• If you can't find a "Hot" category that fits, post it here!

Indian Pepper

E

expat84

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum, finally finished lurking, ready to start posting.
I LOVE Indian food. Anything curried is good for me, and the spicier the better.
Recently, though, I've been trying to get back to less westernized Indian dishes (because most of what we know as "Indian" food is really just Indian recipes adjusted to fit British palates. The most famous dish, Tikka Masala, was not invented until the British occupation).
Anyway, as I understand, chilies, although an integral part of modern Indian cuisine, come from the Americas, and therefore could not have been part of Indian cuisine until the ~1600's.
My question is this: how did the Indians make their curries hot before the introduction of chilies? Seems like the only thing they could have had would have been black pepper, but then that is not really all that spicy. Is there any other, more spicy variety of black (or white, pink, etc.) pepper that was available to the Indians before then, or was their food just horribly bland until the Westerners came?
-Expat
 
http://www.fiery-foods.com/index.ph...ine-of-india-part-1&catid=78:india&Itemid=150

"Goa was rich in spices--cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper--which were shipped to Lisbon in return for silver and copper. These spices were essential to Indian kari cooking. Kari is a Tamil, or South Indian, word for sauce--or, more correctly, the combination of spices that are added to meat, fish, or vegetables to produce a stew. One theory holds that it was the word kari that was Anglicized to become the famous "curry." Before chiles, Indian cooks used white pepper and mustard seed to "heat up" their kari mixtures."
 
Txclosetgrower said:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/index.ph...ine-of-india-part-1&catid=78:india&Itemid=150

"Goa was rich in spices--cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper--which were shipped to Lisbon in return for silver and copper. These spices were essential to Indian kari cooking. Kari is a Tamil, or South Indian, word for sauce--or, more correctly, the combination of spices that are added to meat, fish, or vegetables to produce a stew. One theory holds that it was the word kari that was Anglicized to become the famous "curry." Before chiles, Indian cooks used white pepper and mustard seed to "heat up" their kari mixtures."
Click to expand...


Some great recipes on that page - and that whole site. Excellent site with lost of interesting stuff. :)
 
i'm finally done lurking and ready to post also lol. the question has been answered already, but i LOVE indian food too. my neighbors who just moved in are indian and they always bring me their food (because im the only one in my house who could handle spicy food) and its amazing.
 
Best food in the world IMHO. Amazing how it has evolved outside of India. For example, Vindaloo curry doesn't even exist in India and PHALL curry (created by Indians living in the UK) is almost impossible to find outside of the UK. I'll be making my 1st trip to India in April and I'm totally psyched!
 
vindaloo does exist in india and can be found in areas that were dominated by the portuguese. But it's nothing like a vindaloo that you'd get in a uk restaurant
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top