Food Lingo & Etiquette

Welcome back!

This post is a little longer, so bear with me.

You've all probably seen Indian food somewhere, and many of you have probably tried some at one point or another, but now that I'm here, I wanted to share the little tidbits and differences from what I thought I knew before vs. what I've learned these first 3 weeks.

First and foremost, food is primarily eaten with your hands. Yes, there is silverware. Nice restaurants provide silverware regardless of your order, but most of the traditional food served is eaten with your hands.  Just like eating pizza, or a sandwich or a hotdog in the US, some food it just meant to be eaten with your hands. The difference lies in that what they might eat with their hands here, we would thing is spoon/fork material.

It probably goes without saying that the cuisine in India can be very regionalized. There is still a lot of poverty and some neighborhoods are in very sad shape. I can only assume this is a recurring theme throughout much of India. Accordingly, food is not often shipped from state to state and region to region as the residents consume almost everything that is already available here. In the US, you can get "fresh" fish just about anywhere, regardless of how close you live to a coast. Here, there is not a lot of seafood unless you're along the ocean. And if you find seafood on the menu, it will be noticeably more expensive.

Where's I'm staying, there is a lot of rice used in dishes because it is much easier to come by. I've been told that in the North of India they eat more breads and less rice, probably due to availability of flour vs. rice. I can't say this for certain, but the logic makes sense, and that's the impression that I get. The most popular dish around where I stay is biryani which is basically rice cooked with seasoning and vegetables or chicken and a side of curry. When ordering chicken biryani, you actually typically get half or a whole hard boiled egg mixed in. Also, the chicken is not bite-sized pieces of deboned chicken meat like you might expect in the US. Instead, you're getting whole chucks of cooked chicken, bones and all. So when eating chicken biryani, you need to be sure you're picking through the meat carefully.

You might now be thinking "okay, fine. I'll just pick through the chicken. No problem." Remember the video I showed you in the first post about how to use the restrooms here? You can't use your left hand when eating for that reason. To say it differently, you CAN use your left hand, but that would be viewed as a disgusting habit. So when you settle down with a nice dish chicken dish, you need to use your fingers (right hand only) to scrape the meat away from the bones. It's a little trickier than you might think, and a lot messier.

Additionally, most meals come with a side of bread like naan or roti. These are similar to flour tortillas used commonly in Mexican cooking. You tear off a little piece of the bread and use that to scoop up your curry or daal. Most of the curries are pretty runny here. Basically curry is like a thick, seasoned gravy with bits of meat or paneer or maybe vegetables. Daal is sort of like a bean or lentil soup. Both of these dishes are somewhat difficult to "scoop" with a tortilla, especially for beginners like me. The people living here have been doing it since childhood and make it look easy. You would not, however, use the naan or roti (or chapati or dosa) to scoop rice. Rice is scooped with your fingers also (or if you got a spoon, that's fine too). Oh yea, and you have to tear the pieces of bread apart one-handed as well...another talent I'm still working to perfect. Most importantly, it seems people here like to share. Everyone brings their food to the table, and it's common to just politely ask to try someone else's dish and/or offer up for others to try.

Other than authentic Indian restaurants, there is a strong presence of Indo-Chinese food. This is best described as what Americans would order for Chinese, but hotter (spicy) and with of more Indian ingredients and preparations incorporated in the menu. One other thing I've learned as is that when you're presented with a typical 4-5 page menu in smaller establishments, there are almost always items on the menu that you can't actually order. For example, a restaurant might list 10 vegetarian appetizers, 10 non-veg appetizers, 10 veg entrees, and 15 non-veg entrees (plus beverages). But when it comes times to order, probably less than half the menu is actually available. When I've gone out with my co-workers, usually ordering takes about 5 minutes, and frequently the waiter returns to tell us something we've order is not available or the kitchen recommends we order something else (maybe the quality of ingredients is lacking?)

