This anxiety runs deep, but it's not for a lack of exposure to Indian food. Riaz's students typically come to the school already familiar with biryanis, naans, and curries. Some have traveled to India on business and want to re-create what they've had there, while others have been introduced to Indian food at restaurants.
In fact, interest in Indian food may be at an all-time high in the Philadelphia region, thanks to an increasing number of eateries scattered through the city and suburbs. "In the past three or four years, there has been an increased awareness of all things Indian - our clothes, our movies, our culture," says Munish Narula, owner of the popular Tiffin chain of restaurants, as well as an upscale restaurant called Tashan that is set to open in April in South Philadelphia. "The food itself is becoming more popular - maybe not mainstream but definitely more accepted."
Narula says that in the days after Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars in 2009, Tiffin saw an exponential increase in orders. "I can't prove it, but I think we could say there's been a Slumdog effect."
Meanwhile, as interest in Indian eating has grown, so, too have the shelves of helpful cookbooks offering to demystify its culinary traditions. The last year alone has seen the release of Sanjeev Kapoor's How to Cook Indian (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2011), Vij's at Home (Douglas & McIntyre, 2010), Anjum's New Indian (Wiley, 2010), Fish Indian Style (Absolute, 2010), Indian Superfood (Absolute, 2010), India: The Cookbook (Phaidon, 2010), and The Indian Slow Cooker (Agate Surrey, 2010). Even the doyenne of Indian cuisine, Madhur Jaffrey, has introduced her own simplified versions of South Asian recipes in At Home With Madhur Jaffrey (Knopf, 2010).
