Learn Cooking - Laxmi Jain

For young people and first-time cooks, making Indian food can seem a bewildering task, what with all those ingredients, the various processes, timings, and other such considerations! To most of them, it may seem that Indian groceries are bought, and an older, experienced cook in the house, magically turns it into a meal…ta-da! Well, it isn’t that mysterious; it’s quite simple really, if you follow just a few essential steps.The rest will follow.

First, we need to identify the four major Indian food preparations; they are vegetables or sabji, breads like roti or paratha, lentils or dal, and rice. For each group there is a flow diagram and a simple recipe that will teach the basic skills of cooking.

Second, you need to follow the proportions mentioned in a recipe carefully – as each ingredient
has its own unique role to play. For instance, for sabji, coriander powder and salt are added in teaspoons, cumin seeds and mustard seeds are added in smaller amounts, turmeric and red pepper powder are added in even smaller amounts and asafetida is added in a teeny-tiny amount. For making the dough for breads, the ratio is 1 cup flour with 1/2 cup water. For lentils the ratio of lentil to water depends on the method of heat you use; on the stove it is 1:5, in the crock-pot it is 1:4, in the pressure cooker it is 1:3. For rice the ratio of rice to water is 1:2.

Timing is everything; ask a sprinter who has lost the Olympic gold medal by just 0.01 second. Luckily, we need not be that accurate in the kitchen, but getting the timing right ensures perfect flavor, texture, etc.Vegetables cook in 5-10 minutes; cooking time for lentils depends on the method of heat; rice cooks in 5 minutes on high heat followed by a few minutes on low heat. Bread on a skillet or in the oven requires a watchful eye until brown spots appear.

Sequencing is critical too, if you want to bring out the best of each ingredient - for the sabji, the tarka is made first with oil and then cumin seeds are added and then the tomatoes and then the vegetables.Washing and soaking the lentils and the rice is important to get the best texture for the dish.You can soak the lentils and rice overnight or first thing in the morning.
Below are few basic recipes, at least one from each preparation group; a great start for a college student and his roommate or a young couple. A process flow diagram is provided,much like what an engineer may use to develop new software or a doctor would use in a drug study protocol. Once you learn these four dishes, the others will come easily to you, and rustling up a wholesome Jain meal will become an enjoyable experience.