Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, so it’s only appropriate for me to talk about my true love.

I’m speaking, of course, about Indian food. More specifically, let’s chat about the healing properties of the spices used in my all-time favorite cuisine.

When I was playing in Japan in 2005, I found the best Indian restaurant I’ve sampled in my 39 years. From a tiny hole in the wall near the Hiro subway stop, the scent of tomato, garlic and cinnamon literally wafted into the busy streets. On a weekly basis, I devoured their curries and other detectible gravies like Masala and Saag (spinach, mustard leaf, Collard greens, basella). It seems like yesterday I was carrying paper bags back to the high-rise apartment building where I lived on the outskirts of Tokyo. Many late evenings were spent sopping the final drops of spicy red or green with warm, crispy, garlicy naan (leavened, oven-baked flatbread). The spice mixes in that little joint’s dishes were divine.

Traditionally, the most frequently used spices and flavorings found in Indian cuisine are whole or powdered chili pepper, black mustard seed, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, asafetida, ginger, coriander, and garlic. Each has it’s own unique nutritional profile.

You may remember I posted about turmeric a while back, speaking very briefly of its potential cancer fighting prowess. Here’s a bit more detail from indiatimes.com:

Turmeric contains the powerful polyphenol Curcumin that has been clinically proven to retard the growth of cancer cells causing prostrate cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, brain tumor, pancreatic cancer and leukemia amongst a host of others.

Trust me, I don’t crush Indian food to optimize for health. However, indulgences somehow feel less detrimental when some nutritionally dense, warrior spices accompany them.

Coriander seeds have a health-supporting reputation that is high on the list of the healing spices. In parts of Europe, coriander has traditionally been referred to as an “anti-diabetic” plant. In parts of India, it has traditionally been used for its anti-inflammatory properties. In the United States, coriander has recently been studied for its cholesterol-lowering effects.

I don’t want to get too far off the topic of love.

Indian food isn’t a break out the frying pan and cook in ten minutes kind of thing. It takes massaging and meticulous care to prepare effectively and flavorfully. Call me idealistic (and naïve), but I like to think that heavily spiced, slowly cooked food has a deep, rich soul. Those are the characteristics worthy of affection.

I’m not afraid to say it. I love Indian food. Even if some Japanese dude (or chick…they could have been Russian for all I know, I didn’t see the chef) cooked it.

Kap