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A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|X|Y|Z |
P |
| Pan or Paan |
Betel leaf folded around a stuffing lime paste or various spices and eaten after a meal as a digestive. |
| Pakoras |
To all intents and purposes the same as the Bhajia. |
| Palak or sag |
Spinach. |
| Panch phoran |
Five seeds. A mixture of five spices used in Bengali vegetable cooking, comprising equal amounts of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, custard and wild onion seeds. |
| Paneer |
Cheese made from bottled milk which can be fried and curried (matter paneer). |
| Papadam |
Thin lentil flour wafers. When cooked (deep fried or baked) they expand to about 8 inches. They must be crackling crisp and warm when served. If not send them back. They come plain or spiced with lentils, pepper, garlic or chilli. |
| Paprika |
Mild red pepper made from capsicums. It originally came from Hungary and only reached India this century. Its main use is to give red colour to a dish. |
| Paratha |
A deep-fried bread. |
| Pare |
Thinly peel vegetables or fruit. |
| Parboil |
To boil or simmer until partially cooked. |
| Pasanda |
Meat, usually lamb, beaten and cooked in one piece. |
| Patia |
Restaurant seafood curry with thick, dark brown, sweet and sour sauce. |
| Patna |
A long grain rice. |
| Pepper |
Mirch. Has for centuries been India's most important spice, gaining it the title king of spices. It grows on vines which flower triennially and produce clusters of berries, which ar3e picked and dried and become the pepper corns. Green, black and white pepper are not different varieties. All peppercorns are green when picked and must be bottled or freeze-fried at once to retain the colour. Black pepper is the dried berry. White pepper is obtained by soaking off the black skin of the berry. Peppercorns are a heat agent and can be used whole or ground. |
| Phal or phall |
A very hot curry (the hottest) invented by restaurateurs. |
| Piaz, peeaz or pyaz |
Onion. |
| Pickles |
Pungent, hot pickled vegetables or meat essential to an Indian meal. Most common are lime, mango and chilli. |
| Pistachio nut |
Pista magaz. A fleshy, tasty nut which can be used fresh (the greener the better) or salted. It is expensive ad goes well in savoury or sweet dishes such as biriani or pista kulfi (ice cream). |
| Plunge/shack |
To cool rapidly by immersing in cold water or crushed ice. |
| Poach |
To cook food in liquid usually with a little vinegar, heat kept just below boiling point. |
| Podina |
Mint leaves or powder. |
| Poha |
Pounded rice. |
| Prawn butterfly |
jinga praj patia. Prawn marinated in spices and fried in batter. |
| Prawn puri |
Prawns in a hot sauce served on puri bread. |
| Pullao |
Rice and meat or vegetables cooked together in a pan until tender. In many restaurants the ingredients are mixed after cooking to save time. |
| Pullao rice |
The restaurant name for rice fried with spices and coloured yellow. |
| Pulses |
Types of lentils. |
| Puree |
Pulp of vegetables or fruit sieved, mashed or ground to a smooth thick paste. |
| Puri |
A deep fried unleavened bread about 4 inches in diameter. It puffs up when cooked and should be served at once. |
| Top |
| Q |
| Quas chawal or kesar chaval |
Rice fried in ghee, flavoured and coloured with saffron. |
| Top |
| R |
| Rai |
Mustard seed. |
| Raita |
A cooling chutney of yoghurt and vegetable, cucumber for instance, which accompanies the main meal. |
| Rajama |
Red kidney beans. |
| Rasgulla |
Walnut-sized balls of semolina and cream cheese cooked in syrup (literal meaning juicy balls). They are white or pale gold in colour and served cold or warm. |
| Rashmi kebab |
Kebab minced meat inside a net-like omelette casing. |
| Rasmalai |
Rasgullas cooked in cream and served cold. A very rich sweet. |
| Rhogan josh gosht |
Literally means red juice lamb. It can be spelt dozens of ways. It is a traditional Northern Indian dish. Lamb is marinated in yoghurt then cooked with ghee and spices and tomato. It should be creamy and spicy but not too hot. |
| Ratin jot |
