Indian food is very popular all over the world. The taste of most of us is not compatible with such spicy foods, but we enjoy eating Indian food. From a scientific point of view, our desire to eat grilled chicken and Indian tika spice is a reaction and outpouring of taste buds against the norm and moderation.
Our understanding of the taste of food is our body’s reaction to the molecules of the food ingredients. In Western cuisine, we are more in favour of foods that combine similar ingredients to create a combined flavour. Take cake, for example: butter, milk, flour and sugar have their own flavuors, but combining these flavours together does not change our taste buds.
Scientists at the University of Jahapur in India say that Indian food violates the rest of the world’s laws of cooking when it comes to combining flavours and molecular assembly. They have analysed thousands of Indian recipes and mapped out the taste of each of these flavors. The flavour composition of Indian food ingredients such as cayenne pepper, the main ingredient in curry, hot masala, coriander and green pepper are all at a molecular level.
Their contrast is what makes these foods taste unique, but that’s not the only reason. Remember, although the possibility of combining food ingredients seems endless, there are actually only 381 food ingredients in the world. In Western cuisine, on average, only 50 types of these raw materials are used.
Two or three types of these ingredients may be used in the preparation of a Western dish; foods like pasta and cheese, cheeseburgers and fried chicken. But more than 200 ingredients are used in the preparation of more than 200 Indian food. There is a large chain to create and combine delicious aromas and flavours. These flavours may be in harmony or deliciously contrasting.
Among all the local cuisines of the world, Indian cuisine is the most popular among other nations of the world. These two scientific evaluations show that in Indian food, not only do they use more spices than we do in their food, but they also combine them in new ways that surprise and delight our taste buds.