The Surprising History of Indian Food | Masala Lab Author Krish Ashok Reveals

Join Varun Duggirala and Krish Ashok, author of ‘Masala Lab’ and TCS Global Head, as they explore the origins of Indian cuisine and the cultural influences that have shaped it over centuries. Krish sheds light on the fascinating history and science of flavours, spices, and techniques that make Indian food so unique and beloved worldwide.

From understanding why no dal ever tastes as good as the one your mother makes, to the rich history of Biryani to why jaggery is not really any better than sugar, Krish busts every food myth and explains the truth behind it in this latest episode of Take aPause!

Krish Ashok heads the Digital Workplace unit at Tata Consultancy Services where his team helps reimagine the future of work for large enterprise customers. In between MS Teams and Zoom meetings, he also likes cooking, a passion that resulted in a book called “Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking” published by Penguin Random House in December 2020. Between eating and work, he additionally writes columns on topics at the intersection of technology and culture for a variety of platforms such as LiveMint etc.

Follow Krish Ashok to learn all about science, food and more fun stuff! :

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:32 Krish Ashok On His First Unique Food Experience
04:59 Krish Ashok On The Diversity of Flavors within Indian Cuisine
07:44 Krish Ashok On The Indianization of Food: Borrowing and Adapting from Around the World
10:08 Krish Ashok On The Complexities of Cooking
17:28 The Cultural Evolution of Indian Food
19:58 Krish Ashok Explains The Origins of Biryani
27:40 Varun Duggi and Krish Ashok Discuss Fad Diets
32:21 Krish Ashok Explains The Science Behind The Effects Of Sugar
37:08 Varun and Krish On The Unique Art Of Indian Pickle Making
39:36 The Multi-Dimensional Experience of Flavor and Nostalgia
42:00 Familiarity and Novelty in Food Preferences
49:32 Krish On Food and Nostalgia in Cultural Identity
57:00 Krish Explains The Role Of Memories In Experiencing Food
01:01:58 - Conditioning and Creating Cultural Identity through Food
01:04:30 - The Cultural Variations of Food Preferences
01:07:02 - Texture Preferences in Food Cultures
01:11:57 - The Distorted View of Carcinogens in Media and Social Influencers

#varunduggi #takeapause #foodscience #krishashok

ABOUT VARUN
A creative entrepreneur turned content creator, Varun is one of India’s leading conversationalists in the modern business, personal development, and creator landscapes with over 1 million podcast listens.
The author of the bestseller Everything Is Out of Syllabus, he’s the host of Advertising Is Dead, one of India's most popular business podcasts with over 300,000 listens in 2021 alone, as well as co-host of Think Fast, an irreverent business podcast that has ranked #3 on Apple’s Podcast Marketing Charts.
In 2009, he co-founded The Glitch, India’s largest ‘digital-first’ creative agency.


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[Yash-ekgq]

This podcast is literally 2 guys talking stuff with so genuinity and nostalgia. Also the observational skill of both of them is phenominal. Absolutely wonderful

[santraaofficial]

@varun a CHAI TEA is called Chai Tea outside of India and there is a reason for that. For most Indians, chai is the only form of tea. But for the world, tea can be a green tea, a matcha tea, an iced tea, or an hibiscus tea and so on and so it can be CHAI tea which is another variant of tea for them. So when they say Chai tea, they are not repeating it in Hindi and English, they are saying it is Chai variant of tea which is basically a tea with milk done Indian way.

[mawisimte]

Here from NE, I have an aunty who doesn't like rice cooked in pressure cooker and many of the elders in our community prefer food prepared using woods. They say the smell of the food is more delicious. Really enjoyed listening to this podcast😊

[sarathtech]

I never thought a conversation about food could be so enlightening, traversing such a diverse set of topics: history, people, culture, geography, science, and most importantly, encompassing all that which makes us human.
The part at 39:40, about the memories associated with your mother cooking, made me emotional. ❤
Food is powerful. Thank you for such a wonderful conversation. We definitely need a Part 2. 🙂

[MSahyadri]

It is so refreshing to hear someone who has actually studied food, with a deep passion. After so-called food books by people who assumed, rather than researched, this is a breath of fresh air! Buying the book today!

