Answer: Mixture of spices
Masala is a mixture of spices that often include green chilies, ginger, black pepper, cloves, cumin, cardamon, nutmeg and coriander. It can be mixed to a paste and added to curry or used to marinate meat or fish. Masala chai, or tea, is a mixture of spices diffused in hot water with sugar.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
Answer: Jalebi
Jalebi is a common sweet in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It can be yellow or orange in color.
From Quiz: Indian Food
Answer: Pork
Sorpotel is made of pork including the liver, heart, kidney and other organs of the pig. Every Goan family has their own secret recipe for preparing this. Other tasty Goan dishes are Goa sausages (pork again), vindaloo (chicken, lamb or pork) and spicy fish curry.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine: Special Edition
Answer: Tilgul
Makar Sankranti is a mid-winter festival celebrated in various parts of India and Nepal. It is the only Hindu festival based on the Solar calendar, the others follow the Lunar calendar. In Maharashtra, people greet each other by exchanging laddoos made of jaggery and sesame seeds known as tilgul. Jaggery is unrefined sugar also known as 'gur'.
From Quiz: Indian Sweets
Answer: Poppyseeds
Coriander, cumin, and turmeric are commonly used across India. Poppyseeds are rarely found in most other regional cuisines. Bengalis however, use poppyseeds in many preparations. It is also used while preparing the batter to fry brinjal slices as a side dish.
From Quiz: A Taste of Bengal
Answer: Sour
The masoor tenga is a light and sour fish curry. Local river fish are used in the preparation. Tomatoes and lemon are key ingredients resulting in the sour, tangy flavour.
From Quiz: Eye on My Plate
Answer: Winter
Undhiyu is traditionally cooked in earthen pots called 'matkis' or 'matlus'. The pot is buried upside down underground and heated from above. The dish consists of seasonal vegetables that are grown during winter. Some of the ingredients used in this preparation are broad beans, yams, unripe bananas, potatoes and plantains.
A thali is a stainless plate. Small steel bowls are also provided for the various gravies, vegetables, dal and buttermilk.
Gujarat, a state on the western coast of India, is one of the only largely vegetarian states in India. Meat is eaten only by the non Hindus, mainly Muslims and Parsis here. In most other parts of India, except for Brahmins (this also varies from place to place), Hindus belonging to other castes are known to eat meat or fish.
From Quiz: New to the Neighbourhood
Answer: Potatoes and cauliflower
Chopped onions are fried with spices before the addition of diced potatoes, cauliflower florets and water. The ingredients are gently simmered until the mixture thickens. A large bowl of Aloo Gobi can be served with naan bread to soak up the juices or as a side dish to a main course.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
Answer: Rasam
Rasam is commonly consumed with rice. It is extremely popular with all states of South India.
From Quiz: Indian Food
Answer: Sag Aloo
Chana massala is made from chick peas. Tarka dall consists of lentils garnished with garlic. Mattar paneer is a side-dish of garden peas with cheese. (What will they think of next?)
From Quiz: I Love Curry!
Answer: Clarified butter
Clarified butter is pure butterfat from which all the milk solids have been removed. It can be subjected to high temperatures without burning.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine
Answer: Hilsa
Hilsa or ilish is related to the herring fish. It is highly regarded in Bengali cuisine, so much so that it has been designated as the state symbol of West Bengal and the national fish of neighbouring Bangladesh. Fish is such a major component of the Bengali diet that in earlier times all houses had their own fish pond.
From Quiz: A Taste of Bengal
Answer: Raja mirchi
Raja mirchi translates to king chilli. It is better known as bhut jolokia, a name used in Assam. Bhut jolokia is one of the world's hottest chillies.
Pork is widely eaten in Nagaland. Other ingredients used to prepare smoked pork are bamboo shoots, akhuni (fermented soy beans) and anishi (fermented yam leaves).
