Ingredient Glossary

Short, plain-language definitions for the flours, spices, chutneys and pantry staples referenced throughout the recipes and technique guides in this library.

Ajwain (Carom Seeds): Tiny, powerfully fragrant seeds that taste something like thyme. They are often kneaded into samosa and kachori pastry, where they add a background warmth and are said to ease the digestion of fried food.
Amchur (Dried Mango Powder): Dried green mango ground to a powder, used to add sourness to chaat masala and to fillings where fresh citrus would be awkward. Its tartness is fruity and differs from that of tamarind or lime.
Atta (Whole Wheat Flour): Whole wheat ground fine and used for daily flatbreads and, in some regions, for puris. Because it keeps the bran and germ, it eats denser than maida and tastes faintly nutty.
Besan (Gram Flour): Flour ground from husked, split chickpeas (chana dal), and the foundation of pakora and bhajiya batters, dhokla, khandvi and toppings such as sev and boondi. It lumps easily unless whisked well into water, and cooks often roast it lightly before it goes into a steamed batter.
Besan Batter Consistency Terms: This library describes batter thickness in three terms, ribbon-consistency (falls from a spoon in a slow, unbroken ribbon), coating-consistency (leaves a thin layer on the back of a spoon) and pouring-consistency (runs freely, like heavy cream), because these are more dependable than flour-to-water ratios alone.
Besan ka Sev: This is sev by another name; the longer form simply makes clear that it is made from gram flour and not from the other flours used for similar fried, noodle-like garnishes.
Boondi: Tiny fried beads of seasoned gram-flour batter, formed by pressing the batter through a perforated spoon over hot oil. The sweet version goes into desserts, while the salted one tops chaat and is stirred into raita.
Chaat Masala: A sharp, savoury spice mix whose backbone is dried mango powder and black salt, rounded out with roasted cumin, coriander and other spices. It is dusted over finished chaat, fruit and roasted snacks and is not normally cooked into a dish.
Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas): Chickpeas that have been skinned and split, not to be confused with whole chickpeas (chole). They go into some fillings and are sometimes tempered whole in southern Indian dishes for crunch and a nutty taste.
Curry Leaves: Leaves from the curry tree, fried for a few seconds in hot oil as part of a tempering in southern and western Indian cooking. They can be used fresh or dried, and they have no connection to curry powder.
Dahi (Yogurt): Plain, thick dairy yogurt, whisked smooth and sometimes sweetened or salted lightly before it is spooned over dahi puri, aloo tikki chaat or papdi chaat. A full-fat, well-set yogurt keeps its body best.
Date-Tamarind Chutney: A cooked, thick chutney in which tamarind and dates (or jaggery) are simmered with spices, supplying the sweet-sour contrast that offsets the heat and tang of chaat.
Dhania (Coriander): The word covers coriander seeds, used whole or ground in spice blends, and fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), which garnish dishes and make up the base of green chutney.
Dhokla Batter: A besan batter, either fermented or leavened quickly, which is steamed into a spongy cake and then finished with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves. The gram flour batter guide explains how to handle it properly.
Garam Masala: A warming blend that typically contains cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper, among others. It is stirred in near the end of cooking so that its fragrance stays fresh and does not fade in the heat.
Garlic Chutney (Dry): A coarse, dry mix of garlic, dried red chillies and often desiccated coconut, pounded and not blended smooth, and best known as the spread inside a Mumbai vada pav.
Ghee (Clarified Butter): Butter simmered until the water and milk solids are separated off, which leaves a keepable fat that tolerates high heat and smells nutty. It is used for tempering and in some doughs.
Ginger-Garlic Paste: Fresh ginger and garlic, in roughly equal amounts, ground together to a smooth paste. It serves as an aromatic base in marinades, such as the one for chicken tikka, and in some gravies.
Green Chutney (Coriander-Mint Chutney): An uncooked blend of coriander and mint leaves with green chillies and a souring agent such as lime or raw mango, served with nearly all chaat and with many fried snacks.
Gud / Jaggery: Unrefined sugar made by boiling down sugarcane juice or palm sap. Compared with white sugar it gives chutneys and some spice mixes a deeper sweetness with a faint mineral note.
Haldi (Turmeric): Dried turmeric root in powder form, used sparingly for its colour and mild, earthy bitterness. It goes in early, since added at the last moment it tastes raw and chalky.
Hing (Asafoetida): A strong-smelling resin, sold ground and usually cut with rice flour, that turns savoury and almost umami once it spends a few seconds in hot oil. A pinch usually opens a tempering, particularly in dishes made without garlic.
