Kahwah
Kahwah transliterated is a traditional green tea preparation consumed in India the Western Ghats, the Malabar region, Kashmir, from where it spread to Central Asia. The tea is made by boiling green tea leaves with saffron strands, cinnamon bark, cardamom pods, Kashmiri roses to add a great aroma, it is served with sugar or honey and crushed nuts almonds or walnuts. Some varieties are made without the green tea leaves. Traditionally, kahwah is prepared in a copper kettle known as a samovar. A samovar consists of a "fire-container" running as a central cavity, in which live coals are placed keeping the tea perpetually hot. Around the fire-container there is a space for water to boil and the tealeaves and other ingredients are mixed with the water. Kahwah may be made in normal pans and vessels, as modern day urban living may not always permit the use of elaborate samovars. Kahwah is served to guests or as part of a celebration dinner, saffron is added to the kahwah for special visitors, it is served in tiny, shallow cups.
Kehwa in Kashmir is commonly served after Wazwan and elaborate family dinners. Sometimes milk is added to the kahwah, but this is given to the elderly or the sick. Kahwah is served after food in the North Malabar region of India
Jeera aloo
Jeera Aloo is a typical vegetarian Indian dish, served as a side dish and goes well with hot puris, roti or dal. Its main ingredients are cumin seeds and Indian spices. Other ingredients are red chili powder, coriander powder, curry leaves, vegetable oil and salt. In its traditional form the dish is not hot, but it could be spiced up by adding powdered cayenne pepper. Other variations of the dish make use of sweet potatoes instead of regular ones. Jeera aloo is popular as a bachelors’ dish because it is one of the easiest and fastest Indian recipes and it takes less than 20 minutes to be prepared, it is broadly consumed during fasting days as it is a strict vegetarian dish. List of Indian dishes List of potato dishes Jeera Aloo Recipe. India Times
Kashmiri cuisine
Kashmiri cuisine is the cuisine of the Kashmir Valley region of India. Rice has been so since ancient times. Meat, along with rice, is the most popular food item in Kashmir. Kashmiris consume meat voraciously. Despite being Brahmin, most Kashmiri Pandits are meat eaters; some noted Kashmiri dishes include: "Qabargaah" Shab Deg: dish cooked with turnip and meat, left to simmer overnight. Dum Olav/Dun Aloo: cooked with yoghurt, ginger powder and other hot spices. Aab Gosht Goshtaba Lyodur Tschaman Matschgand, lamb meatballs in a gravy tempered with red chillies. Modur Pulaav Mujh Gaad, a dish of radishes with a choice of fish. Rogan Josh, a lamb based dish, cooked in a gravy seasoned with liberal amounts of Kashmiri chillies, ginger and bay leaves among other ingredients. Due to the absence of onions, yoghurt is used as a thickener, to reduce the heat and marry the spices in the gravy. Yakhni, a yoghurt-based mutton gravy without turmeric or chilli powder; the dish is flavoured with bay leaves and cardamom seeds.
This is a mild, subtle dish eaten with rice accompanied with a more spicy side dish. Harissa is a popular meat preparation made for breakfast, it is slow cooked for many hours, with spices and hand stirred; the Kashmir Valley is noted for its bakery tradition. On the in Kashmir or in downtown Srinagar, bakery shops are elaborately laid out. Bakers sell various kinds of breads with a golden brown crusts topped with poppy seeds. Tsot and tsochvoru are small round breads topped with poppy and sesame seeds, which are crisp and flaky, baqerkhani and kulcha are popular. Girdas and lavas are served with butter. Kashmiri bakerkhani has a special place in Kashmiri cuisine, it is similar to a round naan in appearance, but crisp and layered, sprinkled with sesame seeds. It is consumed hot during breakfast. A Wazwan treated with great respect, its preparation is considered an art. All the dishes are meat-based, it is considered a sacrilege to serve any dishes based around lentils during this feast. The traditional number of courses for the wazwan is thirty-six.
The preparation is traditionally done by a vasta waza, or head chef, with the assistance of a court of wazas, or chefs. Wazwan is regarded by the Kashmiri Muslims as a core element of their identity. Guests are grouped into fours for the serving of the wazwan; the meal begins with a ritual washing of hands, as a jug and basin called the tash-t-nari is passed among the guests. A large serving dish piled high with heaps of rice and quartered by four seekh kabab, four pieces of meth maaz, two tabak maaz, sides of barbecued ribs, one safed kokur, one zafrani kokur, along with other dishes; the meal is accompanied by yoghurt garnished with Kashmiri saffron, Kashmiri pickles and dips. Kashmiri Wazwan is prepared in marriages and other special functions; the culinary art is learnt through heredity and is passed to outside blood relations. That has made certain waza/cook families prominent; the wazas remain in great demand during the marriage season from May–October. Kashmiris are heavy tea drinkers; the word "noon" in Kashmiri language means salt.
