Flavours Of India

If you want to learn or taste the recipes of India, you cannot miss the pickles, chutneys and appetizers of India which are prepared using the best spices and s sorts of fruits, vegetables, and natural ingredients. Appetizers stimulate the digestive system and add taste and flavor to a particular recipe. As well as they are nutritious and good for health. The appetizers are for all occasions and for all seasons.

If you ever buy any book on Indian Recipes and cooking traditions you will definitely find some recipe lessons on Indian appetizers. The appetizers include items like pickles, chutneys, murabbas, jellies, jams, sherbets, cold drinks prepared in home, squashes and raita. The ingredients required to prepare them are easily available in the local market.

The chutneys, pickles, salads, raita and other things used in a variety of ways in Indian homes depending on their moods, lifestyle, region and festivals. They are served as condiments to enhance the taste of food and add an extra flavor to dishes.

Here are recipes of few appetizers in India:

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:
1 cup of unsweetened/sweetened grated coconut, 1 cup of roasted chana or roasted peanuts, 1 cup loosely filled cilantro leaves, 5 hot green chilly peepers, ½ tbsp salt, 3 pods of garlic, ½ cup lime juice and 1 cup of water. 

Mix all the ingredients in a pour into a bowl. Now take a blender and blend them find. All salt and mix the blended items well. Garnish the chutney with fresh leaves of parsley or mint or coriander or any herb of your choice.

The coconut chutney is ready to be served with dosa or roti or rice dishes.

Amla Pickle

Amla pickle is a widely used condiment in the homes of Indians. Almost all homes do prepare ala pickle during amla season and relish it with favorable dishes like paranthas.

Ingredients:
15-20 amlas, 1 tablespoon mustard seeds, 4 green chillies, 2 tablespoon turmeric powder, 1 tbsp hing, 7-8 tbsp mustard oil, fenugreek seeds, vinegar and salt for taste.

Take a pressure cooker. Pour all the amlas after washing them well. Now cook them till they are soft and tender. Five or six whistles will make them tender. Take out the amlas and blend them well with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and green chillies. Ass the turmeric powder too. If you wish you can add red chilly powder to prevent them from rotting when they are kept for long. Now heat the oil in a kadai and add the paste of that you blended in the mixture to it when the oil is hot. Cook for at least 6-7 minutes. Take a clean glass container whose mouth can be covered tightly. Pour the rest of the oil in the container and put the amla from kadai in it. Add little amount of vinegar to keep the medium tangy and free from rotting pathogens. For one week keep the bottle under direct sunlight. The amla pickle by now gets ready to be served with variety of dishes.

The traditional Hyderabadi cuisine are known for their spicy flavor, hot fragrance, liberal use of exotic spices, ghee and use of dry fruits in most items. They use the meat of lamb extensively as a non-vegetarian food. The delectable recipes of Hyderabad are famous throughout the world. Tourists flocking to India rarely miss the chance to visit the place of historic importance and get a taste of the cuisine.

Here are few recipes of Hyderbadi Food:

Beef Korma

Though beef is not eaten by majority sections in India, yet the item is very popular in South India. Beef korma is a delectable dish of Hyderabad and it is served well with hot tandoori rotis or rice.

You would require:
2 lbs of beef cut into pieces of 1 inch. ¼ cups of sliver almonds, 8 cloves of garlic, 7 cloves preferably whole, 1 tbsp ginger-root which is chopped coarsely, 1 tbsp coriander seed, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp cardamom seed with pods, 1 tbsp red peppers crushed, 1 ½ tbsp salt, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 6 tbsp cooking oil, 3 medium onions sliced very thinly and separated, ¾ cup of whipping cream, ½ cup plain yogurt, 2 tbsp flour, ¼ tbsp garam-masala, 2 tbsp parsley or you can choose snipped coriander, water of required amount.

Combine all the spices and blend them in a blender to fine powder. Add little water, and then blanched almond, cloves of garlic, ginger-root, salt and grounded cinnamon to the mixture and blend them well till the mixture is in the form of paste. Boil the meat and then deep fry them in cooking oil. Now it is time to fry the onion on a big pan and add all the blended ingredients into it. Sauté till the color is deep brown. Now add the meat and pour ½ cup of water to the pan. Cover the pan for simmering the whole stuff for 45 minutes till the meat becomes tender and keep on stirring from time to time. Now stir the yoghurt, adding whipping cream, garam-masala and flour to it. Cook and stir the whole stuff till the gravy is thickened. Garnish the cooked korma with coriander leaves and the beef korma is ready to be served hot.

Hyderabadi Biryani

Ingredients required:
720 gm of mutton finely cut into bite pieces, 400 gm of rice parboiled, 4 tbsp lime juice, 10 blanched almonds, ½ tbsp mint leaves, 1 cup butter, 1 handful of chopped coriander leaves, ½ tbsp cumin seeds, 1 large sliced onion, 3-4 cardamom, 3 tbsp oil, 5-6 pods of garlic, 3-4 cloves, ginger finely grated, ½ tbsp saffron, 2-3 green chillies chopped, 1 cinnamon, ½ kg curd, 130 mg milk, 4 cups of water.

Wash the rice and boil it in a cooker. Soak the saffron in water. Now fry the sliced onions in the oil till they are brown in color. Put it aside. Fry the garlic, ginger, red chillies and almonds in fresh butter, add mutton to it and salt and stir the mixture well. Add little amount of friend onions to it. Now add water and cook on low flame till the meat is tender and some thick gravy is left. Put curd in a muslin cloth and let the water to drain away. Mix the cardamom, cumin seed, min leaves, chopped chillies, coriander in the drained curd. Strain the saffron water and add lemon juice to it. Add all these to the mutton on the pan and mix well. Now sprinkle half of the boiled rice and spread a layer of friend onion and then the rest of rice over it again. Pour the milk and some butter over it. Cover the vessel and seal the edges with flour paste. Place the can on flame for about 45 minutes. The biryani is ready for serving with chutney and raita.