Indian Kitchen or Indian Cuisine is a diverse range of spices on two extremes of the spice spectrum dishes can be extremely spicy or extremely bland depending on the region of the usage. The beauty of Indian Cuisine is that it does not have a standard recipe for its dishes; the recipe can vary and yield the exact results using the available local ingredients. For example, if somebody is trying to make Shahi Paneer in North India, he can use cashew nuts and almonds to make the gravy base. In contrast, someone making the same recipe in south india will use a base of dry desiccated coconut, shallots and green chillies, but the base remains the same, the richness of the gravy remains the same, and the essence of the dish is not lost.
But just the way industrialization has made its way to people’s lives the same; industrialization has robbed the real soul of Indian Cuisine as well; tomatoes that were once harvested and then freshly picked for the preparation of gravies now are available in canned containers. “The canned containers are easily available and easier to procure, but we fail to understand that they do contain a lot of additives and preservatives to maintain their real shelf life; thus, the natural taste of the tomato fruit is lost in the process” explained the proprietor of an Indian Restaurant in Castle Hill.
Apart from the natural usage of ingredients, the real beauty of the ingredients is bought forth by the equipment used in the Indian Kitchen, each having its scientific reason for existence. Let us discuss a few of them in detail.
INDIAN KITCHEN EQUIPMENT AND THEIR USAGE:
- BELAN (ROLLING PIN) – For those complaining about issues with gluten sensitivity, roti is the dish you should not be missing on, the reason being after having kneaded the dough when the rolling pin flattens the dough on a circular plate, it prevents the formation of gluten and the gluten protein binds and give a structure to the roti, the flattened bread is then baked over the fire to activate the protein within and also awaken the dormant molecules of starch within the bread.
- BATAN (THE GRINDING STONE) – The Batan or the grinding stone is used for grinding spices and bringing out the best available flavours within the spices. The batan consists of a flat stone and a grinding stone; the flat stone is activated by pouring some rock salt onto it, and then spices are ground, placing them between the flat stone and the grinding stone. “Slow grinding prevents the loss of the nutritional element from the natural ingredients; hence it is always advisable to use a silbatta for grinding”, explained a restaurateur who owns an Indian Restaurant in Panania.
- MORTAL AND PESTLE: Mortar and pestle is the miniature version of the Batan; like the batan, the mortar and pestle also consist of a grinding stone and a club, however unlike the batan, the mortar and pestle cannot be used for fine grinding, it just used to pound the ingredients to activate the flavours and then later on added to the dish.