New Delhi, Sept. 6 -- We Indians are blessed with an overwhelming array of spices and herbs filling our shelves, drawers, fridges and freezers. In this melee, if a spice from another part of the world has to make a space for itself, it certainly has to earn it. Oregano is possibly the first "exotic" herb to make itself at home in Indian kitchens.

Not native to our soil, it arrived with the pizza revolution of the 1990s, when Domino's and Pizza Hut handed out those little sachets of "oregano seasoning" that became our first taste of this herb. Ironically, those sachets weren't pure oregano but a mix of oregano, thyme, basil, dried garlic and salt. Still, we got a hit from the oregano and fell in love with it. And when we began cooking pas...