

>>9374442
I never tried jalebi, but I did enjoy watching them make it

>>9374130
Indian sweets are beetus, holy fuck do they like the sugar. Badam burfi is pretty good though.

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I had this at a krishna temple once. Can someone tell me what this is called? I've always wanted to make it..

>>9374487
Yeah it's weird, the sweets are WAY too sweet, yet most people in India seem skinny to me. Maybe they use fresh ingredients or something

>>9374527

I know it as 'siro' i have no idea how you'd spell it
Its made from semolina, you make it similar to halwa and add fuck loads of sugar semolina has no taste right?

Indian AMA about home cooked foods

>>9374527
I think that's called "Suji ka Halwa". It's really good, easy to make, and semolina based

>>9374616

They usually come in small boxes, the tradition is to only buy them on 'special occasions' and everyone gets 1-2 each thats it.

Times like Diwali ans Holi and births marriages etc

We don't buy them often to eat at home

>>9374618
>>9374621
Thank you both so much!

>>9370937


>>9370937

Idk but the general rule for me is to use a nice combination of vegetables, whip up a sauce base and let everything simmer together, and just keep switching up the types of spice flavour you want with what vegetables you have.

Example

Oil
Spices
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes finely chopped or blended, or both of these
Peas
4/5 boiled sweet potato
Whole spices
Leaf spices
Simmer
Add corn flour if you want it thicker
Ghor for sweetness
Lime and lemon for balance
Salt

>>9374790

On the flip side you can use lentils as a base,

Lentils
Water
Spice
Vegetables

Its rly simple

>>9374790
do you use tamarind? tamarind is a fantastic ingredient

>>9374834

Yeah its really nice in sweeter dishes! when i was in my home town i used to chew the tamarind (amli) leaves all day, so good! I got told its bad for you tho

Can be overwhelming to use in regular everyday stuff
Usually use it when im making something like manchurian or chilli paneer, anything with a sweet sour oriental feel to it

Its mainly used as a dipping sauce for samosa pakora bhajia

>>9374487
>gulab jamun
I think I managed half of one. I quite like how some of the Indian restaurants I've been to will offer rock sugar and spices after the meal, kind of like having a mint.

>>9370937
With my in-laws in India rn. Most dishes start out with oil (they use a soy/sunflower blend) then add spices. The most prevalent spices are cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cumin powder, turmeric, and chili powder. The powdered spices are added after the vegetables are cooked most of the way. A typical dish would be something like spice blend + potatoes, green peas, cabbage or spice blend (no mustard seeds) + okra and quite a bit of salt is added to each dish. Top with cilantro and eat with roti, daal, rice, and spicy pickled green mango.

Hands down, my favorite thing is this spicy tomato based broth with potatoes in it. I don't know what it's called but it's fucking amazing.

>>9374618
>Indian AMA about home cooked foods
How the fuck do you deal with your cuisine being so damn tasty?

If I had a wife that could make tasty curries on demand, I would end up obese within a year.

>>9376534

to be honest we don't make all the fancy dishes you see in restaurants often, like someone said earlier restaurant food is norhern indian because it uses a lot of meats and creams and dairy; (i am from gujurat) we use a lot of vegetables to rely on texture and flavour

I mainly eat vegeterian so our dinners are really basic, basically just vegetable medleys in a sauce base with varying spices.

REALLY tasty but kind of healthy I guess

>>9376526

that sounds like just a plain potato shaak (batata nu shaak)
really simple to make, its like a blend of soup curry and stew with rotli

>>9376641
Husband said it's just aloo subji with gravy lol he's no help but it is a very simple dish :)

>>9376687

Ahah husband may be right tho! If not all I can think of is a really tomatoey daar with potato chunks?