A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
Achar	Pickle.
Adrak	Ginger.
Ahta	Chapatti flour. Fine wholemeal flour used in most Indian breads. English wholemeal is a suitable alternative.
Aloo	Aloo is the Indian name for potato and can be combined with cauliflower in Aloo Gobi and spinach in Sag Aloo. The potatoes are usually cubed and cooked with garlic, turmeric, cumin and garam masala.  Bombay potato involves cooking new potatoes with onion, spices and tomato.
Aloo chole	A vegetarian dish using chickpeas, potatoes and tamarind.
Am	Mango.
B
Badaam	Almond.
Balti	The Balti is cooked and served in a wok-like pan that traditionally is heavy and cast iron allowing the curry to cook slowly. The Balti can be either a meat, fish or vegetarian curry and is traditionally eaten with either naan bread or chapattis in preference to rice and using your hands!
Bargar	The process of frying whole spices in hot oil.
Basmati	The best type of long grain rice.
Bay leaf	Tej patia. This very well known leaf is used fresh or dried in certain Indian recipes.
Besan	Chickpea flour.
Bhaji	Deep fried fritter, usually onion.
Bhuna	The process of cooking the spice paste in hot oil. A bhuna curry is usually dry and cooked in coconut.
Biriani	A biriani dish involves cooking spices and rice with meat, prawns or vegetables.
Bombay Duck	The British (not renowned for their language skills) found it difficult to pronounce Bommaloay Macchi, a fish native to the Bombay area, so it became Bombay Duck - a crispy deep fried starter.
Bombay potato	Small whole potatoes in curry and tomato sauce.
Boti kebab	Cubes of lamb marinated in yoghurt dressing flavoured with lemon and garlic and spiced using coriander, turmeric, cardamom and chilli then cooked in a tandoor oven. Chicken can be skewered and grilled.
Burfi	A zindagee favourite, burfi is a sweet that comes in various flavours but most popularly pistachio, made out of reduced condensed milk.
C
Cardamom	Laichi. Various types, notably green, white, and brown. One of the most aromatic and expensive spices.
Cashew nuts	Kaju
Cassia bark	Often cooked in North Indian curries, this bark cannot be eaten but has a sweet fragrance.
Cayenne pepper	A type of chilli powder.
Ceylon curry	Usually cooked with coconut, lemon and chilli.
Chana	Type of lentil.
Chana Massala	A side dish made out of chickpeas.
Chapatti	A hot, small circle of unleavened bread (no yeast), normally griddle cooked (if the griddle is not being used to threaten misbehaving kids!). As dinner guests of zindagee staff are well aware, tortillas are a poor substitute for mum’s chapattis but they do the job too!
Chawal	Rice.
Chicken Tikka	Everyone’s heard of this one, a familiar staple of the modern Indian restaurant. Marinated cubes of meat cooked in a tandoor without oil.
Chutneys	The common ones are onion, mango and raita (natural yoghurt flavoured with mint) though parents will often regale offspring about the countless weird and wonderful chutneys out there!
Cinnamon	Cinnamon (dalchini) is highly aromatic and is used as a spice.
Coriander	Many a kid has made a dash to the corner shop for some dhania on the back of a good tongue lashing as mum just won’t rest easy without fresh (and it must be fresh!) dhania – found in nearly all Indian cookery.
Cumin	Another important spice in Indian cooking of which there are two types: black and white cumin (jeera) seeds with the latter being extensively used.
D
Dalchini	Cinnamon (see above)
Dhai	Yoghurt.
Dhal	Lentils, and whilst there are tons of different types, split red lentils, moong, and brown lentils remain popular.
Dhania	Coriander (see above).
Dhansak	A spicy, hot yet almost sweet and sour Persian curry, which comprises of either meat or prawns, combined with a lentil dahl and vegetable puree (and occasionally fruit).
Dopiaza	Do means two and piaza means onion. It gets its name because onions appear twice in the cooking process, which usually involves chicken, lamb or prawns.
Duma	The name given to steam cooking which traditionally involved using a pot with a close fitting lid tightly sealed with cloth.
F
Fenugreek	Fenugreek (methi) is an important savoury spice used in many North Indian dishes.
G
Garam masalla	A classic North Indian spice. Garam masalla is a collection of spices and literally means 'hot mixture'.
Gobi	Cauliflower.
Gosht	Lamb.
Gulab jaman	Beware! A very sweet Indian dessert - balls of flour and milk powder deep-fried to golden and served cold in syrup.
Gurda kebab	Marinated kidney skewered and cooked in the tandoor.
H
Haldi	Turmeric.
Halva	A much-treasured Indian sweet made from syrup, vegetables or fruit. Always has a habit of appearing at weddings, engagements and other occasions.
I
Idli	A South Indian rice and lentil flour cake served with light curry sauce.
Imli	Tamarind.
J
Jalebi	Another popular Indian dessert much vaunted at special occasions. Flour, milk powder and yoghurt batter is pushed through a narrow funnel into deep-frying oil to produce golden curly crispy rings. Served cold or hot.