The most popular drink is a pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai." It is made with black tea, milk and bicarbonate of soda. The particular color of the tea is a result of its unique method of preparation and the addition of soda; the Kashmiri Pandits more refer to this chai as "Sheer Chai." The Kashmiri Muslims refer to it as "Noon Chai" or "Namkeen Chai" both meaning salty tea. Noon Chai or Sheer Chai is a common breakfast tea in Kashmiri households and is taken with breads like baqerkhani brought fresh from Qandur, or bakers; this tea is served in large samovars. At marriage feasts and religious places, it is customary to serve kahwah - a green tea made with saffron and almonds or walnuts. Over 20 varieties of Kahwah are prepared in different households; some people put milk in kahwah. This chai is known as "Maugal Chai" by some Kashmiri Pandits from the smaller villages of Kashmir. Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits from the cities of Kashmir refer to it as Qahwah. Kanger List of topics on the land and the people of Jammu and Kashmir Wazwan "Chor Bizarre".
Wazwan. Archived from the original on 23 December 2005. Retrieved 16 December 2005. "Kashmiri Cuisine". Kashmiri Cuisine- food and recipes:Mumbai/Bombay pages. Retrieved 16 December 2005
Barfi
Barfi, borfi or burfi is a dense milk based sweet from the Indian subcontinent, a type of mithai, originating from the Indian subcontinent. The name is a derivative of the Persian word barf. A few of the famous varieties of barfi include besan barfi, kaaju barfi, pista barfi, sing barfi; the main ingredients of plain barfis include condensed sugar. The ingredients are cooked in a vessel until the mixture solidifies; the flavour of a barfi is enhanced with fruits or nuts and spices. Barfis are coated with a thin layer of edible metallic leaf known as vark, they are cut into square, diamond, or round shapes. The sweet is adapted for casual occasions to the most formal event. Different types of Barfi vary in their texture; the most popular spice used to flavour this dessert is cardamom. However, dependent on where it is prepared, many different flavourings are added to this simple but popular dessert. Adding edible silver leaf to the edges of barfi is popular when the sweet confection is to be served at an important event such as a wedding or other such occasion.
For added flavour and to provide a colourful contrast it is rolled in crushed nuts before it is served. The confection is served in India, all year round, but consumed during the holiday seasons, wedding ceremonies, the religious festivals. Barfi is served at Diwali, the celebration of the Hindu festival of lights; the traditional Hindu cuisine is an important part of these annual festivities, along with firework displays and specially crafted decorative lamps. A popular variation called "Chocolate Barfi", is colloquially known as the "Indian-style Brownies" due to their resemblance with the common Chocolate Fudge Brownies. Kesri pedha: saffron, flattened yellow round Kaju barfi or kaju katli: cashew, light tan diamond Pista barfi: pistachio, forest green diamond Cham cham: pink and white, shaped like sushi rice balls Doodh peda: kewra oil and pistachio, flattened dark tan round Chocolate barfi Badam pak: rose water and almond, brown diamond Walnut barfi Barfi fon or barfifon: fig and yellow colored Gajar barfi: carrot and orange colored Coconut barfi: coconut and milk, square and yellow colored Sing barfi: peanuts and brown colored Besan barfi: gram flour light yellow diamond Dodha burfi: peanut Tablet Nankhatai
Paneer
Paneer is a fresh cheese common in the Indian subcontinent. It is an unaged, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling milk with a vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice, its acid-set form is called chhena. The word paneer is of Persian origin; the Turkish word peynir, the Persian word panir, the Azerbaijani word pendir, the Armenian word panir, all derived from paneer, refer to any type of cheese. The origin of paneer itself is debated. Vedic Indian, Afghan-Iranian and Portuguese-Bengali origins have been proposed for paneer. Vedic literature refers to a substance, interpreted by some authors, such as Sanjeev Kapoor, as a form of paneer. According to Arthur Berriedale Keith, a kind of cheese is "perhaps referred to" in Rigveda 6.48.18. However, Otto Schrader believes that the Rigveda only mentions "a skin of sour milk, not cheese in the proper sense". K. T. Achaya mentions that acidulation of milk was a taboo in the ancient Indo-Aryan culture, pointing out that the legends about Krishna make several references to milk, butter and dahi, but do not mention sour milk cheese.
