Indian cuisine

As a subcontinent, India is a place where the clash between Eastern and Western ethnic groups and cultures is most intense. Moreover, there has never been a situation where one side strongly suppresses the other; on the contrary, due to factors such as climate and land, a unique India culture has been created.

From Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World to the colonization of India by Europe powers such as United Kingdom and Portugal, not only new crops were brought, but also new culinary cultures. In fact, India cuisine even influenced the culinary styles of the former colonial powers.

But the most far-reaching impact was undoubtedly on the spice trade with the whole world. At that time, spices were mostly collected in India and then sold throughout Eurasia.

Take curry, for example. It's essentially a spice- United Nations dish, with 80 to 300 ingredients that can be incorporated into it. This is not a type of cuisine that can be created in ordinary places. Regions with scarce spices simply cannot afford to do this.

Therefore, a major characteristic of India cuisine is its abundant use of spices!

For example, India kebabs are not simply marinated in soy sauce or salt. Instead, India marinate the meat in spices, yogurt, and lemon juice to make it more delicious and tender.

In addition to rice, India fried rice uses spices such as cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel, and coriander. Depending on the customs of different states in India, more locally produced ingredients may be added.

Rice is not the only source of satiety among starchy foods. Naan is also a staple food in India, and it can be prepared in a variety of ways.

These dishes brought unexpected joy to Henry, whose standard was that he would be satisfied as long as the food was not served with the Ganges River water and the E. coli levels were within acceptable limits.

Henry's attitude towards food was to avoid any denigration or comparison. Familiar tastes and nostalgic flavors were one thing, but tasting new and exciting flavors was quite another.

The latter requires the courage to take risks and a stomach of steel!

Fortunately, Henry, being Kryptonian, had both and even enjoyed them.

At least the dinner hosted by Kingo was a revelation for Henry, with every dish refreshing his understanding and stimulating his taste buds.

Even Kitty rarely indulges in grilled meat with such gusto. You see, this big guy has raw and cooked meat all together, and he'll eat the raw meat first. Only after finishing that and still not full will he glance at the cooked meat.

Henry, who was quite surprised by Kitty's performance, couldn't help but show his true colors, which naturally caught Kingo's attention.

This old man, who is seven thousand years old (not counting the fraction of his lifespan), said with a smile, "This is India, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, where lions and Tiger coexist."

"You don't think you're the only one who can Tiger, do you? Throughout history, there have been many kings who used raising ferocious beasts to demonstrate their power."

Since someone will raise them, someone else will feed them.

"Feeding animals simply with meat isn't unusual; it's the creative way of feeding them that's rare. That's why India has a long history of royal cuisine specifically for Tiger and lions, designed to stimulate their appetites. Most people probably don't even know this."

"Alright. You've successfully reminded me that I'm just one of the average people," Henry said helplessly.

Kingo laughed heartily.

The portly chef in charge of cooking stood to one side. He looked exceptionally clean and paid meticulous attention to every detail of hygiene. Although he didn't understand English, Kingo would occasionally speak to him in Hindi, and the two, who were quite familiar with each other, often laughed and chatted.

Fortunately, Kingo and his portly chef weren't mocking unsophisticated white people. They were just chatting about amusing stories related to Tiger cuisine.

In particular, the fat chef never understood why his family's inherited India court recipes included food specifically made for Tiger. These foods tasted very strange, unlike anything a human would like.

Take the imperial chefs of the past, for example. Because the diners couldn't provide accurate feedback, they had to rely solely on the performance of Tiger or lions to create these dishes. One can only say they had a lot of free time.

He initially resisted learning this seemingly useless cooking method, defying his father's teachings. But discipline comes before a fall.

The craft of Hao Sui has been passed down.

Midway through their conversation, Henry suddenly interrupted in Hindi, asking, "Chef, could you teach me the recipes for these dishes?"

"Mr. Brown, you speak Hindi?" the fat chef asked in surprise.

Well, I've watched a few Bollywood movies before; before going out, I even found a Hindi and English textbook to brush up on my skills. I just wasn't sure if my accent was normal, or if my sentences sounded strange, so I was a little hesitant to speak beforehand.

Kingo replied in Hindi, "Fortunately, the textbook you're looking at is probably an older version. Your accent and usage are closer to Calcutta, which is colonial-era language."

Not surprising at all, is it?

"Yes, haughty white men," the chubby chef chuckled in agreement. He immediately realized his mistake and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Mr. Brown, that's not what I meant."

"Don't worry, I won't blame you. White people are always arrogant, and that's true." Henry said in a seemingly self-deprecating tone.

Aside from Kingo, no one would realize that he was speaking from the Kryptonian perspective. This made the Eternals sir chuckle twice more.

As the meal was drawing to a close and everyone was enjoying dessert, Kingo switched back to English and asked, "Henry, what are your plans for the company here in India? And can you make a decision regarding Stark Studios?"

Henry sipped his India -style masala chai, which is basically English milk tea made by adding spices and brewing milk directly. He said, "It doesn't matter. As for the profit, you can decide how much to pay."

"The company will also be set up and arranged by you. You can decide whether it becomes an overseas subsidiary of Stark Studios or a joint venture with India."

"Anyway, Stark Studios and I split the patents for digital imaging technology 50/50. Even if it's integrated into related equipment, I can still get about 30% of the profits."

"At worst, I'll take that portion of the profits and exchange it for profits from India. In Europe and America, Stark Studios ' share of the profits won't decrease. Even if Tony Stark himself came, there'd be nothing he could say."

"Oh, that's quite a sum of money. Aren't you worried about it?" Kingo asked curiously.

"Is money that important?" Henry countered.

Kingo nodded seriously and said, "Money is important." But then she laughed. "But it's not that important."

The brown-skinned tycoon said happily, "I just feel like we get along. You see, What If...? we're going to live under the rules of society and support such a large group of people, money is of course very important."

"But what sets us apart from others is that we can discard these rules at any time. Money doesn't seem to matter that much."

The fact that you can think this way proves that we are the same kind of people.

Finally, Kingo added, "Don't worry, you won't suffer any losses in setting up the company. I'll need your wisdom in the end."

Please help me heal my friend.

"Although I'd love to say 'Leave it to me,' I can only say I'll do my best since I haven't seen this situation before." Henry wouldn't dare to make any guarantees in this matter.

That's enough.