Why Indian-ish?
People are often intimidated by the thought of cooking Indian food. The curry powder and sultana approach to Indian cookery has long been discarded by increasingly knowledgeable eaters, but the quest for authenticity which replaced it has brought long lists of spices, strange ingredients and cookbooks which are part travelogue, part dictionary. Add to this the experience of rich and fattening restaurant food and the result is that only dedicated cooks usually ever tackle the mysteries of the Indian kitchen at home. But to those of us from Indian migrant families, this seems puzzling. We know first hand that Indian food can be quick, cheap, healthy and heavily reliant on the store cupboard. And if you’re a vegetarian or have lots of vegetarian friends, then it’s a saviour to know how to conjure up an Indian meal. But it has to be said that the food we grew up on does not always meet the authenticity test of visiting family from India. Except for the dedicated few, the food we are used t...