From Quiz: Eye on My Plate
Answer: Paneer
The texture of paneer is similar to cottage cheese and can be used in snacks, desserts or the main meal of the day. The cheese is made by curdling milk with a food acid such as lemon. Rennet is not included in the cheese making process due to the cow being sacred to Hindus.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
Answer: Luncheon
The word Tiffin comes from an eighteenth-century English slang word "tiffing" meaning "sipping". In British India, the term was used to describe the meal that was served between breakfast and dinner, usually around midday time. In parts of modern India, the word remains in use regarding the packed lunches taken to work by Indian men.
From Quiz: Recipes of the Raj
Answer: Payasam
Payasam is the South Indian equivalent of Kheer. Payasam is a sweet dish prepared using milk, rice, lentils, cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, etc. The other three options Sambhar, Papad and Gojju are not sweet dishes
From Quiz: South Indian Cuisine
Answer: Carrot
Gajar ka Halva is a North Indian dessert, which has now become popular in all parts of the country. The other ingredients besides carrots are milk, sugar, ghee (clarified butter), dry fruits and mawa (whole dried milk).
From Quiz: Indian Sweets
Answer: Major Grey's
Major Grey's chutney is still sold in jars. In India, the people usually prefer fresh chutneys.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine
Answer: Mutton
Chaap means ribs. Mutton chaap uses the meat of a young goat or lamb. The ribs are slow cooked on a tawa ("open frying pan") after being coated and marinated in various spices and some strands of saffron.
Muslims arrived in Bengal in the thirteenth century. Bengal was later also part of the Mughal Empire. When the British Raj spread across India, Muslim rulers of various regions fled to Bengal in exile. All of these have been instrumental in the Muslim influence on Bengali cuisine.
From Quiz: A Taste of Bengal
Answer: Paddy field snails
Snail meat is popular in Nagaland. Once the rice has been harvested, farmers scour the paddy fields for small snails. These can be included in regular pork or beef dishes. Akini chokibo is a delicacy which uses snail meat exclusively. The akini refers to perilla seeds and chokibo means snails. Perilla seeds are oil seeds similar to sesame seeds. The snails and perilla seeds are cooked together with pork lard.
From Quiz: Eye on My Plate
Answer: Banana leaf
Sadya translates to banquet in the Malayalam language. Served on a banana leaf, the meal consists of numerous vegetable dishes along with rice. It is eaten sitting cross-legged on mats laid out on the floor and no cutlery is used. Dishes included are sambar (a lentil based vegetable stew), rasam (a spicy tamarind based soup), kaalan (gravy prepared with yoghurt, coconut, plantain and yam), avial (mixed vegetables) and olan (white gourd cooked in coconut milk). Papadum, buttermilk, pachadi (a type of pickle) and banana chips are served as accompaniments.
If you crave meat instead, there are numerous options in chicken and mutton including a regional variety of biryani also known as the Malabar biryani. With the state located along the southern coast of India, fish is also available in plenty.
From Quiz: New to the Neighbourhood
Answer: Coconuts
Nearly every part of the coconut is used in Goan cuisine. The oil, milk and flesh are used in many recipes while the sap from the palm is used as a yeast substitute and to make vinegar. Another part of the palm called jaggery is used to prepare Goan sweetmeats.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
Answer: Punjab
A Tandoor is a clay oven in which food is cooked over a charcoal fire. Tandoors were also found in excavations at the Harappa and Mohenjo Daro settlements of the Indus Valley civilization. Tandoori chicken was first cooked when the Mughals ruled India.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine: Special Edition
Answer: Kheer
Kheer is a type of rice pudding and is made in both India and Pakistan. A similar dessert called phirni is eaten in North India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Southern India, a variant of kheer called payaasam is served during wedding feasts and other festive occasions.
From Quiz: Indian Sweets
Answer: Biryani
Balushashi are sugar covered pastry rolls. Bhel is an appetiser made from puffed rice. Besan laddu is a flour based sweetmeat flavoured with pistachio and cashew nuts.
From Quiz: I Love Curry!
