Accomodating the Indian Palette

-

When KFC opened an outlet in Chandigarh, it must have dreamt of cash registers ringing almost instantly; after all,  Punjabis are known to relish their chicken. Unfortunately though, the outlet found it a wee bit hard to attract customers, owing to the very typical taste of American fast food. Eventually things — rather ingredients — had to be toned to suit the Punjabi palate and now if you go into the same branch located in the Sector 8 market, you will hardly find a place to sit.
This is a case in point that in India we know our taste buds very well. A huge range of fast food coming from various countries has had to be adapted to suit us.
Look at the innovative pizzas that are available right, left and centre. Pizza Hut recently came up with as many as 15 variants of the Italian dish where flavours were derived from regional preferences. The names of these offerings were as sumptuous as the dishes themselves. You got to pick between Chettinad Paneer, Nimbu Mirchi, Sev Puri, Chatpata Veg Masala, Chicken Do Pyaza and Chicken Achari, just to name a few. Any bakery irrespective of its size will have a wide range of pizzas to offer to its discerning customer.
Pasta has also found devotion from the food-lovers of this country and you might find your chowmein wala bhaiya now diversifying into this. Pasta is another staple food from Italy. It is an essential part of traditional Italian cuisine. Pasta travelled with the immigrants crossing the border from Italy into Canada and America. It soon became a popular fast food owing to its versatility. It could be the main dish, have a soupy avatar or be simply part of a baked dish. We generally refer to all our pasta as macaroni but there are quite a few types of pasta available. They fall mainly in two categories — dried and fresh pasta. The macaroni, fussili, penne and farfalle are the most visible variety whereas spaghetti, which resembles noodles, is also gaining popularity.
McDonald’s had to take into consideration the local flavours of the country. The result is its most loved product, the McAloo Tikki Burger. A spin on our shammi kababs and you have the McGrill. Both these products are unique to Indian markets.
The most popular of our fast foods is chow mein or stir-fried noodles.
Offered at every market along with other preparations like a fiery soup or momos, the chowmein is available in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian form. You also get an American twist introduced to this Chinese dish. To add a unique spin and to may be Indianise it further, some stall owners will often add chaat masala to the dish before it is placed in front of the consumer on a paper plate.
The dumplings, from our neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and China, are also available at many evening markets. Steaming hot momos, coming out of round tins, are often served with a paste-like chilly sauce that has a hotness quotient equalled by few others. Momos are available in a fried form as well. Momos are an extremely light preparation and have very subtle flavours to offer.
The Nepali noodle soup called Thupka has also transcended the border and found a niche place at stalls in our markets.


(And here is the link to the article in my Food column in The New Indian Express first published on August 24, 2012)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Decade of Motherhood: Give in

-
Image
Generally age is counted according to the number of years that you have been on this planet. But then  how do you know what your age is when the role that you are accounting for is a not as old as you? The simple answer would be to say that it would be equal to the number of years you have been in the role.  So, this is one of the most important lessons that I have learnt as a decade old mum. My daughter Netra, more commonly referred to as BhindiSood on social media, was born in 2007. Ah! your eyebrows go up. She bluffs, you think, to keep up with the theme. Dear reader but that is not the case. I might be being generous with myself when I m saying that I am a decade old mummy but I am not really bluffing. I did not (and maybe even now) know how to be a mother to a child who I was desperate to get but knew nothing about raising her for all the unaccounted years in between. But then fear not, this isn't either a self pitying sort of a post nor I intend for it ...
Read more

To, The Enablers

-
Image
तबस्सुम कैसी हो? हम सब यहाँ बिकुल ठीक हैं।आशा है की तुम भी सही सलामत होंगी। आज मैं ये चिट्ठी इसलिए लिख रहि हूँ की तुम्हे बता सकूं की मैं अक्सर तुम्हारे बारे मैं सोचती हूँ। सोचती हूँ अब तुम क्या करती होगी, काम पे जाती हो अब भी? कोई मना तो नहीं करता? सास बच्चे संभाल लेती है तुम्हारे पीछे से? वो तो अब बड़े भी हो गए होंगे न? स्कूल जाते होंगे? मुझे अब कोलकाता मैं रहते हुए ६-७ साल हो गए  हैं। जब चंडीगढ़ से निकले थे तो उम्मीद न थी की इतना समय इस परायी नगरी में निकल जाएगा। नेत्रा को याद करती हो कभी? वो इस साल १२ की हो गयी है। उसे तो तुम्हारी याद नहीं लेकिन आज भी जब वो ज़िद्द करती है की मैं उसे खाना खिला दूँ और मैं बहुत थक गयी होती हूँ, तो झट से तुम्हारी याद आ जाती है। तुम होती तो मुझे चाय का कप पकड़ा कर उसे प्यार से फुसला के ले जाती और खुद ही खिला देती। कहती, "मेरे पास आओ नेत्रा, माँ को रहने दो। आओ मैंने तुम्हारे लिए कुछ स्पेशल रखा है।" कितने सारे अंग्रेजी के नए नए शब्द सीख गयीं थी न तुम. कुछ तो तुम्हारे ख़ास बन गए थे। जैसे बॉय, गर्ल, र...
Read more

Book Review: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs #1)

-
Image
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear is a historical mystery novel set in London. But don't just head out and get it if you prefer your mysteries or crimes a bit on the stronger, harder, more depraved side. This novel is set after the World War 1 and is a peek into the realities and harshness of a war. Maisie Dobbs starts as a househelpat the Belgravia Mansion which belongs to the Comptons. But thats not where the book starts. The book opens in the year 1929, with Maisie setting up her detective agency and a man approaching her to investigate if his wife is having an affair. Soon after solving the crime, the book takes us back to the beginnings of Dobbs as a private investigator. We learn about her dexterity at the Belgravia mansion and how the lady of the house Mrs Compton and her friend Maurie Blanche, discover her to be an intelligent girl and decide to mentor her. She goes as far as getting admission in the university but the war breaks out and she enlists as a nurse. Sent to ...
Read more