Based on texts such as Charaka Samhita, BN Mathur wrote that the earliest evidence of a heat-acid coagulated milk product in India can be traced to 75-300 CE, in the Kushan-Satavahana era. Sunil Kumar et al. interpret this product as the present-day paneer. According to them, paneer is indigenous to north-western part of South Asia, was introduced in India by Afghan and Iranian travelers. For the making of what is today called chhana, the Manasollasa recommends the addition of a sour substance to boiled milk, after which the precipitate was separated, the cheese mixed with rice flour and shaped into various balls, deep fried to make sweets. National Dairy Research Institute states that paneer was introduced into India by Afghan and Iranian invaders; the Portuguese may have introduced the technique of "breaking" milk with acid to Bengal in the 17th century. Thus, Indian acid-set cheeses such as paneer and chhena were first prepared in Bengal, under Portuguese influence. Paneer is prepared by adding food acid, such as lemon juice, citric acid or dahi, to hot milk to separate the curds from the whey.
The curds are drained in muslin or cheesecloth and the excess water is pressed out. The resulting paneer is dipped in chilled water for 2 -- 3 hours to improve its appearance. From this point, the preparation of paneer diverges based on regional tradition. In most Nepalese cuisines, the curds are wrapped in cloth, placed under a heavy weight such as a stone slab for two to three hours, cut into cubes for use in curries. Pressing for a shorter time results in a softer, fluffier cheese. In Bengali and other east Indian cuisines, the chhena are beaten or kneaded by hand into a dough-like consistency salted and hardened to produce paneer, eaten in slices at teatime with biscuits or various types of bread, deep-fried in a light batter or used in cooking. In the area surrounding the city of Surat in Gujarat, Surti Paneer is made by draining the curds and ripening them in whey for 12 to 36 hours. Paneer is the most common type of cheese used in traditional cuisines from the Indian subcontinent; the use of paneer is more common in Indian dishes globally.
It is sometimes deep-fried or served with either spinach or peas. The well-known rasgulla features plain chhana beaten by hand and shaped into balls which are boiled in syrup; the sana / chhana / chhena used in such cases is manufactured by a different procedure from paneer. It may, however, be pressed into small cubes and curried to form a dalna in Maithili and Bengali cuisines; some paneer recipes include: Sandesh Chena Murki Mattar paneer Shahi paneer Paneer tikka Paneer tikka masala Kadai paneer Paneer Jalfrezi Chili Paneer Paneer pakora Palak paneer Rasmalai Rasgulla Paneer capsicum Khoya paneer Paneer bhurji Paneer momo Paneer 65 Most international fast food restaurants in India offer paneer-based food. McDonald's India serves the McSpicy Paneer Wrap. In the United Kingdom, Subway serves a saag paneer patty. Taco Bell India serves a potato burrito. Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's have pizzas with paneer toppings. Anari, a fresh mild whey cheese produced in Cyprus, is similar in taste and texture to fresh Indian paneer.
Circassian cheese is produced using a similar method and is close in consistency to paneer, but is salted. Farmer cheese and firm versions of quark are similar except that they are made from cultured milk and may be salted. Although many Indians translate "paneer" into "cottage cheese", cottage cheese may be made using rennet extracted from the stomach of ruminants and such varieties when pressed into farmer cheese are firmer than paneer. Queso blanco or queso fresco are recommended as substitutes in the Americas and Spain as they are more commercially available in many American markets. Queso blanco can be a closer match, as it is acid-set while queso fresco uses rennet at a lower temperature. Both are salted, unlike paneer
Fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale and with a strong priority placed on "speed of service" versus other relevant factors involved in culinary science. Fast food was created as a commercial strategy to accommodate the larger numbers of busy commuters and wage workers who did not have the time to sit down at a public house or diner and wait for their meal. By making speed of service the priority, this ensured that customers with limited time were not inconvenienced by waiting for their food to be cooked on-the-spot. For those with no time to spare, fast food became a multibillion-dollar industry; the fastest form of "fast food" consists of pre-cooked meals kept in readiness for a customer's arrival, with waiting time reduced to mere seconds. Other fast food outlets the hamburger outlets use mass-produced pre-prepared ingredients but take great pains to point out to the customer that the "meat and potatoes" are always cooked fresh and assembled "to order".
