Re: The Home Appliance thread Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonfire I am trying to reduce the burden of the Indian women (at least the one at my home ![LOL](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/LOL.png) ). As some foreigner commented, Indians spend half a day preparing the day's lunch and then eat it in 10 mins. While they spend 10 minutes preparing a meal (maybe sandwich) and spends half an hour eating it.
I think we waste countless hours and energy just to make food that is like 10% tastier. Like what they show in the movie Great Indian Kitchen - idly batter ground in grinders, curry made in earthenware (as opposed to pressure cookers), chutney made using stone grinders etc. I wonder whether they are really worth the hassle. |
Have you ever seen a foreigner subsist on sandwiches only? I have not. Sandwich is a snack food, same as samosa or vada. It is not a meal. Every cuisine has its mix of "fast food", normal food and "slow cooked" food.
Dough ground on stone grinders, meat or dal cooked on a low heat in an earthenware pot, dum biryani are styles that enhance the taste. You are free to use pressure cooker but you will never get the creamy texture of slow cooked dal or mutton curry. The reason is that gelatin (in meat) or membrane (plants) which gives you that creamy texture takes time (4h+) to emulsify in water.
Similarly in west you have slow cooked meat, oven roasts that take hours and complex souses.
Chinese have also a variety of stir fried (fast food), normal boiled/braised dishes as well as food cooked for hours.
It all depends on what you want to achieve.
Traditionally India being a hot country where food spoils easily, we have been cooking at least twice a day. So our cuisine and cooking is geared to preparing fresh food every meal. If that is chore for modern women, they are free to cook once in bulk, freeze it and have it ove one week. Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonfire A typical rice-meal in my state consists of rice, one or two vegetables dishes, a fish/chicken/beef curry, a fried fish and dal/sambar/rasam. Most of these dishes requires sautéing of onion, tomato and spices which requires time and effort.
I understand there is something complex happening there, but can't picture what two pieces of stone can do to the mix other than than grinding it.
I might be wrong here, but my understanding was that idly batter is not fermented using yeast but by bacteria. Bacteria fermentation produces acid which gives it the sour taste. Bacteria is already present in urad dal and that is why we don't have to "add" it unlike the yeast we add to bread dough or wine. Remember what happens when bacteria takes over the wine (due to contamination) - It turns into vinegar. |
Stone grinding gives the batter a unique texture as well as emulsifying the solids in liquid. I have seen the rice batter slowly thicken as the grinding progresses till you have to add more water. That means that the particles reduse monotonically and the mix absorbs more and more water. Never seen this behaviour while using a mixer. Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonfire I think it is the fermentation and not the grinding process that makes it fluffy but I'd not going to bet my money on that.
My mom adds a bit of baking soda to the idly mix. It releases air bubbles making the mix airy. |
Adding soda is a shortcut used by many to circumvent the tedium of properly fermented dough. Be it Idly or Dhokla (even industrial bread) you either go the traditional way, or use soda as a shortcut. The problem with soda is the after taste and uneven texture, as well as the fact that the dough may collapse while cooking. Further the solids and water are not integrated (solids have not emulsified in liquid), hence the cooking will take longer and the food rubbery.
For any one who has tried frying Dosa, observe the time taken to fry perfectly. Well fermented dough fries very fast as all the water in the batter is absorbed by the solids. In contrast dough that is fermented less will take a longer time as the excess water has to evaporate before the dosa fries properly. |