[mrgyani]

You learn so much every time you listen to Krish Ashok. This was like a mini version of Sapiens for me, discussed from the prism of food.

[kavinanil]

There are 6 types of taste of often referred Tamil. ( Aru suvai - 6 types of tastes)
Enipu - sweet - sugary dishes, laddu, jangiri (made with fermented urud dal), ragi puttu, kambu puttu (pearl Millet) eaten with jaggery
Uvarpu or uppu - salty - pickles
Pulipu - tangy or citrus or sour taste - puli kulambu (Tamarind gravy), tamarind rice and dishes, fish kulambu is basically pulipu
Thuvarpu - astringent - beetel leaves, pomegranates, naval palam (Java plum or violet fruit), asofetidia
Kasapu - bitter - bitter gourd ( pavakka)
Karpu or kaaram - hot or spicy - dishes that are burning you taste buds
Dishes or foods or fruits or vegetables or edibles made with 6 types of these tastes aid human body in asimilating various types of nutrients. Even diseases or ailments can be treated with the combination of medicines or foods made from these taste (ayurveda).

[TNYDCK]

Fascinating interview. Thank you. My only regret is that I can award only one "like"!

Some countries have committees that regulate what words are allowed in their language. English has changed hugely over time. Every new language influence has been embraced. You have new words? We will add them, was the approach. I see "Indian food" in a similar light. You have new flavours? Great, we will make them Indian flavours!

As a food non-expert, I find it difficult to identify the essence of Indian food. If you remove influences from the Far East including the Moguls, Persia and the Americas, I sometimes wonder what is left!

[manjitrupbikram]

Thanks for sharing. I am from the north east and our experience is totally different. India is so diverse!

[shubhojeetbose]

Very refreshing conversation. Polau is actually derived from original ancient Indian dish 'Palanno' (it was been making from very ancient time through out this allover subcontinent) where pal or paul means meat and anna means boiled rice or food as a whole.

[iracture]

Decades of being fed on mum prepared food, live-in maid, defence mess chefs across India, I started preparing meals after we were posted internationally. Incidentally I feel since last many years I have actually lived thru all your observations as I experimented in the kitchen... varied flavor profile in different fat, multi-dimensional aspect of enjoying food/memories. As we get heavy exposure to international cuisines, I can't help but appreciate the ingenuity of Indian cusine wrt gut health. Venison meat available during Herbst in Europe is the best tasting meat after Indian goat meat as per my taste buds.
I hope in future you will write about health thru food. Healthiest people I came across are in Germany - even after just eating beer, hard bread and meat thru out their life these guys are upright as a stick even into their 80s.

[SarvagunSomePun]

A delhite living in Vijaywada for a decade, it feels good to hear about vijaywada. Also love Krish Ashok..and this whole conversation.❤

[asharma]

Awesome discussion. Agree 100% because I've been saying something similar for a long time about our foods, culture and traditions. Being a 10th generation Kannadiga of ethnic Tamilian descent, my family gels with this thought this way for a long time.

[pranavmarla]

Love the new studio set-up Varun. Your curious line of questioning is the essence of podcasting, more power to you. Krish is gem, probably his best conversation I've seen.

[itpradeep]

12 mins in listening the video, the wealth of knowledge exhibited is much appreciated. Well structured, should have been a podcast 👍👌

[JKate]

I m from Poland and yes European food is, , simpler, , if it comes to the spices, even tho i like Indian food but after a while im, tired, of that taste, loaded of spices and im getting back to the tasty simplicty.. So im glad we have diversity around the world... we all can be proud from our own.

[jissythomas]

I remember an episode of David Rocco, an Italian chef, who competed with an Indian chef. Both made risotto. When the Indians were made to taste, they rejected his risotto stating that the rice isn't cooked well. Rocco said that rice is always cooked al dente in Italy. If he cooks it in the Indian way, his mom would kill him.. 😂

[gnprashi]

Awesome episode. We need definitely more of Krish Ashok sir.

[koorka]

This was fantastic. Extremely interesting and eye opening, even for someone who has been following krish Ashok for years and been reading books on food and nutrition and food history and so on.

[urmilajithoo]

Just came upon this conversation today. I was on the same page with everything you said. Loved the would make the best dinner party guests at my table.