Indian · IV The Method
The Indian Cooking Principle: Wet vs Dry Masala Systems
I
Origin
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II
Description
The distinction between Indian wet masala cooking (building a sauce from fresh aromatics ground or processed to a paste) and dry masala cooking (using pre-ground, dry-mixed spice blends applied directly to hot fat or hot food) represents the fundamental fork in Indian cooking technique — more significant than any single preparation. Understanding which system a preparation uses determines every subsequent decision.
III
The Thread
—The wet masala system is the Indian equivalent of the French mirepoix-and-fond approach — in both traditions, the sauce is built from the bottom up through the cooking of aromatics in fat
—The dry masala system parallels the North African ras el hanout dry-rub tradition and the Chinese five-spice application
IV
Flavour Context
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Pillars V — VII
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