Debunked: 5 most common misconceptions about Indian food

Indian cuisine is known for its wide use of spices and while this can be good for the aroma and flavour, there are people around the globe who believe that Indian food is the spiciest in the world. Just like this, there are several misconceptions about Indian cuisine that are widely spread and there is not an iota of truth in it. Today, we are going to debunk some of the common misconceptions about Indian food, which some of you may have believed till now. (Images courtesy: iStock)

In the west, people have this misconception about Indian food because most restaurants add a lot of ghee on top of literally every food, which is unlikely to be eaten every other day in an Indian household. Most of the foods eaten on a daily basis are rich in healthy fats and include lentils, veggies, curd and rotis. Some of the dishes, yes are covered in ghee, like halwas and puris. Thus, it would be wrong to say that all Indian food is fatty and unhealthy.

Commonly, people align the word spicy with hot, which just isn’t the case. Spicy in India simply means that the food contains lots of spices like turmeric (Haldi), garam masala (a blend of spices), cloves (laung), cumin (jeera) and coriander (dhania), none of which have any “chilli” heat associated with them. Not just that, all the dishes made on a regular basis do not have all the spices in it. There are only a few curries or dishes that are on the ‘hotter’ side.

Not true again. If you happen to have a liking for cooking and take a look at the recipes, you will realise that Indian food requires only a handful of things and can be made in just 20-30 minutes. Even popular dishes like Tandoori Tikka, Paneer Butter Masala, Butter Chicken are known to have a super-easy cooking process.

Authentic Indian food does not use curry powder. In fact, it was British Indian food that used to include curry powder in every food. However, it was also in the late 60s and 70s, only a few dishes use curry powder while cooking in Britain till date. Curry powder is actually a mix of spices collectively known as garam masala. It is added to some dishes along with other spices to enhance their flavour and aroma. While the basic ingredients used are the same, each household has its own proportions so the end result will often differ from home to home. The better the quality of the ingredients, the tastier the garam masala and the resulting dish in which it is used.

It would be hard to believe for a person who does not know much about Indian cuisine that every region has its own sweets. Most of the desserts are offered to the deities as an offering (prashad) and eaten during festivals. If you happen to eat homemade sweets, you will realise there is nothing like that and the desserts are not that sweet.