East Indian Recipes?!
I would really appreciate it anyone knew any great websites for Indian cuisine or have any knowledge of this culture's food in general.
If anyone could fill me in on the popular Indian dishes/desserts that'd be great.
Thanks in advance.
Answers: I'm working on a project for class and I need some websites. (Preferably websites with lots of photos, I need to include visuals in the project)
I would really appreciate it anyone knew any great websites for Indian cuisine or have any knowledge of this culture's food in general.
If anyone could fill me in on the popular Indian dishes/desserts that'd be great.
Thanks in advance.
None of the Indian sites that I actually use have photos of most of their recipes. I did find a website for you that has some recipes and some photos attached, though, but the photos are a bit small. I'll link it below.
You may do better by typing the names of certain dishes into google images and then finding individual websites that have pictures, rather than looking for sites that have a recipe and a picture together.
As to popular dishes, here are the dishes that are on nearly every buffet I've ever been to, and a list of a few other dishes that are very popular -
Pakoras - A very common appetizer, this is just various vegetables fried up kind of like fritters, with light spice. Made with chickpea flour, it has a unique breading and taste. Some vegetables used would be cauliflower, onion, spinach, and potato - I've found zucchini pakoras in a few places, as well as eggplant.
Samosas - Another appetizer or snack, or light meal. These are triangular, savoury pastries filled with mashed potato and peas. Some people make keema (meat) samosas, but they're not as common. They're made with ground lamb instead of the vegetables above.
Tandoori Chicken - pieces of chicken, usually legs and thighs, cooked in a very hot tandoori oven, and coloured red, or occasionally green. Very succulent chicken. This one is perhaps the most popular Indian food around.
Chicken Tikka Masala - a thick, mild, somewhat sweet curry made with tender boneless tandoori cooked chicken, in a sauce of tomato, butter, onion and coconut milk.
Saag Paneer (or Palak Paneer) - spiced cooked spinach mixed with pieces of soft homemade cheese.
Channa Masala - chickpeas curried with onion, tomato, cilantro or parsley, and spices. Sometimes served with Bhatura bread, and then it's sometimes called Channa Bhatura.
Vegetable korma - A variety of fresh vegetables with a creamy yellowy curry, onions, spices, and sometimes nuts.
Chicken korma is also popular.
Vegetable Jalfrazi - fresh vegetables with ginger and garlic and herbs. A slightly drier (sometimes), milder vegetable dish than korma, with more veggie flavour instead of cream flavour.
Daal - There are variations, but daal is essentially a mild lentil soup, often made with ingredients such as butter, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes.
Bhatura is a large, puffy round bread that's lightly fried to make it a bit crisp and airy. Hollow inside, you tear it apart and scoop food up with it to eat it.
Naan - the staple bread served with practically all Indian meals. Flat, kind of like pita bread, but not as dense or tough. Some people make Naan with garlic in it, otherwise it's just plain.
And of course basmati rice, and sometimes a bit of a pilaf with peas and little bits of other vegetables mixed in.
Meals will also come with some condiments -
Raita - a yoghurt made with cucumber and a few refreshing herbs, which is drizzled over meals for a bit of cool tanginess.
Pickles - a type of relish, often made with mango or with lime, oils, and spices, which can be added to most any meal, or rice alone.
Mint chutney - a refreshing but spicy sauce, with an almost salsa consistency, added to meals, or used as dip for breads and appetizers.
Tamarind chutney - a sweet, thin chutney used mostly as a dipping sauce.
Other popular dishes that aren't usually served on buffet -
Rogan Josh - a red, creamy lamb curry with a lot of tomato.
Chicken or lamb vindaloo - a slightly thin, very spicy curry with lamb or chicken, often with potato hunks stewed in.
Biriyani - a dish consisting mainly of rice, with vegetables (and sometimes meat such as lamb, chicken, or shrimp) added in. A dry, spicy meal.
Bhindi Aloo - okra and potatoes cooked with spices and lots of salt, a very dry dish.
Common desserts -
Gulab Jumun - light, round balls of pastry made with milk and honey, sitting in thick syrup. Very very sweet.
Kheer - basmati rice pudding, with almond and pistachio
Kulfi - a dense, very sweet homemade ice cream, often made with pistachio and/or almonds.
Gajjar Halwa - grated carrots with milk, nuts, sweet spices and rosewater. Mildly sweet.
Drinks -
Lassi is a very popular drink, like a milkshake, made of yogurt. It goes well with a meal, or just after as a dessert type deal. Mango lassis are my favourite, they have more flavour, and are sweeter.
Masala tea - tea made with milk and spices, including cardamom. This is enjoyed all day long, but especially nice after a meal.
Indian cuisine is vast with many regional differences and influences. Such as Punjabi/Mughal, South Indian, Assamese, Maharashtrian, Goan, Parsi, Bengali, Gujerati... cuisines.
The cuisine of India is extremely rich in history and diversity. Many people are only familiar with North Indian or Punjabi dishes, but that only represents one aspect of Indian cuisine.
These are some great websites:
http://www.indianfoodsite.com/
http://indianfood.about.com/
http://www.indianfoodsco.com/
http://www.bellaonline.com/site/indianfo...
http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/HomePage.h...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_cuis...