Cardinal sin in Indian cooking

[Monica Bhide]

I am in a mood today. I was talking to a dear friend whose mom in law chided her for the ultimate sin -- tomatoes left floating in her chiken curry

Is this a cardinal sin.. are there worse ones

do share

[Big Bunny]

Stale spices!

BB

[e101g]

1. Using broccoli.

2. Using lettuce

3. Using heavy cream instead of coconut

4. Adding sugar to sambhar

5. Readymade rava dosai mix. (if you can ever get it to look as good as it looks on the packaging.)

[Monica Bhide]

too funny.. I agree BB stale spices would be at the top of my list as well. I think hate the folks who add spices that have been sitting in their cupboards for years and then claim the stuff has not taste!

[Pan]

What's wrong with using broccoli instead of cauliflower? Works pretty well, and broccoli is a very good vegetable.

[Monica Bhide]

i actually like (YIKES) broccoli. I season it with a few spices and then deep fry it.. it tastes divine..

Pan -- would you like to try it?

[Pan]

Of course. Next time I'm down your way, I'll contact you.

[Monica Bhide]

Of course. Next time I'm down your way, I'll contact you.

I meant would you like the recipe.. to prepare it

[bong]

Don't know if this is a cardinal sin, but one of my pet peeves is the smell and taste of uncooked spices in Indian food. eg. turmeric, ground coriander. This is the reason I don't go near the food in my company's cafeteria on the days they have the "Indian" menu!

Of course there are some spices (like the bengali garam masala) that can be left uncooked sometimes but I am not talking about those.

Another one -- the use of way too much spices. This is the classic sign of a bad Indian restaurant. Or when they ask "how spicy do you want the food?" question at an Indian restaurant in the US...

[Pan]

Of course. Next time I'm down your way, I'll contact you. 

I meant would you like the recipe.. to prepare it

I knew you meant that.

Sure, feel free to post or PM the recipe.

[Rushina]

Right up there with the stale spices - stale dry fruits, rancid oil

Rushina

[jschyun]

I don't know if this is a cardinal sin but I absolutely hate it when there is too much ghee. If it puddles into a big greasy pool, I can't eat it.

[bague25]

Here's what gets me fuming...

- Spices over-roasted (read burnt) before grinding them for masala powders!

- Curries that curdle because the yoghurt was not correctly incorporated

- Trying to pass off parsley as dhania

- Indian food = chilli powder

- burnt or undercooked onions in a curry

- This is personal but red colouring in Tandoori

[Carlovski]

I know this isn't really a problem with 'Real' indian cooking, more anglo-indian bastardisations, but Fruit, where it shouldn't be is a big no no.

(For those not in the know, Indian food in Britain used to equate to a bowl of stew, with half a teaspoon of 5 year old curry powder, sultanas and apricots, served topped with dessicated coconut and sliced bananas on the side)

[Pan]

Some Anglo-Indian dishes are good, if you accept them for what they are.

What is dhania? Cilantro?

[bague25]

yes, dhania is coriander, cilantron chinese parsley

[Monica Bhide]

I don't know if this is a cardinal sin but I absolutely hate it when there is too much ghee. If it puddles into a big greasy pool, I can't eat it.

When I was very young, I remember my grandmother telling her new daughterinlaw that is was a sign of a prosperous household if the ghee bubbled at the top of each dish! Yikes

[tryska]

using curry powder as a main seasoning and thinking what you are doing is making Indian food.

in the case of authentic indian - not toasting your spices as a first step.

[Monica Bhide]

burnt or undercooked onions in a curry

I could not agree more on this one. It really tastes bad when this happens!

[deliad]

I don't know if this is a cardinal sin but I absolutely hate it when there is too much ghee.  If it puddles into a big greasy pool, I can't eat it.

When I was very young, I remember my grandmother telling her new daughterinlaw that is was a sign of a prosperous household if the ghee bubbled at the top of each dish! Yikes

Although not in every dish, but there is nothing wrong in GOOD ghee bubbling on top of some dishes (Rogan josh, or Moon Dal Halwa... etc.)

The key word here is GOOD, which usually translates to Pure (Desi) ghee (Clarified Butter) in the Indian context.

Based on centuries old traditions and experience, your Grandmother is probably right.

Just my 2 cents worth..

[Monica Bhide]

Anoop -- GOOD is the key word. Not they way they would ladle it on to show prosperity!

[skchai]

Wasn't the traditional test of a "properly made" biryani the presence of at least one finger-joint of ghee remaining at the bottom of the pot?

[jschyun]

I don't know if this is a cardinal sin but I absolutely hate it when there is too much ghee.  If it puddles into a big greasy pool, I can't eat it.

When I was very young, I remember my grandmother telling her new daughterinlaw that is was a sign of a prosperous household if the ghee bubbled at the top of each dish! Yikes

Yeah, I think I've actually heard something like this. Agh! I guess I forgot.

--as the worst offender was in Newport Beach, CA, I suppose it fits. As I haven't had enough ghee to tell which is bad or good, I couldn't tell on that one.

This is obviously not a cardinal sin then, just personal preference. Apologies for the faux pas.

Edited January 23, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[Mudpuppie]

- Curries that curdle because the yoghurt was not correctly incorporated

This is a particular weakness of mine. Can you give some tips for how to avoid it? Much appreciated!

[mongo_jones]

- Curries that curdle because the yoghurt was not correctly incorporated

This is a particular weakness of mine. Can you give some tips for how to avoid it? Much appreciated!

as our lord alton brown has said, dairy products must always be incorporated into sauces in the presence of fat.