Current Curries: Books, restaurants make Indian food mainstream

The growing Indian presence also comes at a time when the popularity of cooking shows – including Bravo's "Top Chef," hosted by Indian actress and model Padma Lakshmi – and an increase in foreign travel have made Americans more adventurous eaters.

"The American palate is no longer bland," says Andrew F. Smith, editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink of America, who predicts that Indian food will take off in the next decade the way sushi bars did in the 1980s and Thai food did in the '90s.

A September 2009 survey of ethnic food by the market research group Mintel found that the fastest growing segment was Indian food, with sales increasing nearly 35 percent from 2006 to 2008. While Indian food's overall share of the $2.2 billion ethnic food market still is tiny – $40 million in 2009 compared to $1.4 billion in Mexican/Hispanic foods – Mintel says the Asian (mostly Chinese) and Indian food segments are driving the growth.

New York, the dining capital of the nation, has seen an explosion in the number of Indian restaurants in recent years. New York University sociologist and food studies scholar Krishnendu Ray counts some 350 Indian restaurants today compared to the 19 listed in the 1978 edition of a restaurant guide. At the top of the market are a small group of stylish, cosmopolitan restaurants like Tamarind, Devi and Tabla, which received three stars from The New York Times soon after it opened.

The glowing review – "It was love at first bite," it reads – is a far cry from an 1876 article in the Times that judged curry to be "a good thing in its time and place" but one that "still rather deserves the epithet of barbaric."

Fancy Indian food has made inroads in other cities too. Raghavan Iyer, author of the well-received Indian cookbook "660 Curries," recently helped launch the upscale restaurant Om in Minneapolis, which features traditional Indian dishes like pork vindaloo and roghan josh (lamb curry) interpreted for an American audience.

While Iyer is amazed at how much more available Indian products have become since he emigrated here in 1982, he says America still has a ways to go in terms of really understanding Indian food.

"People associate hot with spicy and to me they're two different things," he says. "It's a question of educating the American audience. If Thai food can be considered mainstream, I don't think Indian cooking can be that far behind."

Part of the allure is the supposed health benefits of Indian food, especially spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and cayenne. Research into the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric has landed it on lists of cancer-fighting foods in recent years.

Priti Chitnis Gress, editorial director for the publisher Hippocrene Books, Inc., says the company's line of Indian cookbooks do quite well, particularly the one titled "Healthy South Indian Cooking," and sell largely to a non-Indian audience.

"People, especially in metropolitan communities, are fairly sophisticated," she says. "It's not just chicken curry and rice and naan anymore."

Across the pond, Camellia Punjabi's cookbook "50 Great Curries of India" has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. It was recently reissued in the United States with a DVD "to take the intimidation out of cooking Indian food," says Anja Schmidt, the New York publisher of Kyle Books, a division of London-based Kyle Cathie Ltd.

Not everyone believes that the South Indian crepes called dosas will become as ubiquitous as burritos. David Browne, a senior analyst at Mintel, says Indian food will remain an acquired taste because "the flavor profile is still a limiting factor."

Another skeptic is Chicago-based food writer Colleen Taylor Sen, author of "Curry: A Global History." She notes that America doesn't have the colonial ties to India that Britain does.

"There are so many Chinese, Thai and Mexican restaurants in the U.S. that play the role that Indian restaurants do in the U.K.," she says.

It might be too early to tell, according to NYU's Ray, who notes that while Indians are among the fastest growing ethnic groups in this country, the population of 2.7 million is still a tiny presence in a nation of more than 300 million people. Also, the bulk of the Indian immigrant population simply hasn't been here that long.

Chicken marsala and focaccia may be household words today for tens of millions of Americans but Italians have been in the U.S. in large numbers since the late 19th century, become assimilated and moved up the social and economic ladder.

Whether ground fenugreek and coriander become flavors as familiar to Americans as basil and oregano depends in large part on whether Indians can do the same thing, according to Ray. "In 2065, Indian may be in the same place as Italian food," he says.

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Chicken and Cashew Nuts in Black Spices

This thick, nutty curry from Camellia Punjabi's cookbook "50 Great Curries of India" is made from ground spices and cashews. When grinding the spices and nuts, make certain you reduce everything to a fine paste, otherwise the curry will appear curdled. Serve this dish with rice seasoned with lemon zest.

Start to finish: 1 hour

Servings: 4

4 ounces grated unsweetened coconut

12 cloves garlic

1-by-1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

2-1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds

1-1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

4 whole dried red chilies

6 cloves

3-inch cinnamon stick

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 cup cashew nuts

5 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Salt, to taste

2-1/4-pound chicken, skin removed, cut into 8 pieces

In a large, dry skillet over low, combine the coconut, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies, cloves and cinnamon. Toast for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the onion and a 1/4 cup of the cashews. Toast for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Turn off the heat and leave to cool. Once the mixture is cool, transfer it to a blender or food processor. Add 3/4 to 1 cup of water and process until finely ground. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl.

In the food processor or blender, combine 1/8 cup of the remaining cashew nuts and about 2 tablespoons of water. Process to a paste, then set aside.

In a large saucepan over low, heat the oil. Add the spice mixture and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the ground cashew nuts and salt, then cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Increase heat to medium, then add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the remaining cashew nuts and continue to cook until the chicken is done, about another 5 minutes.