Ancient Indian Food Recipes

If you want to obtain ancient Indian food recipes you are in trouble, almost nothing is preserved. Today most recipes include tomatoes, chilis, and bell pepper - all native to the Americas and late imports. The recipes on this page are my own adaptations and based upon what was available in ancient India, as such they are not genuine. If you want to read more about Ancient Indian Food just click this link, on that page you have a general analysis of what Indians used to eat in ancient times.

Indian cuisine has used spices liberally for thousands of years

Ancient Indian Food Recipes - Bread

Chapatti
(4-6 pieces of bread)
- 500 ml of wheat flour
- water
Put some flour on a baking board, and add some water and blend it - until the dough is soft, if necessary put some amount of water and take care of neither sticky nor dry. Leave for half an hour. Make 5 cm balls that you with a baking roller make as thin as possible, this on a floured surface. Heat a nonstick frying pan and on medium to high-temperature fry - turn when starting to dry, they are ready when the top side starts to get color. Serve hot. Excellent to scoop up one of those tasty Indian dishes with!

Ancient Indian Food Recipes - Main Courses

Lentil Stew - Daal
(Serves 4)
- 1 cup dried lentils
- 1500 ml of water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 1 clove finely chopped garlic
Soak lentils for 4 hours, rinse and drain. In a large cooking pot, boil 750 ml of water and salt. Add lentils, put on the lid and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add black pepper, turmeric, cumin, and coriander, simmer without lid stirring from time to time. Heat oil in frying pan to low temperature and add mustard seeds and garlic, after about 2 minutes pour oil mixture into the lentil mix. Put on the lid and simmer for about 5 minutes. Take off the lid, if still watery just simmer without the lid as long as necessary, it should be like a bowl of pea soup. Dal is the main protein source for most Indian vegetarians, many times have eaten with rice and bread.

Chicken Korma
(Serves 4)
- 1 kg chicken in pieces
- 500 ml of yogurt
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 chopped onions
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 2 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
In a large bowl marinate chicken pieces in yogurt, 1 clove of garlic, ginger, half a chopped onion, salt, and black pepper - leave for at least 3 hours. Heat oil in a large stew pot, sauté the rest of the garlic and onions then add ground coriander seeds, cumin, cardamom, poppy seeds, turmeric and bay leaf, fry for a minute. Add chicken with yogurt marinade. Cook for about 45 minutes until done. Sprinkle fresh coriander over the dish and serve with rice and bread.

Grilled Fish
(Serves 4)
- 100 ml of vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp fresh finely chopped ginger
- 4 cloves crushed garlic
- 150 ml of rice vinegar
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 kg white fish fillets cut in 5 cm pieces
Blend oil, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, black pepper, ground coriander, cumin and salt in a blender to a smooth paste (put the oil in first). Marinate the fish in the paste for 4 hours, covered in a refrigerator. Preheat oven to 250 °C on the grill, put the fish on a greased baking tray and broil each side for 5-8 minutes depending on thickness. You need to have an electrical oven for this, alternatively, you can barbeque the fish instead. Ready to serve. Good with rice, boiled vegetables, and bread.

Ancient Indian Food Recipes - Beverages

Spiced Chai
(Two cups)
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamom seeds
4 cloves
600 ml of water
1 cup full-fat milk
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp strong black tea
take the cinnamon, cardamom seeds, and cloves and mix in water and boil it for some time, let it simmer sometimes maybe around for 5 minutes. Add milk, honey, black tea and bring it to a boil again. Traditionally this tea is very sweet, you can, of course, cut down on the honey if you want to.