Cyrus Todiwala's Top Tips for authentic Indian cooking

If anyone knows, Cyrus knows; he's proprietor and executive chef of the Café Spice Namasté Group, known for its innovative approach to Indian cuisine.

Born and brought up in Bombay, after training Cyrus Todiwala, MBE, rose through the ranks to become corporate executive chef of the famous Taj Groups Taj Holiday Village, amongst others, in Goa. He left India for Australia in 1991, then came to London to run the Namasté restaurant where he developed his hallmark style of blending traditional Indian culinary techniques and flavours with more unusual ingredients.

Today, Cyrus runs Café Spice Namasté andCafé t. He's a keen environmentalist, cooks with organic products and fully supports British produce.

1. Store cupboard essentials
There are a few absolutely essential ingredients in Indian cuisine. If you have the following ingredients in your cupboard, you can create upwards of 50 classic Indian dishes:

Fresh
Coriander
Garlic
Green chilli

Ginger
Onions
Tomatoes

Dried spices
Cassia Bark
Cloves

Green cardamom pods
Peppercorns

Dried Powdered condiments
Coriander, ground
Red chilli powder

Cumin powder
Turmeric, ground

Whole dried condiments
Cumin

Coriander
Lovage seeds, if possible

2. Taking care of your herbs and spices
Not everyone uses herbs and spices as regularly as frequently as in an Indian home. Even dried spices lose their flavour after a while, so all your ingredients should be refrigerated. The constant steady temperature prevents them from oxidising and deteriorating, thus making them last longer.

3. Limit chilli usage
True Indian cuisine is all about flavour and character and not just about chilli. Concentrate on fresh, good quality ingredients for best results.

Lay off the fiery stuff!

4. Rice
Cooking rice is not necessarily an art, as is commonly thought; it's about following a few basic steps.

When making Pulao (or Pilaf as it’s commonly called in the UK) rice, use two-parts of water to one-part rice, and finish the rice in the oven using an oven safe pot with a close fitting lid.

5. Accompaniments

Pickles and chutneys play a vital role: they elevate the food to a higher plane; good quality pappadums add value and taste.

Perfectly-cooked rice and some hot fresh bread (chapatis, parathas, poories, naans) are essentials.

6. Following a recipe
When cooking Indian food make sure that you have read the recipe a few times, THEN try to use your imagination as well.

Don't get bogged down with following the recipe to the letter as you lose your individuality and perhaps miss out on some good flavours.

Always use good high quality ingredients as the demand on the raw material is often quite high and the better the quality the better the end result.

7. Don't burn your spices!

When adding spices, add a little water to the pan to help cool it sufficiently to prevent the powders from burning. This also allows the pan to deglaze and keeps the bottom free of residue. The water also helps to bring out the flavours.

8. Use a medium heat
Except when frying off the spices to begin the cooking process, or frying mustard seeds, it’s best to start the dish on a medium heat. Cook slowly to seal in flavours.

9. Dish too oily or salty?
Dish too oily? Add a little chickpea or gram flour to help absorb the oil and thicken the gravy.

Over-salted a dish? Remove the meat or vegetable pieces and add chunks of potato and cook in the gravy until soft, then return the product to the gravy. Potatoes will generally absorb the salt making it palatable once again and make a good addition to most dishes anyway.

10. Cooking okra to perfection