Jalfrezi	Sautéed or stir-fried chicken, meat or vegetables, with added green peppers, green chillies and onions. Originally a Raj dish.
K
Kaleja	Liver. A fond memory for the zindagee cuisine editor is of roasting skewered lamb liver pieces marinated in spices.
Karahi	A karahi is a cooking pot similar to a wok but in many restaurants karahi chicken or lamb is cooked with onion and tomato and served sizzling from the pan.
Karela	Small, dark green, knobbly vegetable of the gourd family.
Kashmir chicken	Whole chicken stuffed with minced meat.
Kashmir curry	A Kashmir curry is usually sweet, contains lychees and is cooked with onions, spices and sweet fruits.
Kebab	Skewered meat cooked over charcoal.
Keema	Minced meat curry.
Kheer	Milk pudding.
Kofte	Minced meat or vegetable balls in batter, deep-fried, and then cooked in curry sauce.
Korma	Traditionally a korma was a very rich curry consisting of meat, chicken or vegetables cooked in cream, yoghurt, nuts, and spiced fragrantly. Often taken to mean mild these days.
Kulfi	Indian ice cream, which traditionally comes in vanilla, pistachio, almond or mango flavours.
L
Lassi	Sweet or salty, a great drink made from yoghurt and crushed ice. You simply cannot beat a mango lassi!
M
Macchi	Fish.
Madras	Invented by the British! Usually contains tomato, almond and lemon juice along with hot chilli powder.
Malaya	Curries traditionally cooked with coconut, chilli and ginger.
Mattar	Green peas.
Moglai	(Expensive!) Dishes cooked for the Moghul emperors flavoured with garlic, ginger, and spices and then cooked in a rich creamy sauce of yoghurt, coconut, cashew nuts and sultanas.
Mooli	White radish.
N
Nan	Leavened bread baked in the tandoor. Can be ordered plain, or stuffed with garlic, with spiced minced meat (keema), with vegetables (kulcha) or with nuts and raisins (peshwari).
O
Okra	A vegetable, lady finger (bhindia).
Onion Bhaji	Deep fried slices of onion coated with spicy batter containing cumin, coriander and fresh green chilli.
P
Paan	Betel leaf.
Pakoras	Cauliflower, broccoli or potato coated in spiced turmeric coloured batter and deep-fried.
Paneer	An Indian cheese.
Papadam	Thin, cooked (deep fried or baked) lentil flour wafers, usually served with chutneys.
Paratha	Pan fried bread made from wheat flour and ghee.
Pathia	A Persian dish, usually sweet and sour in taste and hot!
Phal	Another British invention – the hottest curry around! Keith of London Fields fame would have approved.
Pilau	Rice and meat or vegetables cooked together in a pan until tender.
Pilau rice	The restaurant name for rice fried with spices and coloured yellow.
Puri	Deep-fried unleavened bread that puffs up when cooked.
R
Raita	Chutney of yoghurt and vegetable, e.g. cucumber that accompanies the main meal.
Rasgulla	Balls of semolina and cream cheese cooked in syrup.
Rashmi kebab	Spicy minced lamb cooked in the tandoor served wrapped in an egg omelette.
Rasmalai	Small balls of milk and flour cooked in cream and served cold
Rhogan josh	A Kashmiri dish cooked with lots of chilli powder and marinated lamb in yoghurt with ghee, spices and tomato Literally means red juice lamb.
Roti	Similar to the chapatti.
S
Saffron	The most expensive spice in the world! ,
Sag Gosht	Lamb dish with spinach.
Sag or saag	Spinach.
Sag Paneer	Cubes of Indian cheese with finely chopped spinach, onion, garlic, garam masalla and a mild curry sauce. Muttar paneer uses fresh or frozen peas in place of the spinach.
Samosa	You must have heard of these! Legendary triangular deep fried pastry filled with mildly spiced mixed vegetables or minced meat (usually lamb).
Seekh kebab	Spiced minced marinated and skewered lamb grilled or barbecued.
Shami kebab	Small round chargrilled patties of spicy minced lamb cooked in the tandoor.
T
Tandoor	Large clay oven heated to intensely high temperatures.
Tandoori Chicken	Chicken marinated in yoghurt, garlic and a mixture of spices including coriander, cumin, garam masalla, ginger and mint and then cooked rapidly in a tandoor.
Tarka dhal	Lentils fried and garnished with spices.
Tikka	The most popular dish in Britain, ahead of fish and chips (its true!) is (for Brits, chicken) tikka masala, which is skewered meat, chicken, or seafood, marinated then barbecued or tandoori baked.
V
Vindaloo	Vindaloo (also called Bindaloo or Tindaloo) originates from Portugal and was a pork dish but is now served as a chicken or lamb dish mixed with potatoes and is blooming hot!
X
Xacutti	Hotter than a vindaloo (!) and hailing from Goa.