B
Baghaar, Baghar, Bargar
This is the process of placing whole spices, or finely chopped ginger, garlic and/or
chillis into hot, almost smoking, oil or ghee for a short while in order for them to impart their
flavour into the oil. The whole can then be poured into a finished dish, such as a dhal,
as a seasoning, tarka/tadka, or can be the first stage in cooking; other spices
being added later.
Balti
A restaurant dish which has a cult following in the UK.
Usually a quickly made stir-fry style of curry, cooked and served in a
karai and eaten with an Indian bread.
Bhajee, Bhajia
A term more often seen on a restaurant menu than in a recipe book when spelt like this,
indicating a vegetable dish, moist but usually without sauce, served as a side dish.
Bhaji
A spiced, savoury fritter, traditionally a snack but served in UK restaurants as a starter,
made from small pieces of vegetable bound together in a gram flour batter and deep fried.
Bhuna, Bhunav, Bhoona
Bhuna is a method of cooking whereby the ground spices are fried and stirred at a high
temperature with small amounts of water added at regular intervals to prevent them from sticking
and burning. The meat or vegetables are added and the temperature lowered, finishing off with a
burst of high heat to reduce any liquid. A bhuna dish does not have any gravy/sauce.
The bhuna stage is the first step in many Indian recipes, followed by the addition
of sauce ingredients, and is important in creating a good flavour.
Biryani
This is a dish of Persian origin, served at festivals and special occasions and cooked in a casserole
style lidded pot or pan. Pieces of meat, fish or vegetables are browned in hot oil or ghee, partly cooked in a
spiced sauce and placed in the casserole then covered with partially cooked rice over which saffron coloured
milk is dribbled, so that some of the rice is coloured yellow. The pot is covered with a tightly fitting
lid and the cooking is then completed.
In restaurants a biryani is generally served with a vegetable curry.
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