Idli Rava: A coarse grit of parboiled rice milled especially for idli and dosa batters. It is not the same as semolina (sooji), which comes from wheat.
Imli (Tamarind): The tart pulp of the tamarind pod, sold in blocks, as concentrate or as paste. Simmered with jaggery and spices, it becomes the sweet-sour tamarind chutney found on most chaat plates.
Jeera (Cumin Seeds): Whole cumin seeds are the nearly universal opening of a tempering (tadka), sizzled briefly in hot oil or ghee so their aroma comes out before anything else joins the pan.
Kala Namak (Black Salt): A mineral salt with a noticeable sulphurous smell from compounds that occur in it naturally, essential to chaat masala and spiced chaat water. It is used by the pinch and not as an everyday cooking salt.
Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves): Dried fenugreek leaves, crushed between the palms and added late in cooking for a slightly bitter, hay-like scent that is typical of North Indian gravies and some tikka marinades.
Khoya / Mawa: Whole milk simmered slowly until only a dense, slightly grainy paste of milk solids is left. It turns up in certain festive snacks and sweets and is not part of everyday chaat.
Kokum: The dried, deep purple rind of a fruit, used in parts of western India to sour food. Its tartness is fruitier and less sharp than tamarind's, and it appears now and then in regional chutney variations.
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli Powder): Dried red chillies ground fine, contributing colour as well as heat. Regional blends differ greatly in strength, so the amounts in this library are starting points to adjust and not fixed rules.
Maida (Refined Wheat Flour): A very fine, soft white wheat flour with little protein, close to cake flour, used for the pastry of samosas and kachori and for bhature dough. Whole-wheat flour cannot match the tender, flaky or puffed result it gives on its own.
Momos Dough: A plain, unleavened dough of refined flour and water, rolled thin to wrap steamed dumpling fillings. It needs to be pliable enough to pleat without tearing yet not sticky.
Moong Dal (Split Mung Bean): Small split pulses, sold with or without their green skins, used in savoury pakoras, in a few dhokla variations and in lighter snack batters.
Mustard Oil: A sharp, pungent oil pressed from mustard seeds. In parts of northern and eastern India it is traditionally heated until it stops smoking before use, which tames its raw bite.
Paneer: A fresh cheese that does not melt, made by curdling hot milk with acid and pressing the curds. It is cubed and grilled for paneer tikka or crumbled into stuffed snacks, and it needs no ageing or culturing.
Papdi: A small, flat, crisp round of fried dough made with flour, semolina and oil, serving as the base for papdi chaat and sev puri. A good one snaps cleanly and does not bend.
Poha (Flattened Rice): Rice that has been parboiled, pressed flat and dried. A quick rinse and a short steam are enough to soften it, and it forms the base of the breakfast dish that shares its name and of certain chivda mixes.
Puri (Chaat Shell): In chaat, a small hollow ball of fried semolina or wheat dough that puffs up crisp, used for pani puri and dahi puri. It should not be mistaken for the larger puffed wheat bread, also called puri, that is served with meals.
Rai / Sarson (Mustard Seeds): Small round seeds, black or brown, that crackle and jump when they hit hot oil. They commonly begin a tempering in southern and western Indian kitchens, often together with curry leaves and urad dal.
Rava / Sooji (Semolina): Durum wheat milled coarsely and used for the crisp shells of pani puri as well as for upma and instant rava dosa. Fine and coarse grades act differently in the pan, which is why recipes name the one they want.
Rice Flour: Rice milled to a fine powder, used in certain dosa and idli batters and to thicken some chutneys or batters. It behaves unlike wheat flour and cannot stand in for it directly in doughs that depend on gluten.
Sabudana (Sago / Tapioca Pearls): Little pearls of starch taken from tapioca root, used in sabudana vada and often eaten on religious fasting days because they contain no grain. They hydrate properly only by soaking and turn gluey if boiled.
Sev: Fine, crunchy strands made by pressing seasoned gram-flour batter through a perforated press into hot oil. People eat it as a snack by itself and also scatter it over bhel puri and sev puri for crunch.
Tadka / Tempering: The method of frying whole spices, and sometimes aromatics, quickly in hot oil or ghee so their flavour is released before the fat is mixed into a finished or nearly finished dish. The technique guide covers it in full.
Urad Dal (Split Black Gram): A dense, starchy pulse that, when soaked and ground, gives idli and dosa batter its lift and medu vada its structure. The whole and the split, skinned forms behave differently and cannot be swapped.