FOOD
Food is an essential part of culture in the Punjab Region, throughout history India has been famous for its delicious food.
STARTERS
Samosas:
Samosas are savoury pastries typically stuffed with vegetables although they can be stuffed with meat. They are usually served with some chutney or caramelised onions. Once they have een filled they are wrapped in puff pastry and fried in oil.
Pakora:
Pakora are a fried snack consumed all over the world. They are made by mixing several different vegetables for example onion, spinach, potato. Then flour and water is put into the mixture. The chef will then take a small handfull of the mixture and put it into a large pan where it will be fried until golden. pakora are very popular in India not only as a starter put as a snack also. Moreover you can also add meat to the mixture.
Kofta:
Kofta are balls of meat or vegatables that are usually served in a spiced sauce or turka. Although they can be made out from vegetables koftas are usually made from minced lamb or chicken. Once the meat has been minced it will be mixed with onions garlic and ginger. It will then be added to the sauce and will be left so simmer for a few hours before consumption
THE MAIN COURSE
Daal:
Daal is a typical Indian dish consumed by nearly everyone in India. It is a combination of lentils, onions garlic ginger, turmeric, and various other spices. The lentils are first cooked in a pressure cooker for a few hours, they are then added to the turka. There are a few different types of daal for example there is yellow daal (made with yellow lentils) and brown daal (made with brown lentils). There are also different types of lentils that give different texture. Other main courses can be made using the same method for example you can do the same thing with raajma (kidney beans) and shullae (chick peas).
Meat:
Many different meat dishes can be made however they all follow the same guide lines. The meat is usually chopped up and is then cooked in the turka ( sauce containing vaious spices and vegetables). The time the meat is cooked depends on the type of meat. Furthermore meat can also be made in different forms for example you can make kebabs. This usually consists of lamb or chicken mixed with various herbs and spices. The mixture is then put on a skewer and cooked. It is very popular to cook meat in a tandoor (a clay oven).
Saabji literally translates to vegetables however it is used to describe a dish that consists of one vegetable mixed with turka. The vegetable you use can be anything from aubergine to carrots. Other dishes served with the main course include saag (steamed greens like spinach mustard leaves etc that are blended and cooked with turka) and palak de purji ( cooked spinach)
​
To accompany all the dishes above roti (chapati) or rice is served. There are many different variations of roti for example the paratha is a roti stuffed with a number of things, popular stuffings include : coriander, aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower) and mooli (daikon). Another variation is makhi de roti which is made from cornmeal.
DESSERT
Kheer:
Kheer is essentially an Indian take on rice pudding. It is made by boiling rice, wheat, sugar and milk together. It is then garnished with a number of different things. Usually nuts and cardamon are added to make the dessert more flavoursome. In some regions rose water is added.
Jalebi:
Jalebi is a sweet dessert served all over India. It is made by making a wheat flower batter. the mixture is then placed in a bottle and the batter is squirted into the oil making many individual circular desserts. After they have been fried they are soaked in a sugary syrup which creates a sugary exterior that makes jalebi chewy.
Gulab Jamun:
Gulab Jamun is a light sugary dessert. It is made by heating milk over a stove until most of the water content has gone, the remaining solid is then kneaded into a dough after some flour has been added. The dough is then shaped into small balls before they are deep fried. after they have been fried they are covered in saffron infused syrup. The result is a delicious sugary dessert.
