Rhea is Mum’s friend Praful’s nephew’s wife. She is Maharashtrian and lives in Mumbai. She often makes this for the family for breakfast, but it’s easily lovely enough for lunch or dinner. Poha is partially cooked and flattened rice. It’s a magical ingredient which...

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...