This dish, from no specific region of India but with a lovely mixture of northern and southern seasonings, could also be made with moong dal or toovar dal. I often make it for dinner for my husband and me, accompanying it with rice, a dish of green beans or...
It is a simple and very nutritious dish from Nepal, where it is made with bamboo shoots that grow in the southern Himalayan forests. (I use canned, thinly sliced bamboo shoots instead.) While it is sometimes described as a soup, it is really a main dish, eaten with...
Shashikala Potnis, the wife of the owner and head chef of the Highway Gomatak restaurant, together with her main assistant and daughter-in-law Sanjali, were extremely kind and generous when I visited. They patiently taught me many of the exquisite Hindu Goan-style...
A simple, everyday dish from the north that goes well with both rice and flatbreads. SERVES 4 • 1 cup dried black-eyed peas, washed and soaked overnight • ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste • 1 well-packed cup fresh cilantro tops, chopped • 2–4 fresh hot green chilies,...
There are probably as many recipes for this in Kerala as there are families. Locally called “eshtew”—a charming mispronunciation of the English word—it is generally eaten with appam (rice pancakes), idi appam (rice noodles), or plain rice. There are many ingredients...
Marwaris are a highly successful business community that originated in Marwar, in the deserts of Rajasthan. Many left their hometowns to create large businesses elsewhere in India. They are completely vegetarian, with a distinct and much-admired cuisine. Vinita has...
I cannot tell you how scrumptious—and simple—this curry is. I had never eaten it before until Kaveri made it for me in her large, beautiful modern home in Bangalore, replete with vaulted ceilings and two kitchens, one for Kaveri, who is a food writer, and one for the...
North Indians nearly always start beet dishes with the raw vegetable and generally cut it quite small so the pieces can be picked up easily with morsels of local flatbreads or rice. Save the stems and leaves, if you have them, for another dish. Serve this sweet, sour,...
WILD MUSHROOM STEW WITH COCONUT SAUCE KHUMBI KI TARKARI This makes a lovely first course, served plain or on toast. I make it with a mixture of the fresh mushrooms that are available to me—hon-shimeji (also called beech mushrooms, as they grow on beech trees),...
My friends Juji and Viru Dayal had told me that the food at the Chinmaya Mission in Delhi was very good and had taken me to sample some of it. I knew that the main branch was attached to the Guruvayur Temple in Kerala, so the food would be both northern and southern....
A simple soup that I loved as a child. It reminds me of Indian hotel soups in the waning years of the Raj. SERVES 4–6 • 3 tablespoons olive or peanut oil • ½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds • ¼ teaspoon whole fennel seeds • 1 medium onion (about 6½ oz), peeled and chopped...
Rasams in South India are thin, watery drinks that are very hot, sour, and spicy. They are generally served with rice or just drunk on their own, but you can read more about them on our blog. For this particular recipe, I have thickened the drink so it can be served...