Indian cookbooks by Suneeta Vaswani

Ciao Suneeta,

Greetings from Tuscany – I'm a friend of Diane Lestina's and she gave me your cookbook, signed by you yet! Just wanted you to know that I made the Coriander Chicken and the Basmati Rice and Spiced Cauliflower last Sunday and my very picky Tuscan boyfriend loved it! He called the rice Indian Risotto. Tough getting the spices up here in the mountains where I live but I found a shop in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella in Florence where I can get just about everything.

Oh, it was great. I opened the windows and let those exotic fragrances drift down the street. The coriander was intoxicating! I'm looking forward to trying more of your recipes soon.

One question – can I use anything other than corn starch to stabilize the yogurt? I think they call cornstarch something different over here.

Ciao and thanks for the pleasure of your book.
– Martha Cavanagh

Introduction

India, the land of my birth, from which I am unable to cut the umbilical cord, is an enigma. Try as I might, I cannot describe it in a sentence, a paragraph or even a page.

I have spent approximately half my life in India and am still continually learning about my people, the traditions and the food. The last, I’m convinced, is more than one lifetime’s project — it is so vast and so diverse. In India, “community” refers to an ethnic group rather than a geographical area. Within each state, there are several different communities, ethnic groups each with its own cuisine. Until television became mainstream, communities lived in relative isolation, unaware for the most part of the food traditions of their neighbors. Today, television has changed the lives of Indians. Food shows on TV have raised awareness of the diversity of our cuisine in every village, where even illiterate grandmothers watch mesmerized as celebrity chefs prepare dishes from different regions. This newfound awareness has also fueled a cookbook explosion and a spurt in restaurants specializing in regional foods.

Indian food has evolved over centuries, influenced by history, geography and religious beliefs. The greatest impact on the food of north India undoubtedly came from the Moguls, who introduced Islam in India and ruled from the 16th century until the middle of the 18th century. Theirs was a sophisticated and refined cuisine, and they introduced ingredients such as saffron, nuts and cream. Tandoori foods were also part of their food traditions, as was the famous naan bread.

The Europeans, beginning with the Portuguese — who arrived in 1498 on the southwest coast of Kerala in search of pepper, the black gold — also left their mark on the food of India. They brought with them foods from the New World — ingredients such as tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, which are synonymous with Indian food today. The British, who were the most dominant of the western powers, eventually ruled the country for nearly three centuries and left an indelible mark on its food. The cuisine they left behind is often called Anglo-Indian or “club food,” referring to the food served even today in country clubs throughout India. Indian spices changed British taste buds forever, and they, in return, introduced Indians to processed cheese, breaded fried foods and the ubiquitous “baked dish”. usually a medley of vegetables in a “white sauce” that still appears on party tables today. Sandwiches and white bread are also a legacy of the British, and Indians have taken both to new heights, making bread a staple in the Indian diet.

The food of the north is completely different from that of the south. In the north, wheat is the main staple, as are other grains, such as millet and sorghum; flatbreads made from these are relished with gusto. Of course, rice is also very much a part of the diet, and the famous basmati rice is grown in the north. In the south, rice rules: more than 20 varieties are grown in the area. It is served in multiple courses at each meal, including breakfast, while wheat plays a very small role. Spices are used in all Indian food, but are treated differently. In most cases, people in north India toast certain spices and grind them into a powder. These are then added individually to dishes in varying quantities while cooking. In southern cooking, spices are often combined and fried in a teaspoon of oil, powdered and added to a dish almost at the end of the cooking process.

In Easy Indian Cooking, I have included recipes from northern and southern cuisines as well as those from some of the other regions of India. In this way, I hope to give you some idea of the vast diversity of the food of India.