Science Explains Why Indian Food Is So Damn Good

Living in India, we have a choice of picking and choosing among the various Indian delicacies available to us. Most of us are spoiled for choices when it comes to devouring food all around us, from home cooked meals to restaurant food. But have you ever took a step back and wondered what makes Indian food taste so good? Well, science will give you the answers to that question. 

A research study conducted by Indian Institute of Technology in Jodhpur reveals several facts about why Indian food tastes better than Western food. The reason behind it is the fact that Indian dishes uses ingredients with little to no molecular flavour similarities. Dishes made with Indian spices offer a wide contrast of flavours that blends together, while western dishes uses flavours which are quite similar to each other. 

The research conducted by IIT analysed flavour combinations and compounds from over 2500 Indian recipes on popular websites and concluded that every ingredient in the recipe has over 50 molecule flavour compounds. The study showed that Indian cuisine has the most varied combination of flavours, as compared to other cuisines. The spices used in dishes, like garam masala, complements the variety of meat or vegetables used in the dish. 

The compounds in Indian cuisine provide for a myriad of flavour combinations and the complexity of it is tied together by the spices and the ingredients used in the dish. The researchers who conducted the study noted that, “Each of the spices is uniquely placed in its recipe to shape the flavour sharing pattern with rest of the ingredients.”