Are there any special cooking techniques used in Indian cooking?
Although there are innumerable regional cooking variations in Indian cuisine, the same basic techniques are used time and again and are simple to learn.
| Technique |
Description |
Dry roasting |
To bring out their flavor and aroma, nuts or whole spices are heated in a pan, without any oil, before being ground up or directly added to a dish. |
Tempering (Tadka) |
Whole spices (such as mustard seeds, cumin seeds, or dried red chilies) are fried in a little hot oil prior to adding them to a dish. This process brings out a smoky flavor in the spices. |
Braising |
A cooking technique that requires browning meat in oil or other fat and then cooking slowly in liquid. The effect of braising is to tenderize the meat. |
| Steaming |
Ingredients, such as vegetables, are cooked in a covered pan using the vapor from a small amount of water. This technique retains the ingredient's vitamins. |
| Clarify |
Solid particles are removed from ingredients, most commonly butter, by boiling it and then skimming the top until only liquid remains. In Hindi, this clarified butter is called ghee. |
| Reduce |
To cook liquids down so that some of the water evaporates. Indian desserts are often made my reducing milk until it is thick and creamy and then adding it to other ingredients. |
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