When you add a pinch of baking soda and a teabag to the pressure cooker when cooking chickpeas, you are using the chemistry of acid-base reactions and also exploiting the ability of sodium bicarbonate to break bonds in pectin.
When you add gram flour (besan) to yoghurt and whisk it to prevent it from splitting in a kadhi, you are experimenting with the physics of emulsions. When you whip air into egg whites for cakes, you are dealing with foams
When you make a perfectly soft-boiled egg, or work cold butter into an omelette, or squeeze lime juice into a marinade for chicken, you are denaturing protein molecules with precision and control.
When you blanch spinach briefly in boiling water before pureeing it for palak paneer, you are deactivating an enzyme that would have otherwise discoloured your dish to a dull, unappetising shade of green by stealing a magnesium atom from chlorophyll
When you chop onions or garlic in a specific way, you are activating enzymes that accelerate reactions that produce more onion or garlic flavour in your food.
When you add salt to ground urad dal and rice to make idli or dosa batter, you are nurturing friendly microbial life while deterring nasty microbial life.
In short, when you cook, you are a chemist.
Today at 5 pm, I will be doing a masterclass on the science of Indian cooking for @bombaycanteen as part of their Independence Day Daawat 2021 (the proceeds go to initiatives such as soil regeneration, tree planting & solar panels). Go register now thebombaycanteen.com/collections/in…
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