Atta flour: Flour that is whole wheat style and is key in the preparation of India style traditional flat bread. Chapati flour is its other name.

Banana leaves: These are used to wrap foods prior to cooking. Foods such as fish are good candidates for being wrapped in banana leaves. If you want these leaves flexible, then soak them for a short period in heated water.

Basmasti rice: A sweet smelling and tasty long grain type rice which grows at the foot of the Himalayas. It has got a wonderful taste and scent. A lot of cooks in India will rinse this is rice and let it sit in water ten minutes prior to cooking.

Besan: Besan, or gram flour is made using chickpeas that have been ground. It’s used to flavour and thicken curries and for making pakoras, a type of savoury battered and fried vegetable dish found in authentic Indian food. Bhoondi are tiny balls of fried besan.

Biriyani: A dish prepared in the oven that includes rice, either meat or seafood, and veggies. Biriyani masala is a special spice mix used in the dish. It’s made from ground cardamom seeds, cinnamon and fennel seeds.

Chana dal: A small bean that resembles yellow split peas but is quite different. Chana dal, with its nutty, sweet flavour will turn out nicely when boiled. With this, a little relative of chickpeas are divided in two halves and a person can prepare besan. Natives of southern India utilize it as a spice.

Chapati: Made on a round cast iron griddle (tawa), chapati is a flat bread that’s cooked over very high heat without fat of any sort.

Coconut: An essential component in many India dishes, coconut is used in both sweet and savoury dishes.If coconut is desiccated, you can use it as a thickener for sauces. Coconut oil is an excellent choice for cooking and frying because it remains stable at high temperatures.

Dal: These are dried split peas, beans or lentils that have been skinned. Water rinsing should be done in advance of cooking these because pre-soaking will ensure shorter cooking time. Masoor dal lentils are skinned and split orange. Mung beans that have been skinned and also split are moong dal. Toor dal split peas are deep yellow in colour and look like chana dal.

Dosa/Dosha: A kind of flat bread which has ingredients of flour, wheat, rice or legume. You prepare it like pancakes and you can put a savoury mixture inside.

Garam masala: A blend of spices that is used in savoury dishes.

Ghee: This is made when you melt whole butter, then divide the solids and fat. It is best to use unsalted butter if preparing ghee. One can add the solids to piquant foods like curries to enhance the flavour. Similar coconut oil, the ghee stabilizes under hot temperatures. No refrigeration is needed.

Jaggery: A style of sugar which is raw, but you eat it without cooking it; plus, you can use it to enhance the flavour of a number of dishes like veggie curries.

Kalonju: Commonly known as nigella, these onion seeds are little, black coloured, tear shaped and are a good spice for breads and also curries.

Kewra water: It has a tantalizing scent and is great to season a number of dishes.

Lassi: This drink is prepared from yoghurt and can have ingredients like mango and other fruits.

Mint: A well know herb used for. Indian style mint is more powerful in scent and has more flavour than Western nation mint.

Mustard oil: A yellowish oil derived from a mustard seed. It’s pungent when raw but sweet when heated.

Naan: Bread prepared from using dough that is leavened. Dough for naan is tossed for stretching, then contoured into a flat oval shaped bread. Traditional naan is baked on the walls of a tandoor oven, brushed with ghee or oil and served hot or warm.

Panch phoran: A spice mixture of anise, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, onion seeds and cumin seeds.

Paratha: A sort of rich bread—even more so than chapatti. One cooks it in ghee on a griddle ‘til it becomes crisp. Paratha are very thin.

Poori: A bread that’s fried by being submerged in hot oil until it puffs.

Poppadums/Pappads: Flat bread prepared using rice and legume flours. Use hot oil and fry the bread as you will want them lightly stiff and crispy. You can use a blend of seasoning spices or eat them plain. In order to cook them low-fat style, set them under a broiler.

Raita: A specially prepared yoghurt side dish.

Rattam-jog: Bark (dried) that comes from plant that is reed-like. It’s used mainly to colour food. After it is cooked, it gives a rich red colouring to your food.

Roti: A sorghum, millet, or whole wheat based type of bread.

Sambal: A nice assortment of spices made for veggie curries.

Tamarind: A well-known souring element which can be found inside pods which are dried out and rendered seedless. First you saturate the flesh in water, then cook it. The juice, also known as tamarind water, is squeezed out and used in curries. The flesh, in addition, may be ground up with particular spices. Typically you can find Tamarind concentrate in grocery stores.

Tawa: A flat cast iron pan used for making bread.

Uppama: A flat bread dough using semolina as an alternative to flour. It is flavour packed and you can make it with a number of different spices plus onion and multiple veggies.

Vindaloo: A zesty curry that packs a lot of heat.

Wheat flour: This is flour that is made by using whole wheat which is almost gluten free and is fine-ground. Great for bread making. You can use whole wheat type pastry flour for a substitution ingredient.

Authentic Indian food is absolutely ingenious and made with consideration. Why try Indian food straight away?

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Indian Food Ingredients: A Brief Introduction is a post from: WiredWriter