Within traditional Indian homes, a wife generally doesn’t doesn’t go out and work. She remains at home ensuring there is tasty indian food ready for her family to eat around the clock. If the household is lucky enough to include older females, for example aunts or grandmothers, they will assist in the preparation of the indian food as well.
Indian women begin to learn to cook indian recipes when they are very young indeed. They can expect to assist their mothers/ grandmothers etc. with all household tasks including cooking and cleaning.
A daughter will be expected to learn very soon how to grind spice, and how to combine them to make delicious masalas and exactly how and when they should include them in certain indian recipes. She will also learn the intricacies of making a wide variety of Indian recipe breads which will be consumed with meals and throughout the day. These include parathas, rot is, naan, chapatti’s and more. Included in her eduction will be the knowledge and expertise that she will require to prepare several indian recipes at the same time and co-ordinate them into a rounded meal – it is very rare that an indian meal will consist of a single Indian recipe. Accompaniments may include the tastiest deep-fried onion bhajis and pakora. This skill is understandably critical when we understand that a girls ability to prepare Indian food may well influence her ability to attract a husband!
Exquisite as indian food is, it is important to understand that the production of an indian meal is a highly complex and time-consuming business, even if you are experienced in this area.
That’s how it is in traditional life. However, today in India and in Britain, where many Indian families have made their homes, life is very different.
Nowadays, Indian women have generally lost the luxury of remaining in the home all day. They desire or are driven by the need to earn a way to go out to work. Indian girls who have been brought up in Britain see other girls of their age going shopping, visiting friends, to school, to college and finally to work and they have no desire to remain at home with mother, slaving over a hot stove. However, they also don’t want to lose the culture and flavours of Indian food.
With this conflict of interest, what is the answer when Indian cookery can’t provide a fast solution to providing a meal? Vicky Bhogal the solution and shares this through her book, Cooking Like Mummyji. She walks through the culinary issues that are faced by modern Indian women who are submerged within a British culture and life-style and comes up with some interesting answers.
One name for this solution is the so-called Fusion Cooking since it’s a delicate fusion of the flavours & aroma’s of India mixed with the simplicity of wholesome British family food. The resulting anglo-indian recipes combine amazing tastes with fast preparation and cooking methodology. Exciting recipes such as Fishcakes with Bite and a Sunday lunch alternative – Green Masala Roast Chicken are guaranteed to satisfy any palate.
If you’d like to see and example of fusion cooking, why not check out our Indian Whole Chicken Recipe.
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