I can’t think of a better daybreaker than fried onion rice with seared portobello mushrooms and runny poached eggs. Serves 4 as a main course 1½ cups basmati rice½ ounce dried mushrooms (e.g. porcini)butter10 fresh curry leaves (optional)1¾-inch cinnamon stick½...
This would be one of my desert island dishes, partly because I assume most desert islands have a plentiful coconut supply (and the odd frying pan), but also because it is good enough to eat just by itself. It’s also one of the few dishes where you can’t substitute...
I’m a huge fan of any recipe where the end result far outweighs the effort of making it. Lemon rice is one of those dishes. The sweet, smoky shallot, lemon, and peanut mixture can easily be knocked up while you wait for the rice to cook. I like to eat it by itself or...
A very simple way to create a flavorful rice that’s a great accompaniment to many of the dishes in this book—particularly coconut curries, like the Keralan vegetable istoo and the pumpkin and black-eyed pea curry. It is also an absolute hit with dogs, judging by how...
Using only the most expensive ingredients one can get one’s royal hands on, this is good with other feasting dishes like the roast cauliflower korma here. Serves 4 as part of a main course 1½ cups basmati rice¾ cup dried soft fruit (e.g. apricots and dates)20 strands...
I love to listen to BBC Radio 4 when I’m cooking: it’s a soothing backdrop to all the frenetic chopping, frying, and clattering that can happen in my kitchen. Once upon a Gardeners’ Question Time, a member of the audience asked for suggestions for what to do with an...
Every mum has a special party dish. This is my mum’s. I’ve seen it come out at birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings, and there is a good reason for this—all our family and friends badger her to cook it. After frying, the fritters are traditionally dipped in water,...
In the 1960s and ’70s when English curry-house menus were first printed and laminated, South Indian food hardly got a second look. The strange outcome of this trend has been that many lovers of Indian food have hardly tried classic South Indian dishes such as sambhar,...
This is an unassuming but gorgeous dal and one of my favorite lentil dishes of all time. A gentle and soothing marriage of soft lentils and earthy cumin and chiles, tempered by butter, it’s old-fashioned home cooking at its best: nourishing, cheap to make, and...
The smell of roasted pumpkin, and curry leaves sizzling in coconut oil, is enough to make anyone want to go to Kerala, which is where a variation of this dish, known as “olan,” originates. The sweet pumpkin, earthy beans, and creamy coconut come together to create a...
In England, we usually treat mustard as a condiment—highly dangerous and to be eaten in small quantities. But in Bengal they make wonderful dishes using mustard in large amounts, as the lead flavor. In this recipe, the mustard and yogurt come together to make a...
VEGAN /// MAKES 6 GENEROUS SERVINGS Because there are fresh fava beans in this beautiful, light spring couscous, I only use 1 cup of dried beans. The harissa is optional because I don’t like to overpower the sweetness of the spring vegetables. Use it if you want the...