Do I need many ingredients to get started cooking Indian food?

Answer 1

Very Basic Indian pantry:

ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes, chilies

spices: mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chili powder, ground cumin, garam masala & turmeric

Belive it or not, this is what you need for the most basic Indian meal. As you become more comfortable with Indian cooking, expand your menu & the ingredients.

Here's a quick & simple recipe:

Alu Gobi Aur Mattar (Spicy Cauliflower With Potatoes and Peas):

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons oil
2 medium onions -- finely chopped
2 medium potatoes -- diced in 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 small cauliflower -- cut in florets
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/3 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tomatoes -- chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup peas
1/2 teaspoon garam masala -- (see description)

Garam Masala (one of the ingedients in this dish) means "hot spices" and is a mixture of ground spices that is used sparingly, sprinkled either on a finished dish or on to the foods just before it has finished cooking. It is far better to grind your own spices than to buy the mixture ready-ground. Bought garam masala often contains inferior quality spices and will not keep its flavour for long.

For homemade garam masala, grind together cardamom seeds from 10 pods, 25g cinnamon stick, 6 cloves and 6-8 whole black peppercorns. Store in an airtight jar in a cool place.

1. Heat the oil in a karahi (wok) over medium high heat.

2. Add the onions and fry for 3-4 minutes until light brown.

3. Add the potatoes and cauliflower and stir. Add the turmeric, chilli, cumin, tomatoes, salt and sugar. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the peas, cover and reduce heat to a medium low and cook for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and cauliflower are tender. During the cooking period stir the vegetables a few times to stop them sticking.

5. Sprinkle with garam masala.

6. It's that easy!

You can apply this basic recipe to almost any variety & combination of veggies.

Answer 2

If you’re just starting out with Indian cooking, the vast number of spices available in stores may actually end up confusing you. While Indian cooking does use a greater variety of ingredients than most other cuisines, there are some that are basic to most dishes. Start with these and buy in small quantities (spices lose their strength and aroma if kept for too long). Build your store and add the more exotic ingredients as you grow familiar with Indian cuisine.

Answer 3

No really! You can start cook with limited ingredients. But it depends on the item you are cooking, it may require more ingredients doe Indian Cooking. In Indian non-veg curries uses lots of spices.

Answer 4

You need only few ingredients to get started Indian food. This is sharp reply to your question, becoz U have asked only for basic food. Like many labour class people, watchman or security staff, farmers, truck drivers follow this.

If U now switch over to gr8 receipes in Indian food, it may require some additional ingredients. Remember Indian food is Best in the world. Avoid non-veg food. Other animals in world do not eat human beings.

Answer 5

Yes you need many ingredients for a good Indian food.

Answer 6

A good, authentic Indian cookbook that's reasonably well-adapted to a Western pantry (it makes substitutions like thyme for ajwain) is" "Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cuisine." I think you can generally cook things if you have the following items on hand. Spices are much cheaper at the Indian grocery store than at the Western grocery store.

* Garam masala spice
* Cumin
* Turmeric
* Black mustard seeds (essential, easy to use, and very cheap in big bags at Indian-food grocery stores in any U.S. city; almost never seen in Western-style supermarkets)
* Cayenne
* Possibly, cardamom -- but if it's too expensive, skip it
* It's always a good idea to have dried thyme, dried oregano, and dried bay leaves in the pantry
* Big bag of rice
* You may want a big bag of dried lentils/dal
* Sea salt
* Black pepper - the kind you grind yourself
* Either ghee, or ordinary vegetable oil

You will want to have a store where you can reliably get:
* Fresh ginger
* Fresh garlic
* Fresh green chiles
* Fresh cilantro

Answer 7

not really u can cook indian food with some basic vegetables
and for spices 2 things are very imp salt and red pepper powder
in india many spices are used to cook. as haldi, garam masala, jira powder, hing and many more.

Answer 8

you need a few basic ingredients even for starters,when you are more confident & wish to try your hand at more complicated recipes,then you will need to expamd your spice collection.If you wish to avoid the same taste in every dish,you just have to avoid the standard curry powder,mix & match, experimant,make a note of how a particular combination has worked for you,soon you will be confident enough to judge what goes best with what.

Answer 9

Well one must have these very main spices in his spice bow which are used in indian cooking
Red turmeic
Turmeric powder
Coriander powder
***Hot pepper(Garam Masala)-Finely grinded black pepper, tejpatta, jaifal, etc.
Amchoor
Also readymade good cooking spices are available in the market

Answer 10

My favorite curry recipes call for a curry paste and coconut milk. The rest is just meat and veg and rice.