Homecooked Indian Doesn’t Happen Much Here
A reader, Veronica, sent in the following question a couple of days ago:
My boyfriend is from Gondia and I wanted to learn to cook some food from that area of India. What kind of Indian food do you cook for your husband?
Heh, well, I guess it’s confession time here on Gori Girl: I can’t remember the last time I cooked real Indian food. Maggi? Sure. Ginger tea? It’s been known to happen. TastyBite or other yummy precooked packaged Indian meals? We’ve got a pantry full of ‘em. And we’ve got a kabob takeout place on speed dial.
But I don’t ever cook a full meal of real Indian food. I mean, I have in the past, but it’s not a regular thing at all. There’s a simple enough explanation for this - I’ve just never learned how to cook Indian food. When I grew up in California I had a lot of Chinese and Taiwanese friends and neighbors, so I can make a fair number of Chinese dishes. I’ve managed to pick up a few things from my Mexican, Japanese, and Korean relatives (yup, it’s a rainbow of colors at family reunions). But until I met Aditya I wasn’t close friends with anyone who could cook Indian food. Of course, given his limited repertoire in the kitchen, I still didn’t know anyone who could cook (much) Indian food after I met him either.
Nowadays, I mostly limit myself to adding Indian spices to change the taste of some of the dishes I already cook. Turmeric powder gets tossed into the stirfry, or garam masala is added to the sausage stew after it’s done. Actually, it’s a bit of a hazard for our friends who dine at our house without knowing this habit of mine - they’ll bite into the chicken pot pie, only to discover there’s a bunch of chicken curry masala in the sauce.
While this response might be a superficial answer to Veronica’s question (no Indian food is cooked for poor Aditya), it isn’t a particularly helpful answer for people looking to make some familiar food for their partners. This question actually comes at a particularly good time, as I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at real Indian cooking. So - how can you learn to cook Indian (or other, new-to-you) food? Let’s go through the difference resources available:
- Family members
Your best bet to learn real homestyle cookin’ is to study under the person that gave your partner his or her food back home. Yep, I’m talking about your partner’s Mom or Dad. My mother-in-law, Maa, is an amazing cook. I’m really looking forward to her visiting this summer and teaching me all her little tricks in the kitchen. When picking up a new cuisine that depends heavily on spices, like Indian food does, it’s especially helpful to learn from an actual person who can explain how each different bit affects the dish. If you can’t learn from a family member in person, getting a secret family recipe on the phone with details, or at least the name of a good, simple dish to keep an eye out for might be the second-best thing. - Friends
Exactly the same deal as family members from above, except that they probably don’t know your partner’s favorite childhood meals. Ask around - you’d be surprised at who is secretly a great cook, or at least has a couple of great recipes that they can churn out. An Indian friend of Aditya’s at college had one wonderful curry dish that he’d whip out every year for the college’s annual International Bazaar. He couldn’t cook much else, but he had that dish down. I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t get the recipe from him (and watch him make the dish) when I had the chance. - Internet
The internet is a great resource for people looking to learn new dishes. First of all, there are a bunch of great food blogs out there that lead you step-by-step (with plenty of pictures!) through making a meal. Two of my favorite food blogs that cover Indian food are Cooking 4 all Seasons and Evil Jungle Prince. There are also a bunch of videos that make my mouth water at Indian Recipie.org. If you’re looking for information about a particular Indian region’s cuisine, you might try checking out Wikipedia’s fairly comprehensive articles. Here’s the link to the article on Maharashtrian food for Veronica (Gondia is a town in the state of Maharashtra). Try checking Wikipedia first for other nations’ cuisines as well. Generally, though, google is your friend here: seek, and ye shall find. - Books
A classic of Indian cooking is Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khana Khazana: Celebration of Indian Cookery, which has clear, simple recipes. I highly recommend it (and, perhaps more importantly, so does Maa). But I’ve generally found the best way to find a cookbook that suits you is to just head to the local bookstore or library and browse around ’til you find something you like. Some cooks prefer lots of pictures and detailed, complicated recipes. Others prefer simpler cookbooks that give tips that allow you to experiment on your own. A great example of this latter type is the massive Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison - I’ve learned a ton about cooking and the use of spices from this book. - Spice Boxes
If you’re looking to quickly cook an Indian dish that tastes pretty good, and isn’t that difficult, your best bet is to use a box of mixed spices. When I’ve cooked (or attempted to cook) Indian dishes, I’ve always used MDH Spices and just followed the recipes listed on the back of the boxes. While the dishes may not perfectly authentic, or made from scratch, they’re always quick and easy, and taste just as good as what you get at your average Indian restaurant. You can these spices, or something very similar, at any South Asian grocery store.
