The funny thing about Indian cuisine | Economic Times

Last week an American ‘humorist’, unwittingly or deliberately, caused a flutter on social media when he criticised Indian food as being ‘insanely’ based on just one spice and compressed it into that stereotype, curry. The world has moved on from that view of India — along with those other tropes of snake charmers, tigers and maharajas — but Americans remain largely ignorant.Yet a substantive kernel can be extracted from even the most ignorant of pronouncements. The cuisine of each region of India has a familiar, distinctive ingredient — not necessarily a spice. For some it may be curry leaves, for others it could be heeng (asafoetida) or a fruit vinegar. For many Indian cuisines it is mustard oil — whether it is Punjab, Kashmir, or Bengal.Such is the status of mustard oil — akin to extra virgin olive oil — that the Centre moved to ban blended oils from having mustard oil as component. Indeed, given the undeniable zing it adds to everything from pickles and mutton dishes to simple mashed potatoes, it is about time mustard oil garnered the kind of reverence olive oil and, lately, even coconut oil have.Way back in the 1960s in Washington DC, my mother noticed a young Indian man – clearly a student – surreptitiously looking at her in a grocery store. Those were simpler times, so she walked up to him and asked him why he was doing so. Taken aback and visibly abashed he blurted out that he was just so thrilled to see a desi face there after so long he could not help but look.Indeed, there were far fewer Indians visible nearly 60 years ago in the US than there are today. And chances of getting Indian food – gourmet or affordable – was even rarer there in all but the most cosmopolitan cities. As that American columnist’s ill-informed comment last week underlines, the US still remains behind the curve when it comes to access to Indian cuisine.From the Indian man’s words it soon became clear to my mother that he was pining for not only the faces and voices of home but also flavours. Always one to feed people at the drop of a hat, she promptly invited him for dinner for a Bengali meal. It was an offer he instantly accepted because although he was from Jaipur, he had Bengali neighbours back home and loved the cuisine. At the appointed time, he turned up and enjoyed a Bengali repast along with my parents. The feeling of a taste of home in a faraway place is indescribable, and he was quite tongue-tied while expressing his thanks. Ma impishly asked him if he found anything ‘different’ in the Bengali fare in DC and back home in India. He hesitatingly nodded but could not explain exactly what.“Mustard oil,” said Ma. “No Bengali food tastes quite the same without it but unfortunately it is not allowed to be imported into the US.” Oddly enough, 60 years later, mustard oil is still not allowed to be sold as an edible oil there although it is available. Can there be any better evidence of how out of touch Americans are with the flavours and essentials of other cuisines?The young Indian, a scientist, was quite bemused by the indispensability of mustard oil in Bengali cuisine as well as its non-availability in the US. After a long evening of stories – being an Indian student in US in the early 1960s was certainly anecdote-worthy – he took his leave. He was wished bon voyage as he was heading back to India in a mere fortnight. And my mother thought that was the last she would hear from him. She was wrong.A few months later, she got a phone call from an Indian pilot. He had a package for her, he said, but she had to be discreet about it. The ‘contraband’ content of that parcel can be revealed now, given that nearly 60 years have elapsed. It was a giant bottle of mustard oil. Rarely in her long innings as a diplomat’s wife has my mother been so touched by a gesture from a guest.But then, mustard oil is crucial to many Indian cuisines. So my mother did not think it fair to deprive her circle of Indian friends pining for a pungent taste of home. She decanted the oil into several bottles and despatched it to all the families that she knew would have also been missing that kick. For at least the next few meals a lot of Indians thanked that thoughtful student!A lot has changed since then. Indian students in the US longing for a taste of home no longer need to depend on soft-hearted people like my mother. But a lot remains to be remedied before Indian cuisine in all its glorious diversity is available in the US, and so-called opinion makers there are aware of at least its major aspects if not its finer nuances!