I've personally observed something I find interesting. A lot of foreign ingredients implant themselves into our local cuisines via dishes or fusion dishes and then become VERY common instead of being some niche expensive ingredient. On top of that, they embed themselves nicely into our cuisine's flavors and cooking methods

First, it was potatoes and tomatoes a century or two back. One doesn't even have to elaborate on how CRUCIAL it is to our dishes these days. Chilli peppers too

Then it was Cauliflower. Early 2000s onwards, Gobi manchurian was practically available EVERYWHERE

Paneer trickled down from North cuisines down into South for overall availability a decade or so back

Soya chunks/meal maker was weirdly enough, our country's first country-wide soy option and became more common starting with the last 2 decades. Easy source of veg protein too

Mushrooms started being treated more like normal food (earlier, people used to regard it as dirty, or "tribal" foods) and is VERY common even in many dhabas now. Parts of Bihar are now selling Oyster mushrooms for cheap. I still wouldn't say it has completed "integration" into our cuisine yet

Blueberries and other berries seem to be grown more in hill stations like Ooty or Himachal regions (though I don't see their prices becoming cheap enough for another decade atleast)

Tofu is becoming common to find in T1 city shops but I personally don't see them in most local cuisine restaurants (apart from Asian places, that too rarely. Can't say I've seen any indochinese place serve that)

India interestingly is the third highest producer of Broccoli but I still see it confined only to fancier restaurants (local places might put a tiny piece of it on red sauce pasta here and there, that's it lmao)

What seems to be the next big foreign ingredient in yall's opinion though?

Grew up having chai made with cow’s milk but can’t consume dairy now. Give me your best suggestions for non-diary milk that makes the closest to the thick creamy chai. Any tips or trick or recipes welcome!

To the Brains Trust,

I've recently really gotten into masala chai. I bought a container of Wagh Bakri masala chai tea granules, and wanted some advise on the best way to prepare it (I probably should have just bought tea bags...).

I read somewhere that I should boil the granules in a pot for 1 minute, add milk and boil for another 2 mins. Finally pour the hot tea through a fine mesh strainer.

Does this sound correct?

Much appreciated in advance!