Edit: Looking over the post, I realized that some of you might wonder why Aditya doesn’t cook his own dang Indian food if he wants to eat some. The quick answer is that neither of us knows much about Indian cookery, but that I have a lot more practice cooking all types of food, so I have a bit more intuition on what sort of spices will work well together, and how to improvise when things don’t turn out quite like you’d expect.
Does anyone else have suggestions for Veronica? Leave recipes or links in the comments if you have any good ones!
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Comments
I am lucky, I guess, since I really like to eat Gujarati food and want to learn how to cook it. My guy asks his mom how to make things so he can show me later. I think this arrangement has also helped her start to like the idea of having me around… 
Most of the time I think both of us eat in a similar way - we make really simple Indian-style food about half the time (spicy fried rice is a favorite) and other kinds of food (lots of Mexican and Greek) the other half the time. I am so into food, cooking and eating, that I think I would be very sad if I was with someone who was really picky.
I just found your blog through John. 
It’s fascinating! I also wanted to let you know that, mostly because I’m lazy, I’ve syndicated your blog on LiveJournal, so that LJ people can keep up with all of your interesting posts. I hope that’s ok? Here’s the URL: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/gorigirlblog/
@ vatterpa: I’m glad you like the post! Do keep me informed about how your culinary adventures are going. I remember the first meal I ever cooked for Aditya’s family was some super spicy spaghetti, which they really enjoyed. I was *so* relieved at the time.
@ galaxie: Your cooking “arrangement” sounds like a good way to ease into a relationship with your guy’s mom. And it’s great that the two of you enjoy similar types of food - it just makes everything a bit easier. Is he vegetarian, by the way? (Most Gujaratis I’ve known are.) I’d love to cook more vegetarian food, but Aditya doesn’t think it’s a meal unless there’s some meat.
@ Mallory: glad you found me here! The syndication is absolutely fine. (I’m preening like a peacock, actually - my blog is *syndicated* 
). I hope you come by the main site to comment if anything catches your eye, though!
My dad has a really great cookbook that details the PRINCIPLES behind Indian cooking and demonstrates them through the recipes. I’ve found it really helpful… If only I could remember what it was called…
I usually “cheat” when I cook Indian, though, too.
I will definitely come by here to post comments. *points to this comment* Don’t forget to add the link to any of your other links so that people who use LJ know it’s an option.
Yeah, we’re both vegetarian. Before we got together I was a kind of social, occasional meat-eater but it’s been really easy to switch - I imagine that depends on where you live and who you hang out with. I always used to look forward to eating vegetarian food, but now I just look forward to eating.
I don’t think his mom and I have much in common, but I hope that asking her to teach me how to make some food and maybe help me learn Gujarati will give us something to talk about.
I have a favorite Indian food blog: http://nandyala.org/mahanandi
That made me giggle! In reverse intercultural craziness, Indian me married a gora and didn’t know the first thing about Indian cooking myself. Funnily, I started with the very same cookbook and recipes on the back of spice packets! And now I write a blog for new Indian cooks. Bizarre how things work…
Also, I love your blog. My sisters still call my man “the gora” even after 8 years of marital bliss…
@ Anne - when you get a chance, I’d really love to learn the title of your dad’s Indian cookbook. It sounds like it’d be really helpful!
@ Mallory - excellent job coming back here to comment! I’ll be adding the LJ link whenever I get enough time to do some design work here.
