Indian Food Creeps into English
Dozens of Indian food items have trekked over to the English language.
Some items like Samosa, Naan, Roti, Ras Malai, Idli, Chutney, Gulab Jamun and Lassi have even found acceptance in that holy of holies, the Oxford English Dictionary.
Indian food is so diverse (not surprising given the diversity of our people) and regional.
Even within a single state, the food can be richly diverse. Take, for instance, the South Indian state of Karnataka: the food in Mysore is so different from the food in Mangalore or Gulbarga. Jowar bhakri or jolada roti is popular in North Karnataka but does not have many takers in the Mysore region. An eating establishment is a hotel in Mysore (oldies will remember Galli hotel) and Khanavali in the North Karnataka city of Raichur.
To list all the Indian appetizers, main courses, desserts and drinks would easily fill over 500 pages in small print.
So what I’ve listed below is a tiny sample of Indian food items (not all are in the OED but rest assured it will get there) that have tiptoed into English :
- Chicken 65: This euphoria-inducing appetizer comes in two kinds: the dry variety and in a gravy form; originally a spicy south Indian appetizer but now popular across India
- Idli: A steamed cake of rice and black; Popular South Indian breakfast item, served along with Sambar, Chutney and spicy Milagai Podi
- Lassi: Yogurt drink made with sugar or salt; I confess to being an addict since I sipped my first Lassi at ITO (Delhi) four decades back
- Curry: Blend of spices with vegetables and/or meat; used as a side for Roti or mixed with rice
- Channa Masala: Spicy Chick Peas dish used a side with Chapati, Roti or Naan
- Jalebi: Coil of batter fried and then dipped in sweet syrup
- Gulab Jamun: Perhaps the most popular Indian dessert
- Rasmalai: Popular Bengali sweet
- Rasgulla: Very popular Bengali sweet
- Chicken Tikka Masala: Supposedly devised by a Bangladeshi cook in UK but a fixture at every Indian restaurant in the West these days
- Chilli Chicken: Wildly popular Indian-Chinese appetizer; Often enjoyed as a side with beer or hard liquor
- Vada: Popular South Indian fried item
- Biryani: Spicy rice dish comprised of vegetables and/or meat; Popular across India
- Pakora/Pakoda: Fried snack; Often enjoyed as a side to beer and hard liquor
- King Fisher: Popular Indian beer, often ordered with Chicken 65
- Mysore Pak: a sweet dish popular in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu
- Roti: Indian bread
- Chapati: Indian bread made with wheat
- Naan: Indian bread; A popular variant is the Garlic Naan that’s wildly popular in the West
- Samosa: Fried pastry made with vegetables or meat
- Kulfi: Dense ice cream that comes in different flavors (mango, pista, badam, etc.)
- Laddu: Round sweet ball popular across India
- Champakali: Delicious Indian sweet; comes with a cherry on top
- Chum-chum: Popular Bengali sweet
- Rava Kesari aka Kesaribath: Popular breakfast item across India; goes by different names
- Sandesh: Popular Bengali sweet
- Nimbu-Pani: Lemon or lime juice with water and ice; Sold on the street-side and in fancy restaurants
- Raita: Side-dish of yogurt containing cucumber, shredded carrot, green chillies
- Upma: South Indian breakfast; Sometimes served along with with Kesaribath as a combo called Chow-Chow bath on a single plate in small darshini-style restaurants in the South Indian cities of Bangalore and Mysore
- Sapaat Raman: This word of Tamil origin is often used in a derogatory sense for a person with an obsessive interest in eating