About Taste
of Tandoor
Since our inception, Taste
of Tandoor continues to receive rave reviews
as one of the best Indian Restaurants in
the Metropolitan DC, Northern Virginia area.
Elegant decor complements our Authentic Indian
Cuisine, which creates a warm and romantic
dining experience.
India's cuisine is a combination of
fragrantly subtle spices. The delicate,
yet pungent,
spices are as varied as India's climate
and as exotic as her people. We specialize
in North Indian cuisine and the centuries
old style of Tandoori (clay oven) cooking.
Meats, fowl and seafood are cooked quickly
in the 1000 degree heat of the... Read
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Indian Spice Blends
The skill of using Indian spices comes
not only with knowing what spices to
use, but also how to use them. Indians
have traditionally used spices for their
medicinal qualities as well as flavor.
Different blends of spices can be said
to have "heating" or "cooling" effects.
A curry is a blend of spices cooked with
tomatoes and onions, yogurt or coconut
milk. The blend varies according to the
region and the cook. Curries are likely
to include several of the following spices:
* cardamom- an antiseptic spice
* pepper
* cloves- antiseptic
* cinnamon
* cumin
* coriander
* turmeric- a food preservative, also used against skin diseases, bruises,
and leach bites
* red chili
* saffron
* tamarind- said to "sweeten" the voice
* ginger- good for digestion
* nutmeg
* fenugreek
Another term for a blend of spices is
a masala. The first garam masala was
created in Northern India under Monghul
rule. It originally included cardamom,
cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Over
the years, cumin and coriander were added.
This blend is now know as a Monghul masala.
Spice blends are used with all types
of main dishes, including meat, fish,
poultry, and vegetables. In the south,
curries are generally hotter and mainly
vegetable (Bhujia, Dosa, Idli). Specialties
include Pharsi Dhan Sak (lamb or chicken
cooked with curried lentils) and the
sweet-sour Vinaloo vinegar marinade.
Northern cuisine focuses on meat dishes
like Rogan John (curried lamb), Gushtaba
(spicy meatballs in yogurt), kebabs,
and Tandoori cooking (chicken, meat,
or fish marinated in curd and spices
and baked in a traditional clay Tandoor
oven). |