Last thing I wanted to mention: a good amount of Indians are vegetarian. I want to say it's close to 50%, which is a lot for a country of 1 billion people. Many restaurants on the street are all-veg, and nearly every restaurant offers an array of vegetarian options. In some places, they have separate lines to order "veg" or "non-veg" (as they call it) so there is no crossover. Even the Subway in the food court at my hotel has 2 separate counters for vegetarian subs and subs with meat. Meanwhile, not everyone is anti-beef, like I had thought. Sure, there's a good amount of people that are Hindu and don't eat beef, but there is also a large Christian population who eat is as well. It's just not as readily available and is usually a little pricier. If you're ordering something non-veg in Bangalore, the first choice is either chicken or mutton (lamb), followed by fish or beef, then probably shrimp is least often used/available.

Rather than ramble on about how to eat properly and talk about the different menu options, I think you get the general idea. Here are some common terms used in Indian cuisine that might help you if you want to order from an Indian restaurant in America and not look/sound completely lost. If I'm not quite correct, I apologize. I'm going by what I think I've figured out, but I'm still far from expert.

Ghee - Basically, clarified butter. Used a lot in Indian cooking, just as we would use butter.

Naan/Roti/Chapati - All are similar to American/Mexican flour tortillas. Naan would be like processed white bread flower. Roti is more like unprocessed wheat flour. All are rolled out with a little warm milk or water. Naan has a little yeast and is cooked in a tandoor oven where the bread is stuck to the side of the inside of the pot to cook. Roti is usually cooked on a flat grill. Naan seems to have a little more chew. Roti is a bit crispy, like a thin-crust pizza. Chapati is very similar to roti (again, the main difference being naan has yeast and is "baked"). From what my colleagues tell me, chapati is usually cooked in a greased pan and roti would be on an open flame, but a search online doesn't seem to distinguish between roti and chapati.

Paneer - The universal cheese of India. In the way American vegetarians use tofu, Indians use paneer. The cheese is made by separating the curd from whole milk by warming it and adding a bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Then the excess whey is drained and pressed out of the curd, and you're left with a very firm cheese that does not melt when heated. It will instead char and bubble if grilled or fried. Most Indian dishes that would be offered with chicken or mutton can be ordered as "veg" with paneer.

Dosas - Similar to Naan/Roti/Chapati, but these are made with rice flour and resemble American pancakes. They are typically used the same was as naan or chapati...you scoop up your curry or daal with little tears of the pancake.

Curry - Basically translates to "gravy." There are many different types of curry (including curry flavor...yup) that range in flavor and spice (heat). Usually curry would be made with a little oil and a lot of spices plus some chopped vegetables or puree. It's simmered over low to form a sauce, and then meat or paneer would usually be added and served over rice or alone with naan or roti for scooping. Some curry use tomato paste, some use coconut milk...it's all about what ingredients are known for the region.

Daal - These are usually a soupy side-dish served with curry and naan/roti or rice. They most often contain legumes (or "pulses") like lentils or beans.

Before departing for India I had been advised by no less than 5 people not to eat "street food" but that didn't last for very long. While spending time outside work with some of my colleagues, they introduced me to panipuri (pani meaning "water", and puri is the fried dough). These can be served in restaurants, but are also eaten along the sidewalk the way you might order a hotdog in Chicago (video). You eat until you're satisfied and then pay at the end. Our group of 4 ate about 20 of these and it cost a whopping 25 rupees (about 50 cents). They are not bad and a cheap treat, but unfortunately, they are made by hand, and it's not so sanitary as you saw in the video. I definitely picked up a throat tickle and small cold in the days after eating them.

The other dish I had that is also commonly found on the street (mine was made in a store and packaged, so a little safer) is called paan. I can safely say this is one I would absolutely turn down if offered again.

My temporary team here in Bangalore organized a potluck lunch last week, and everyone brought a dish from home or something picked up at the store to share the various different styles, preparations, and dishes found in homes around Southern India. They said this paan was sweet, but that didn't save it, in my opinion. It's basically a leaf wrapped up with spices and often tobacco inside that is stuffed whole into your mouth and chewed up (and eventually swallowed). I'm not a smoker, but I would describe this as chewing on a menthol cigarette....not great.

Well, that concludes today's lesson in Indian food from Bangalore. I hope you learned something or at least found my street-food experiences humorous. Talk to you again soon!