Food on the
whole has the ability to leave diners mesmerised and make them feel
almost like they are lost in the moment. The flavours that sink onto
your palate with every bite can be so soothing to your senses. Which
is why, a number of misconceptions about food and the industry that
you may have are all forgiven. Like, tandoori is perceived to be a
cuisine, when in-fact it is the name of a cooking technique. Other
famous misconceptions that people and you might have are that
tomatoes are Indian, when in fact they were originally found in Spain
and that authentic Chinese food tastes exactly the way it is served
in the restaurants here. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. If
I were to dig out these misconceptions, we could be wading through
them to find out the truth. Tandoor is one of the most adored food
types in the country. Some of you may even be surprised to know that
this style of cooking is famous in the United Kingdom as well as in
France. Yup, there are things the French envy about us too! Yes, I
did refer to it as a food type because it is not a cuisine. The word
Tandoori originates from clay cylindrical oven called tandoor, which
is used to cook breads, meats and vegetables. The best replication of
this in the Continental front would be barbecue. Delicacies from the
tandoor can be best enjoyed at the tandoori restaurants inHyderabad.
I was
recently enjoying a meal at a restaurant around my house with my
friends and we were discussing what in the food business we would
like to try next. When one of them suggested that we should explore
"the tandoori cuisine." It then suddenly struck me, what is
'tandoori cuisine'? Now I of course forgave him for saying that
because the poor chap is Canadian and he knew no better. But it
dawned on me that many of you, including myself, up until a certain
point, believed that tandoori is a cuisine. So I thought it would be
nice to clear the air on the misconceptions held with this form of
cooking.
The mention
of tandoori only makes you think heavy spices and a burning hot
tongue. The flaming red colour from the traditional tandoori chicken
lights up our thoughts. It makes you salivate no doubt, but also
makes you feel like you need to grab that cold glass of water to
sooth out the spice. A number of preparations involve curd and the
marination of the meat in it. The deep orange colour is conjured from
haldi or turmeric. Kashmiri chillis too are used to stir up that
mouth watering colour. The devilish black lining that you may see
sometimes is caused from being cooked in the oven.
There is a
surprising number of people who believe that cooking in a tandoor is
an exotic way of preparing the food. Sure, some of you may simply
laugh this one off, but I myself have come across too many people who
think this way. Though the concepts were alive even back in the days,
stoves and grills became a thing much later. What we now know as
stoves, were chulas back in the days. Tandoors too were the age old
ovens. These were used by the locals to cook their breads and meats,
as using oil was an expensive affair. Considering that this happened
in the Northern region of the country, where the climate was cold,
ovens would be ideal to use as the fire would not burn out easily.
Eating food
that is cooked in a tandoor can actually be a healthy choice. When
the meat is cooked in the oven and over the burning coal, the fat is
melted, leaving you with nothing but lean meat. This works
brilliantly when cooking mutton, lamb and to a great extent chicken
too. Also, the meat cooks in its own fat which then makes it a much
healthier option rather than having processed oil drizzled all over
it. Even though there is no use of additional oil and this cooking
style is as local as it can get, there is no compromise made on the
flavour. On the contrary, the meat is succulent with every bit and
the breads are soft and delightful.