@ galaxie - it’s great that you were able to switch over so easily. I don’t know what Aditya would do if I went vegi - I guess start grilling all his meals on the patio while I enjoyed my salads and lentils by myself in the kitchen. If you get a chance, check out the vegetarian cookbook I listed in the original post - it’s got a million amazing recipes. And I’ll be sure to check out the blog you recommended!
@ Mallika - thanks for stopping by! I’m glad to hear that one can start off with the back of spice boxes and eventually get up to full on food blogger. Your site looks really great - quick and easy recipes will certain help keep me trying my hand at Indian cooking.
Hi! Finally wandered over here from the other blog and am in the midst of catching up. Have you ever tried any of Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks? I have From Curries to Kebabs, and my MIL swears by her old copy of A Taste of India. I’ve also heard good things about Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian book, although I haven’t tried it yet. I only recently started cooking more Indian food because G (my husband) doesn’t like a whole lot of it and always wants other things instead. I got him to agree to eat Indian food once a week to I can learn to cook it. So far everything I’ve tried from Madhur Jaffrey has turned out very well and isn’t as complicated as I thought it would be.
My ILs just got back from India — they live here but were visiting family — and my MIL said they were all asking if I would be ok eating their food when we visit (hopefully next January). She told them of course I would be, since I like more Indian food than G does.
Welcome D…please stick around :). I loved your link to the Jumpa Lahiri short story. I absolutely loved it and love her writing!
@ D - thanks for stopping by! I’ve never tried Jaffrey’s books, but I have heard about them. It’s amusing that G doesn’t like to eat that much Indian food - Aditya loves to eat it (but maybe that’s because we don’t eat it except when we go out to eat). Cute story about the inlaws - everyone (outside of Aditya’s immediate family) was very surprised that I liked Indian food so much while I was there.
I just found your blog through a friend, and am enjoying it thoroughly! I’m another “gori”, with a Punjabi husband. I don’t cook much Indian food any more because we live in Delhi and inherited my mother-in-law’s excellent cook, but when I wanted to learn about Indian cooking I found Julie Sahni’s “Classic Indian Cooking” to be an invaluable resource. It’s written for an American kitchen, with great explanations of ingredients, tools and methods.
@ FrancesC: thanks for stopping by and commenting! My mother-in-law had an excellent cook/maid too - who was then promptly stolen by Didi, Aditya’s sister. I’ll be sure to check out the cookbook you mentioned.
Hello Gori Girl, Just came here to check out that link love. And I am surprised I have never been here. You have a very entertaining space here. Good job. And interesting to read through this post. Amazing how we all want to cook this to please our family, I especially love the fact that many want to learn simple Indian food.
I hope to do a series on that soon, you can help me give ideas. Will love hearing from you!..thanks once again. In your own words ‘I’m preening like a peacock’ knowing that you like my blog..:)
Hi Srivalli - thanks for stopping by! This blog is pretty new, so don’t be surprised that you haven’t heard of it before.
I’d LOVE to help out with (or just read about) Indian recipes that are simple to make. I think that the long list of ingredients, particularly spices, might be intimidating to a lot of Western-style cooks.
You can also try following channels on YouTube.
manjulaskitchen - For Indian Veggie dished
vahrehvah - Most Popular and comprehensive listing of Indian dishes. you can try http://www.vahrehvah.com too.
showmethecurry - http://www.showmethecurry.com
I can cook a pretty decent Alu Gobi and my dal had a previous Indian boyfriend running back to the kitchen for seconds and thirds - ultimate compliment, LOL… I also learned to make samosas and mula achaar recently. I am going to visit my Nepali ILs soon and I have begged my MIL to teach me how to cook some more dishes.
Thanks to Vick & Quizman for great links!
PattuRani, how difficult are samosas to make by hand? I’ve heard it’s quite time-consuming, so I’m not sure if it’s worth it to dedicate an afternoon to making ‘em, since the store-bought ones are pretty tasty.
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Thank you so much! That is so helpful. I just bought a gigantic Indian cookery book to try and learn so more too. I just hope that when I meet his parents for the first time, I can cook something decent. Now to find a Indian store around here……