Alkanet root. Beetroot coloured , dried, wafer-thin bark of the root. It is used as a deep red dye to make-up, clothing and food. Traditionally the Northerners obtained their red tandoori and rhogan josh gosht colouring from it. |
| Rosewater |
Ruh gulab. A clear essence extracted from rose petals to give fragrance to sweets. |
| Roti |
Bread. |
| Ruh gulab |
Rosewater. |
| Top |
| S |
| Sabzi |
A generic term for vegetables. |
| Saffron |
Kesar or zafron. The world's most expensive spice, saffron is the stamen of the crocus flower. It takes 70,000 stamens to give a recipe a delicate yellow colouring and aroma. |
| Sag or saag |
Spinach. |
| Salt |
Namak |
| Sambals |
A Malayan term describing the side dishes accompanying the meal. Sometimes referred to on the Indian menu. |
| Sambar |
A south Indian vegetable curry made largely from lentils. |
| Samosa |
The celebrated triangular deep fried meat or vegetable patties served as starters or snacks. |
| Sarson ka sag |
Mustard leaves |
| Saunf or souf |
Aniseed. |
| Seeng |
Drumstick. A bean-like variety of marrow which looks exactly like a drumstick. |
| Seenl |
Allspice. Related to the clove family, the seed resembles small dried peas. Called allspice because its aroma seems to combine those of clove, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and pepper. used rather more in European cooking than Indian. |
| Sesame |
Til. |
| Shami kebab |
Round minced meat rissoles. |
| Shashlik |
Cubes of skewered meat. |
| Sheek or seekh kebab |
Spiced minced meat shaped on a skewer and grilled or barbecued. |
| Sil batta |
A pair of grinding stones: Sil, large stone, batta, small pounder. |
| Sonf |
Fennel seed. |
| Sont or sonth |
Dry ginger. |
| Sorportel |
A Goan pork dish with heart, liver and meat. |
| Sub-continent |
Term to describe India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma, and Sri Lanka as a group. |
| Supari |
Mixture of seeds and sweeteners for chewing after a meal. Usually includes aniseed or fennel, shredded betel nut, sugar balls, marrow seeds etc. |
| Top |
| T |
| Taipal or jaiphal |
Nutmeg. |
| Tamarind |
Imli. A date-like fruit used as a chutney, and in cooking as a souring agent. |
| Tandoori |
A style of charcoal cooking originating in north -West India. Originally it was confined to chicken and lamb and naan bread. More recently it is applied to lobster etc. The meat is marinated in a reddened yoghurt sauce and placed in the tandoor. |
| Taraazu |
Weighing scales. |
| Tarbooj ke beej |
Watermelon seeds. |
| Tarka |
Garnish of spices/onions. |
| Tarka dhal |
Lentils fried and garnished with spices. |
| Tava or tawa |
Heavy steel shallow frying pan. |
| Tej patia |
Bay leaf |
| Thaali |
A tray which holds the complete meal served in individual bowls (katori). Used by diners in the South. |
| Tikka |
Skewered meat, chicken or seafood, marinated then barbecued or tandoori baked. |
| Til |
Sesame seed. |
| Tinda |
A vegetable of the cucumber family. |
| Tindaloo |
See vindaloo. |
| Toor or toovar |
Type of lentil. |
| Tukmeria or tulsi |
Black seeds of a basil family plant. Look like poppy seeds. Used in drinks. |
| Turmeric |
Haldi or huldi. A very important Indian spice, turmeric is a rhizome. The fresh root is used occasionally as a vegetable or in pickles. The ground spice is extensively used to give the familiar yellow colour to curries. Use sparingly or it can cause bitterness. |
| Tulsi |
Basil. |
| Top |
| U |
| Udrak |
Ginger. |
| Urid |
A type of lentil. Its husk is black and it comes whole, split or polished. Available as a dhal dish in some restaurants. |
| Top |
| V |
| Vanaspati |
Starch. |
| Vark or varak |
Edible silver or gold foil. |
| Vindaloo |
A fiery hot dish from Goa. Traditionally it was pork marinated in vinegar with potato (aloo). In the restaurant it has now come to mean just a very hot dish. Also sometimes called Bindaloo or Tindaloo. |
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| X |
| Xacutti |
A Goan dish using chicken and coconut. |
| Top |
| Y |
| Yakni |
Mutton. |
| Top |
| Z |
| Zafron |
Saffron. |
| Zeera |
Cummin. |
| Top |
