Lad brought up on Indian food (3)
I believe the answer is:
dal
'indian food' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'lad brought up' is the wordplay.
'brought up' says the letters should be written backwards (down clues only).
'lad' backwards is 'DAL'.
'on' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dal that I've seen before include "Indian pulse puree" , "Indian dish of pulses" , "Pigeon pea" .)