The taste of the ingredients can easily be destroyed when cooked for too long or too hot, or maybe not as good when cooked not hot enough.
This also applies to spiced food though
mush is easy to make and also tastes like shit.
I guess this is true, mush with thyme and butter tastes a lot better than mush with butter.
I think it's because when I hear "spices" I think of Indian spices. Which can be harsh if overused and require a lot of skill/knowledge to use properly. Whereas Mediterranean herbs are incredibly easy to use in comparison (I've never had a dish ruined because it "had too much thyme")
I rarely cook Indian food for this reason, and most of my go-to dishes are either Mediterranean or Chinese inspired--I think this is actually the norm because these two, and maybe Mexican, are the most popular cuisines that Americans tend to make
I mean, I think there's a low floor but a very high ceiling. It can be very easy to make a passable Indian dish, but to make it real good it takes a lot of practice and knowledge.
That's also true, maybe making good food just isn't always easy, one way or another, and some spices can cover for mistakes made or make food worse if used wrong, I never intended to say spices were bad or anything.
okay I think there should be a distinction between spices and herbs.
spices are unanimously tricky to use
whereas most herbs are very simple to use
There are a few exceptions on the herb side (sage, cilantro) but even these aren't as easy to fuck up as spices (asafoetida, cumin)
if you throw a bunch of thyme, rosemary, parsley, dill into your food it's basically idiotproof
if you throw a bunch of cumin, turmeric, achaar powder, mustard seeds into your food you better know what you're doing
Hing is super easy. You just put it in hot oil and it cooks within seconds. You can smell when it’s done. Then just add the other stuff and proceed.
I only mentioned garaam masala cuz i didn’t wanna write out every spice lol.
Indian cooking, generally speaking, is easy. You don’t have to measure anything and the food basically cooks itself.
Edit: I’m gonna edit this comment because I don’t want it to seem like I’m making a broad sweeping declaration about Indian food.
Indian food is very varied and diverse. I just found it kinda funny that people were claiming it is this difficult arduous thing and spices are these complex alien items you have to be super careful about.
Not really. Just find a good simple recipe online and follow it. It’s like the Italian food of Asia. It’s very hard to mess up.
Maybe you have different tastebuds, but too much Asafoetida/Hing just wrecks any chance of a dish being palatable
I think you're doing that thing where you're used to something so you claim it's easy lol. literally every other cuisine uses less stuff
Indian cooking, generally speaking, is easy. You don’t have to measure anything and the food basically cooks itself.
This is...pretty much every other cuisine except with fewer ingredients, and ingredients that are much harder to mess up.
I've put too much cumin in my food and it tasted really bad
I've never put too much thyme or garlic or green onions in my food though
Indian grocery stores literally make millions selling premade spice blends and fruit pastes because so many of the dishes have SO MANY fucking ingredients that it's impossible to keep track of them all
It’s like the Italian food of Asia
Italy is a country, India is a continental-scale landmass
For Hing you just need a pinch. I’ve messed up spices too so I get where you’re coming from.
There is a lot in Indian cooking that is genuinely tough. But I think the basics are super easy to learn and can be used in a huge variety of foods.
The basics vary too, I guess. Everyone knows South Indian food is different from North Indian. But the way Punjabis prepare daal, for example, is different from how people in UP/Bihar do.
I just think Indian food is so interesting. I wish there was a way to properly explore all the different varieties and local versions and home recipes and everything.
This also applies to spiced food though
I guess this is true, mush with thyme and butter tastes a lot better than mush with butter.
I think it's because when I hear "spices" I think of Indian spices. Which can be harsh if overused and require a lot of skill/knowledge to use properly. Whereas Mediterranean herbs are incredibly easy to use in comparison (I've never had a dish ruined because it "had too much thyme")
I rarely cook Indian food for this reason, and most of my go-to dishes are either Mediterranean or Chinese inspired--I think this is actually the norm because these two, and maybe Mexican, are the most popular cuisines that Americans tend to make
Indian cooking is hard?? That’s the first time I’m hearing of it lmao.
I mean, I think there's a low floor but a very high ceiling. It can be very easy to make a passable Indian dish, but to make it real good it takes a lot of practice and knowledge.
That's also true, maybe making good food just isn't always easy, one way or another, and some spices can cover for mistakes made or make food worse if used wrong, I never intended to say spices were bad or anything.
okay I think there should be a distinction between spices and herbs.
spices are unanimously tricky to use
whereas most herbs are very simple to use
There are a few exceptions on the herb side (sage, cilantro) but even these aren't as easy to fuck up as spices (asafoetida, cumin)
if you throw a bunch of thyme, rosemary, parsley, dill into your food it's basically idiotproof
if you throw a bunch of cumin, turmeric, achaar powder, mustard seeds into your food you better know what you're doing
Oil -> hing, cumin, ginger, garlic, onion -> tomato -> veggies, potato -> turmeric, salt, garaam masala -> cook -> cilantro.
Usually. Different for daals (stop before the veggies step and add the rest to the daal), add water before cooking for curries etc.
It’s simple as shit.
yea you better know what you're doing
I mean you just listed out 10 extra things, also garam masala is itself a blend of a bunch of spices, but sure
Hing is super easy. You just put it in hot oil and it cooks within seconds. You can smell when it’s done. Then just add the other stuff and proceed.
I only mentioned garaam masala cuz i didn’t wanna write out every spice lol.
Indian cooking, generally speaking, is easy. You don’t have to measure anything and the food basically cooks itself.
Edit: I’m gonna edit this comment because I don’t want it to seem like I’m making a broad sweeping declaration about Indian food.
Indian food is very varied and diverse. I just found it kinda funny that people were claiming it is this difficult arduous thing and spices are these complex alien items you have to be super careful about.
Not really. Just find a good simple recipe online and follow it. It’s like the Italian food of Asia. It’s very hard to mess up.
Maybe you have different tastebuds, but too much Asafoetida/Hing just wrecks any chance of a dish being palatable
I think you're doing that thing where you're used to something so you claim it's easy lol. literally every other cuisine uses less stuff
This is...pretty much every other cuisine except with fewer ingredients, and ingredients that are much harder to mess up.
I've put too much cumin in my food and it tasted really bad
I've never put too much thyme or garlic or green onions in my food though
Indian grocery stores literally make millions selling premade spice blends and fruit pastes because so many of the dishes have SO MANY fucking ingredients that it's impossible to keep track of them all
Italy is a country, India is a continental-scale landmass
For Hing you just need a pinch. I’ve messed up spices too so I get where you’re coming from.
There is a lot in Indian cooking that is genuinely tough. But I think the basics are super easy to learn and can be used in a huge variety of foods.
The basics vary too, I guess. Everyone knows South Indian food is different from North Indian. But the way Punjabis prepare daal, for example, is different from how people in UP/Bihar do.
I just think Indian food is so interesting. I wish there was a way to properly explore all the different varieties and local versions and home recipes and everything.
Anyways, thanks for talking about it.