Three of the Most Popular Cooking Styles at Indian Restaurants

Something we hear a lot is from people who visit Indian restaurants and aren’t sure what it is they are ordering. The truth of the matter is that most dishes are named for the cooking style (much like you’d go to the Melting Pot and choose Coq au Vin as a cooking style for your food – it’s just the style of cooking used). Many are unfamiliar with this naming technique at their favorite Indian restaurants, and while they are happy to order what they love most, they’re not entirely certain what it is they are ordering. So we’ve decided to take your concerns and confusion and break it down into something a little bit simpler to understand, but just as delicious to enjoy. It’s much less complex naming Indian food that many people assume, so we’re going to break down those cooking styles for you so that you have a better idea what it is you are consuming.

Bhurji

This essentially means scrambled. Much like you’d cook an egg, these dishes are ‘scrambled’ as in they are stir-fried dishes that are tasty and delicious. Most of these dishes use the same spices, though it’s not uncommon for others to be used to make them tasty and delicious. You can also order these mild, spicy or very hot.

Kashmiri

This style of cooking uses very rich and very creamy sauces that are designed to bring out the natural flavors of a dish. Dried fruit and spices, nuts and milk and heavy cream are commonly used to create these sauces so that meals can be cooked in them for maximum flavor.

Vindaloo

If ever you’ve ordered anything cooked with this style, you know it’s hot. You know it’s very, very hot. This is because this type of cooking uses the grinding of lots of chili peppers in addition to cinnamon and even vinegar. These are popular dishes, but they certainly are not for the faint of heart.

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