Although a vast variety of food can be "cooked fast", "fast food" is a commercial term limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredients, served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. Fast food restaurants are traditionally distinguished by their ability to serve food via a drive-through. Outlets may be kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants. Franchise operations that are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations. Fast food began with chip shops in Britain in the 1860s. Drive-through restaurants were first popularized in the 1950s in the United States; the term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951. Eating fast food has been linked to, among other things, colorectal cancer, high cholesterol, depression. Many fast foods tend to be high in saturated fat, sugar and calories; the traditional family dinner is being replaced by the consumption of takeaway fast food.
As a result, the time invested on food preparation is getting lower, with an average couple in the United States spending 47 minutes and 19 seconds per day on food preparation in 2013. The concept of ready-cooked food for sale is connected with urban developments. Homes in emerging cities lacked adequate space or proper food preparation accouterments. Additionally, procuring cooking fuel could cost as much as purchased produce. Frying foods in vats of searing oil proved as dangerous as it was expensive, homeowners feared that a rogue cooking fire "might conflagrate an entire neighborhood". Thus, urbanites were encouraged to purchase pre-prepared meats or starches, such as bread or noodles, whenever possible. In Ancient Rome, cities had street stands – a large counter with a receptacle in the middle from which food or drink would have been served, it was during post-WWII American economic boom that Americans began to spend more and buy more as the economy boomed and a culture of consumerism bloomed.
As a result of this new desire to have it all, coupled with the strides made by women while the men were away, both members of the household began to work outside the home. Eating out, considered a luxury, became a common occurrence, a necessity. Workers, working families, needed quick service and inexpensive food for both lunch and dinner; this need is what drove the phenomenal success of the early fast food giants, which catered to the family on the go. Fast food became an easy option for a busy family today. In the cities of Roman antiquity, much of the urban population living in insulae, multi-story apartment blocks, depended on food vendors for much of their meal. In the mornings, bread soaked in wine was eaten as a quick snack and cooked vegetables and stews in popina, a simple type of eating establishment. In Asia, 12th century Chinese scarfed down fried dough and stuffed buns, all of which still exist as contemporary snack food, their Baghdadi contemporaries supplemented home-cooked meals with processed legumes, purchased starches, ready-to-eat meats.
During the Middle Ages, large towns and major urban areas such as London and Paris supported numerous vendors that sold dishes such as pies, flans, wafers and cooked meats. As in Roman cities during antiquity, many of these establishments catered to those who did not have means to cook their own food single households. Unlike richer town dwellers, many could not afford housing with kitchen facilities and thus relied on fast food. Travelers such as pilgrims en route to a holy site, were among the customers. In areas with access to coastal or tidal waters,'fast food' included local shellfish or seafood, such as oysters or, as in London, eels; this seafood was cooked directly on the quay or close by. The development of trawler fishing in the mid-nineteenth century led to the development of a British favourite and chips, the first shop in 1860. A blue plaque at Oldham's Tommyfield Market marks the origin of the
Tava
A tava, tapa, saj, or sac is a large flat, concave or convex disc-shaped frying pan made from metal sheet iron, cast iron, sheet steel or aluminium originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is used in Central, West Asia and the Indian subcontinent, for cooking a variety of flatbreads and as a frying pan, it sometimes refers to the ceramic frying pan. In West Asia, tava/saj are invariably convex, while in the Indian subcontinent all flat and concave versions are found. In nearly all Indo-Aryan languages such as Punjabi and Urdu tawaa means cooking pan and is used in the Indian subcontinent, it is cognate with the Persian word tāve, used in Iran, with the Georgian tapa. The word tava is used in Bosnian, Croatian and Turkish and refers to any kind of frying pan. In Bulgaria, flat ceramic сач or сачѐ are used for table-top cooking of thin slices of vegetables and meat. In Pashto it is more popularly known as Tabakhey. A tava or saj is used to bake a variety of leavened and unleavened flatbreads and pancakes across the broad region: pita, saj bread, chapati, paratha and pesarattu.
In Pakistan in rural areas, large convex saj are used to cook several breads at a same time or to make rumali roti. In the Indian subcontinent, tavas are used to fry foods called chaat, pav bhaji, taka tak bhaji, tawa bhaji, tava fry, tawa masala, etc. Meat is cooked on a saj; the traditional Georgian chicken tapaka is cooked on a tapa. Comal, a similar utensil in Mexican cuisine Mittad Mongolian barbecue, a Taiwanese grill dish sometimes using a saj-like frying pan. Sač, a cooking utensil used in the Balkans with a saj-shaped lid List of cooking vessels
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