Week 2: India

The largest democracy in the world, India is the most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent. Hindi is the official language, but English is widely spoken. Over 80% of Indians belong to the Hindu religion. Black pepper, common in many western kitchens, is originally indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.

There are so many different cuisines to choose from we could spend years trying to include them all. So we picked a few basics that sounded good to us. Naan has always been a favorite (along with any bread, regardless of origin) and our attempt turned out very well. Chicken tikka is a simple curried chicken dish. The curry was a little overpowering but Jean noted that on the second day the flavor had mellowed. Kheer is a sweet rice desert with cardamon and rose water. It is one of our new favorite things and Jean didn't want to wait for the picture to eat it. We are definitely looking for more uses of cardamon in our kitchen.