Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious

[Calliegirl]

They're right, it is delicious. It's one of my favorite cuisines.

Indian food, with its hodgepodge of ingredients and intoxicating aromas, is coveted around the world. The labor-intensive cuisine and its mix of spices is more often than not a revelation for those who sit down to eat it for the first time. Heavy doses of cardamom, cayenne, tamarind and other flavors can overwhelm an unfamiliar palate. Together, they help form the pillars of what tastes so good to so many people.

But behind the appeal of Indian food — what makes it so novel and so delicious — is also a stranger and subtler truth. In a large new analysis of more than 2,000 popular recipes, data scientists have discovered perhaps the key reason why Indian food tastes so unique: It does something radical with flavors, something very different from what we tend to do in the United States and the rest of Western culture. And it does it at the molecular level...

Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious - The Washington Post

 

[KLS52]

Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious...to the people who like Indian food. [emoji12] For the most part, I can't even be in the same room as it. I want to like it, I really do. I tried it several times from different restaurants. I did find a dish that I liked and even managed to replicate it fairly well at home. But I can't remember what it's called.

That said, the article is interesting, scientifically speaking.

 

[Blobbenstein]

yer, my experience with Indian curries is that they are ok, I guess, but I don't really like all those spices....maybe it is even a little depressing, reminding me of poor hot countries...I used to get a veg curry from a Cantonese takeaway, and I really did like those.

 

[Mischief]

Not really surprising - anyone who cooks would have known this.

 

[Tom L.]

Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious...to the people who like Indian food. [emoji12] For the most part, I can't even be in the same room as it. I want to like it, I really do. I tried it several times from different restaurants. I did find a dish that I liked and even managed to replicate it fairly well at home. But I can't remember what it's called.

That said, the article is interesting, scientifically speaking.

Do you remember what the main ingredients were? I might be able to help you figure it out...

From the article:

Chefs in the West like to make dishes with ingredients that have overlapping flavors. But not all cuisines adhere to the same rule. Many Asian cuisines have been shown to belie the trend by favoring dishes with ingredients that don't overlap in flavor. And Indian food, in particular, is one of the most powerful counterexamples.

Absolutely! I still can't decide whether I like that strategy or not. Cinnamon, for example: LOOOVE the stuff, I do, but I'm still not used to tasting it in something that isn't at all sweet. Yet many Indian recipes do just that.

I made a carrot curry from one of Anna Thomas' "Vegetarian Epicure" books and it was memorably nasty. I don't think I even ate it all, but threw much of it out- and I NEVER do that with food unless it's spoiled- I hate to waste food so much that I usually manage to choke it down (I just write myself a note in the cookbook never to make that again). I never did figure out whether it was something I was never going to like, or if I just managed to wreck the recipe.

 

[KLS52]

Pretty sure it was red lentils, so maybe some kind of Dal? I tried doing a search but none of the names of the recipes sound familiar. Maybe I'll try to find the restaurant and look up their menu!

ETA: Dal Tarka! I think...

No...I don't think so...has cream and butter. I guess I could have substituted non dairy. I'm just not sure. *le sigh*

 

[PTree15]

Mmmm, Indian food. One of my favorites is Chana Masala:

 

[Tom L.]

Pretty sure it was red lentils, so maybe some kind of Dal? I tried doing a search but none of the names of the recipes sound familiar. Maybe I'll try to find the restaurant and look up their menu!

ETA: Dal Tarka! I think...

No...I don't think so...has cream and butter. I guess I could have substituted non dairy. I'm just not sure. *le sigh*

There are quite a few kinds of Dal, I think... but also, I swear I've seen what I think would be the same dish called different things. I suppose we could google for different Indian recipes using red lentils. Some Indian dishes are cooked for so long, though, that the individual bits of food almost disappear and it winds up so homogenized that it's hard to tell what it is if you don't know.

 

[KLS52]

This thread inspired me...I just made this awesome pot of....something, lol. I took the spices from my Thai Curry Vegetable recipe (Chinese 5 spice, curry, ginger, cayenne pepper, black pepper, rice vinegar, soy sauce), added vegetable broth, red lentils and diced carrots. Simmered it until the carrots and lentils were tender then added a can of coconut milk. OMG...most deliciousness! What I like is that it pairs well with both rice and potatoes so I can alternate depending on my mood. And I can add leftover veggies, too, if I want. For now it's delicious just the way it is.