Why is mono-sodium glutamate not common in India?

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

lentils can benefit from it a lot

 

[GotGarlic]

That's a good question. I have no idea.

 

[dragnlaw]

Perhaps, like seaweed's umami which is MSG, they have another ingredient that supplies umami which is more palatable to them.

 

[Silversage]

They use a lot of asafoetida in their cooking, for much the same reason as others use MSG. It's a flavor enhancement, reminiscent of onions and leeks. I keep it tightly sealed in a glass jar in my fridge - otherwise it will stink up everything around it.

 

[pepperhead212]

I was also going to mention that asafoetida, @Silversage! Though it might not have glutamates in it, it is used as a flavor enhancement. I am always adding some to lentils and beans, when cooking some in the IP - after it is cooked, it tastes like I put a whole onion in it.

The only thing I can think of in all those Indian seasonings I have, that might be an umami type seasoning, is dagad phool (sp?), a.k.a. stone flower, which is a type of lichen. However, it is more of a regional thing, and not used all over. One thing that is used all over is black salt,which has some funky, sulfur compounds in it, and probably other things, besides salt. This is found in almost every recipe for chaat masala, the ubiquitous seasoning for street foods, as well as many other masala mixes.

 

[thymeless]

I would guess it's from the lower frequency of long fermentation and concentration of flavors of the seasonings of the more Asian cuisines. India had greater access to other strong flavors.

 

[taxlady]

I can't remember seeing any recipes for spicy hot food that also contained MSG. When I was growing up we thought that MSG mostly intensified the flavours in food. I always figured that the chilis already gave food intense flavour.

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

thanks. i dont think that hing is a good enough alternative

love from israel!

 

[pepperhead212]

When was it, back in the 80s, or a little before maybe - when MSG was being touted as something very bad for us, not quite like some of the carcinogenic chemicals they would ban (and maybe re-allow them, but that's another story), and I don't know what it was about it that so bad. Some people would get those headaches, from Chinese food, and it was supposedly due to the MSG, and they didn't realize that it could be from the huge amount of sodium, from countless other things. Anyway, almost every Chinese restaurant ended up having a sign in its window, and stating in the menus "NO MSG!" Once in a while I still see that in windows, which tells me that restaurant has been there a long time!

 

[GotGarlic]

I can't remember seeing any recipes for spicy hot food that also contained MSG. When I was growing up we thought that MSG mostly intensified the flavours in food. I always figured that the chilis already gave food intense flavour.

It intensifies savory, umami flavors, not hot, spicy flavors.

 

[Jade Emperor]

MSG got a bad reputation years ago after a concerted effort by xenophobic journalists that were trying to convince people that many Asian food products were “dirty”. This conveniently played into the hands of rival Western manufacturers of salts and other flavourings.

How MSG Got A Bad Rap: Flawed Science And Xenophobia

As a college student in New York City, I marveled that the city let me eat poached eggs with halloumi cheese and Moroccan spiced pita for breakfast, a spicy-swe…

fivethirtyeight.com

 

[taxlady]

It intensifies savory, umami flavors, not hot, spicy flavors.

Oh yeah, I know that now. But, how long have we been talking about five basic tastes instead of just four? As I wrote, I was told that when I was growing up. That was a very, very long time ago. I legally became an adult in the late 1960s.

 

[taxlady]

MSG got a bad reputation years ago after a concerted effort by xenophobic journalists that were trying to convince people that many Asian food products were “dirty”. This conveniently played into the hands of rival Western manufacturers of salts and other flavourings.

How MSG Got A Bad Rap: Flawed Science And Xenophobia

As a college student in New York City, I marveled that the city let me eat poached eggs with halloumi cheese and Moroccan spiced pita for breakfast, a spicy-swe…

fivethirtyeight.com

I had my first reactions to MSG before I ever heard of Chinese restaurant syndrome. It wasn't a headache, even though many people describe it as such. it was a very specific, weird, pulling in opposite directions of the muscles around the edge of my face and a short way onto my scalp. It was not painful, just weird and slightly uncomfortable.

I don't think it was subconscious xenophobia in my case. I quickly learned that the safest restos for me were Chinese. They knew about MSG and if I asked for no MSG, I got food with no added MSG. Other restos, they often didn't realize that there was MSG in some ingredient, like that powder they just add water to, to make gravy or in the canned soup or stock. But, that was back when the commercially available MSG was chemically produced. MSG is a stereoisomer. It comes in an L and a D version. I don't remember which is naturally occurring. Now, the commercially available MSG is produced by bacterial fermentation, so only the form that occurs in nature is produced. I always knew that MSG was a naturally occurring substance that exists in some foods and those didn't bother me, even though I knew they had MSG. I have mentioned this before and GotGarlic pointed out that if they were chemically producing the wrong stereoisomer, it wouldn't work. Well, I suspect that chemically producing MSG might well produce both isomers. In any case, MSG does not give me the weird sensations anymore, for quite a number of years. Yeah, xenophobia might have been a factor for many of the people who claimed that they got symptoms from MSG. But, those people often claimed symptoms that didn't match up with the ones I recognized and that a few other people I knew also got from MSG.

 

[taxlady]

thanks. i dont think that hing is a good enough alternative

love from israel!

Hing might not be a good enough alternative for you. But, the people who eat Indian food probably don't think of it as an alternative. It's just something that enhances flavour and it's part of their tradition. Not everything needs MSG. Would you put it in a dessert? How about in your breakfast cereal?

 

[dragnlaw]

Good heavens! hing (aka asafoetida) is sort'a has a leek and garlic flavouring! I don't think you can compare it to MSG!
But then, I've not used MSG in almost 60 years, so who knows!?!?!
LOL, just MHO

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Because MSG (Aji Nomoto) is used in east Asian cooking, not south Asian cooking. It didn't becoame popular in North America (Accent) until an influx of Asians/Pacific Islanders to the west made it a profitable commodity.

 

[GotGarlic]

I found this on The Indian Umami

Umami has rarely, if ever, been associated with Indian cuisines. This is unfortunate because our rich tapestries of cuisines are replete with umami. And one particular dish perfectly epitomizes umami for me—look no further than the South Indian maami’s umami dish—the splendiferous sambar.

Sambar, the South Indian vegan stew, has more than half a dozen ingredients rich in natural glutamic acid. Onions, tomatoes, garlic, carrots, daikon radishes, drumsticks, and seasonings including asafoetida, mustard seeds, and fenugreek seeds, just to name a few. Combining these ingredients creates a unique umami flavour profile found in no other dish worldwide.

 

[dragnlaw]

Great article GG, thanks!

Did anyone note the vegan reference to drumsticks? Am I mistaken? Is there something else called a drumstick that is not chicken?

 

[GotGarlic]

Vegan drumsticks are a new one for me, too. Found this in a search: Drumsticks Moringa

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

A high school friend of mine owns the Regal Drumstick Manufacturing Company. Would you like me to ask her if they make vegan ones?