Indian Cuisine: Simpler Than It Appears

Indian cuisine, some of which dates back 5,000 years, is often seen as intimidating and overwhelming due to its unusual ingredients, bold flavors, and intricate cooking procedures. However, most people don't realize that the everyday cook can easily create traditional Indian dishes as long as they have the right ingredients.

For example, a few classic Indian meals that incorporate common ingredients found in most people's pantry include:

• Aloo Tikki: A dish made with potatoes, veggies, and spices such as chile powder, ginger powder, and black salt. This snack goes great with chutney, a classic Indian condiment. 
• Momos: An Indian food staple made with flour, water, and your favorite filling, such as cabbage, carrots, beans, or chicken. At Tamarind, we recommend a spicy dipping sauce to finish it off.
• Baingan Bharta: This is a great option for vegetarians as it's made with roasted eggplant, veggies, garlic, and chile powder. At Tamarind, we recommend serving this meal with toasted bread or jeera rice.
• Samosas: A personal favorite, this dish is made with flour, potatoes, carrots, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and other fresh produce. This meal goes great with tangy mango chutney.

Modern Indian cooking honors the beauty of the food of India while preserving the character of each region's distinctive style of cooking, and it can be made with ingredients that are used at home every day. 

Imran Ali is the chef at Tamarind of London, the sister restaurant to Michelin-starred Tamarind of Mayfair.​