What Americans Totally Don't Get About Indian Food
Every week, we’re spotlighting a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Today, we chat with Indian food blogger Prerna Singh, who’s changing the way we think about Indian food with her blog, Indian Simmer. Swing back all week for a new recipe from Bass every day.
All photos courtesy of Prerna Singh
Walk into any Indian restaurant in America, and you’ll likely find the same dish: chicken tikka masala. Prerna Singh enjoys the rich, cream-based dish as much as the next person, but the San Ramon, Calif.-based blogger behind Indian Simmer wants you to know that Indian food is about much, much more.
“The dishes that you find here in the restaurants — like chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, and naan — normally we don’t cook those unless there’s a celebration like a wedding,” Singh explained to Yahoo Food. “These are very rich and spicy foods. You can’t eat them every day.” Chicken tikka masala may not even be of Indian origin at all; many believe it was invented in the United Kingdom during the 1960s to appease local tastes.
Singh’s mutton do pyaza, a stewed dish of lamb or goat.
Singh’s dissatisfaction with public perception of the cuisine spurred her to begin blogging in 2010 at Indian Simmer, where she shares dishes from her childhood in a small town in central India.
“A normal meal that my mom would cook would be a simple lentil soup, a very simple unfermented flatbread roti with simple spices, and a very simple stir-fry of vegetables with a very little amount of spices and steamed rice,” Singh said. They’d add even more flavor with several kinds of pickles and chutneys.
Growing up, Singh’s life was centered around the kitchen. “Both my mom and dad are good cooks,” she said. “I think that’s where this whole love of food started.” Both parents stressed the importance of using fresh, local ingredients. Her family knew the area’s sabji wala, or vegetable vendors, very well, and Singh’s mother taught her how to carefully select the best produce. When she moved to the U.S. nearly a decade ago, Singh put the knowledge to good use in her own kitchen.
Singh says she understands why Indian food is often misunderstood in the States. After all, she likely has some misperceptions about other cuisines: “For example, I’m not an expert in Italian cuisine. All I know about Italian food is what I eat in restaurants… I think everyone eats sauces full of cheese,” she said. “I just want people to understand that Indian food can be handled by any palate.”
For those just beginning to experiment with Indian cuisine, Singh suggests starting out slow. Don’t attempt complicated recipes with long ingredient lists until you’ve mastered the easier ones, like garlic chicken, the spiced lamb or goat dish mutton do pyaza, or an easy potato stir fry.
Most of all, don’t get discouraged. Singh says her dream is to make Indian food accessible to as many people as possible. “I’ve written one cookbook” — The Everything Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook — “and I would love to write another,” she said. “I want tell more people about Indian cuisine.”
Circle back to Yahoo Food for a new recipe from Indian Simmer every day this week.
More bloggers who should be on your radar:
This Food Blogger Dropped Out of School, Quit Her Job, and Chased Her Dream
Cooking, Food, Gender, Class, and Race Come Together in This Gorgeous Food Blog
Meet a ‘Crazy Gal’ Who Quit Her Job and Ran Off to Culinary School
Who’s your favorite food blogger? Tell us below!
