Tag Archives: Indian cuisine

Indian Cuisine in the Islands

DSC_6942 We are probably all familiar with the most famous Indian dishes such as the North Indian butter chicken and South Indian Biryani and Vindaloo but the term Indian cuisine actually encompasses a wide variety of different and unique food styles. Each region has their own flavours and ingredients from a country covering a vast swathe of land. Different parts of the country have their own specialties using ingredients common to their particular location. DSC_6947For example Kerala has more use of coconut, Rajasthan uses more milk and ghee than some other regions and Gujarat has it’s own unique mostly vegetarian style.   I was lucky enough to live in Kuala Lumpur and experience food cooked by Indians who make up a significant percentage of Malaysia’s population. In KL the Indian cuisine is generally speaking a “greatest hits” of dishes from different regions using a great variety of ingredients that would often not be available in the geographically separated regions in India. This is the style of cuisine that we serve at the resort. 

One of my favorite dishes is Lamb Rogan Josh from the Kashmir region. It’s relatively mild heat and use of fragrant spices really appeals to me and of course as with everything, is better is cooked using meat on the bone. Some of the dishes we serve include Chicken Shorba; a lightly spiced clear chicken soup with coriander, Dal Makhani; whole black lentils simmered with ginger, garlic, and herbs and Keema Mattar which is minced lamb cooked with peas, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, spices and herbs with fresh coriander.

We are lucky enough here to have a full show kitchen including a Tandoor oven and a skilled Tandoor chef who cooks to order Naan and Tandoori chicken to have with your meal along with a range of accompaniments such as raita, mango chutney, lime pickle and poppadom. Raita is a yoghurt sauce made with cucumber and often a little cumin or mint and acts as a cooling agent to have with your meal, especially helpful if you’re a bit of a softie and can’t handle your heat!

 

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