Indian vs Japanese food & cuisine

India

SEASONINGS

Indian cuisine has a sophisticated flavor-building logic, built on 4,000 years of philosophy.  Spices serve as medicine, art, and spiritual practice together. Indian seasonings dance between bold and subtle, hot and cooling, earthy and tangy, always striving for balance, saatvik. Ayurveda recognizes six fundamental tastes that must be balanced in every meal: sweet (madhura), sour (amla), salty (lavana), pungent (katu), bitter (tikta), and astringent (kashaya). This balance is achieved with thali, a concept where one meal consists of multiple small dishes designed to complement each other’s flavors.

The combination of bitter, astringent, and pungent tastes – alongside sweet, sour, and salty – is a key reason why Indian food stands out globally and tastes so distinct.

Unlike Western cuisine’s complementary approach, Indian cooking deliberately contrasts flavors through spice combinations that create harmony through opposition. Take, for example, mango pickle, aam ka achaar. This pickle combines the intense sourness and astringency of raw mango with fiery chili powder, pungent mustard oil, and salt. The flavors oppose and intensify each other, yet after time spent melding, they balance and complement in the finished pickle.

Indian seasoning works in layers to introduce taste at every stage of the dish. You don’t just throw in cumin and call it a day. First to go is the tadka tempering, flavouring the oil with mustard seeds, cardamom pods, or fennel seeds. This technique creates a ‘continuous presence’ of multiple flavors throughout the cooking process. Later, mid-cooking spice additions develop complexity. Finishing touches provide brightness to dishes. You might add turmeric early to cook off its bitterness, but garam masala goes in last – aromatic and unboiled. Each step builds a scaffolding of flavor that lingers on the tongue in waves.

Masala simply means a spice mixture, which by no means is simple.  It’s an umbrella for any combination of spices that can either be wet or dry. No two kitchens have the same masala. Even salt is added at a specific stage to bind flavor. Garam Masala literally means ‘warm spice blend’.  This blend creates what’s called a ‘warming’ effect – not heat like chili peppers, but a sense of internal warmth. Core components of garam masala are cinnamon, green/black cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, and cumin. Many recipes also include bay leaves, mace, coriander, star anise, and fennel seeds. Again, the variations are endless.

Masala dabba is a popular spice storage container used in local kitchens. It has a number of small cups, often seven, placed inside a round or square box, filled with:

ASAFOEDITA. Provides umami depth – its pungent raw smell transforms into musky complexity when heated in oil.
TURMERIC POWDER. Golden color, anti-inflammatory benefits, peppery-woody taste.
CUMIN SEEDS.  Nutty, earthy warmth, essential for tempering and ground spice blends.
BLACK MUSTARD SEEDS. Characteristic popping sound and nutty flavor.
CHILI POWDER. Color and mild heat.
CORIANDER. Citrusy, earthy notes.
GARAM MASALA completes the essential seven.

Japan

SEASONINGS AND SAUCES

The concept of umami, often called the fifth taste, is central to Japanese cooking. This depth comes from ingredients like kombu seaweed, bonito flakes, miso, and aged soy sauce, dashi. The pursuit of umami represents the Japanese mastery of extracting maximum flavor from minimal ingredients, creating layers of taste that satisfy. Rather than creating complex spice blends or heavily seasoned dishes, Japanese cooking emphasizes subtle enhancement and natural flavors. This delicacy is enhanced by the frequent use of pickled condiments, such as pickled ginger or radish.

Traditional cuisine uses relatively few dried spices – mainly togarashi (chili pepper blends), sansho pepper, and sesame seeds. Even when spices are used, they’re applied sparingly. When Japanese cuisine does use aromatics, it favors fresh ones like ginger, wasabi, shiso, and scallions over dried ones.

Japanese cuisine relies more heavily on liquid seasonings, fermented pastes, and condiments than on dried herbs and spices, which sets it apart from many other culinary traditions.

SOY SAUCE – is a fundamental liquid seasoning that provides umami depth to countless dishes. Japanese soy sauce is generally refined and light in color.

MISO – beyond soup, this fermented paste serves as a base for glazes, marinades, and dressings, adding complex fermented flavors.

DASHI – while not exactly a condiment, this foundational broth (made from kombu seaweed and bonito flakes) forms the umami backbone of Japanese cooking.

WASABI – fresh grated wasabi provides clean, sharp heat that complements sushi and sashimi

MIRIN – sweet and subtle wine, made of glutinous rice. It adds depth and roundness to dishes, sweetening without a flat taste.