Answer: Samosa
Dhal is a sauce made from lentils. Pakorhas are vegetable fritters. Sambar is a lentil and vegetable soup.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine
Answer: Parsi
Parsis are descendants of the Persian Zoroastrians who fled to India during the 10th century to avoid religious persecution by the Muslim invaders of Persia. Having initially made their home along the western coast of India, significant populations are found in Mumbai and various cities of Gujarat.
Patra ni machchi, one of my favourite dishes, consists of fish steamed in a banana leaf along with a thick green chutney. Other well known dishes are chicken farcha (fried chicken), sali boti (boneless mutton served with thin fried potato sticks called sali), akuri (scrambled eggs) and dhansak (mutton or chicken cooked along with lentils).
From Quiz: New to the Neighbourhood
Answer: Raita
Raita is prepared by adding spices to yoghurt followed by chopped fruit or vegetables. The most popular type of raita is mint with cucumber but other ingredients can be added such as onions, carrots, pineapples, bananas or papayas.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
Answer: Mango
Aam Ras is a Gujrati sweet dish made using mangoes. Like all Gujrati food, it is slightly sweet and slightly sour. It is usually eaten with puris or chapattis (Indian bread) and is sometimes served as a cooling drink.
From Quiz: Indian Sweets
Answer: Pork
The pig is considered an unclean animal and is not eaten by Muslims.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine
Answer: Soup
Thukpa is a soup consisting of noodles and a variety of vegetables. It may also contain meat. The dish originated in Tibet and then became popular in various surrounding regions.
From Quiz: Eye on My Plate
Answer: Dal
Dal is eaten as a side dish or as a main course and can be spicy or bland in flavour. The pulses are split before washing and then soaked in water. They are then boiled in water until soft. Spices and vegetables are fried gently in oil and the dal added towards the end of cooking.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
Answer: Wheat flour
Chapati may also contain other grains like bajra and jowar. Chapatis are usually round and thin and vary in sizes. They are usually served with ghee on top and commonly consumed with pulses and vegetables.
From Quiz: Indian Food
Answer: Rasgulla
It is known as Roshogolla in Bengal. This sweet was first made in the temple town of Puri, Orissa in eastern India and offered to the Hindu deity, Jagganath.
From Quiz: Indian Sweets
Answer: The dried and salted flesh of the Lizardfish
The Bombay Duck has got to be one of the weirdest tasting Indian delicacies going. By the way: the cherimoya (the custard apple tree) comes from South America.
From Quiz: I Love Curry!
Answer: Hot
Dishes from the Madras area are usually made with lots of cumin and peppers.
From Quiz: Indian Cuisine
Answer: Gulab Jamun
Like the gulab jamun, the ledikeni is also a lightly fried sugar ball that is brown in colour. However, while gulab jamun is made from reduced milk, ledikeni is made from split milk. Ledikeni is considered a variant of another Bengali sweet, the pantua. It was first prepared in honour of the visit of Lady Canning, the wife of the Governer General Lord Charles Canning, and named after her.
From Quiz: A Taste of Bengal
Answer: Roasted duck
Poora haah literally means roasted duck and as the name indicates the full bird is roasted. It may be eaten whole as is or made into a curry with other herbs.
From Quiz: Eye on My Plate
Answer: Goa
Goan Christian cuisine is heavily inspired by the Portuguese who colonized the region for almost four hundred years. Lying on the western coast of India, fish is a staple for most Goans though pork and chicken also figure prominently among the Catholic population. Chourico, a spicy pork sausage, can be eaten by itself or along with rice pulao. Sorpotel, a vinegar based pork dish, tastes best when eaten with sannas - steamed rice bread which is slightly sweet. Fish gravies are typically described as ambot tik which combine both sour and spicy flavours. The meal can be washed down with a glass or two of feni - home brewed alcohol made from cashews.
From Quiz: New to the Neighbourhood
Answer: Pakora
Vegetables, bread or sometimes chicken are deep fried in a spicy batter and served as a side dish or daytime snack. The most popular varieties are 'palak pakora' (spinach), paneer pakora (cheese) or aloo pakora (potato). They are delicious served with mint raita.
From Quiz: A Taste of India
