Indian Recipes
345 recipes found
Coconut-Stuffed Pancakes
Scented with cardamom and traditionally sweetened with jaggery, madakasan, alle belle and other variations of coconut-stuffed pancakes are enjoyed in regions along the western coast of India and beyond. Jes Thomas, an Indian American personal chef and cooking instructor who lives outside Knoxville, Tenn., but whose family is from Kerala, India, shared this recipe, which gives an option for sugar in the filling instead of the more traditional palm jaggery. The jaggery creates a more complex flavor, but the difference isn’t as pronounced as one might think. Adding food color to the pancakes is optional but highly recommended, as it will transform this everyday treat into one that is both beautiful and festive.
Eggplant Ravaiya
Ravaiya is the name of this traditional Gujarati dish, where whole small vegetables like okra, potatoes or the baby eggplant used here — ringan is the Gujarati term for eggplant — are stuffed with a chunky spice paste, a complexly flavored mixture of crushed peanuts, chiles, ginger and spices. As the eggplant cooks, that melts into a rich, nutty sauce, and the result is a remarkably full-flavored vegetarian meal in under an hour. You can serve this dish with basmati rice, or with Indian flatbreads like roti or paratha, the latter of which you can find frozen in some supermarkets and heat on your stovetop.
Ande ki Kari (Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce)
In this classic Indian dish, adapted from the cookbook author Julie Sahni, hard-cooked eggs are swathed in a spicy tomato gravy fragrant with cardamom, cumin and cinnamon. Since garam masala spice blends vary in their chile content, sample yours before adding it to the sauce, then stir it in to taste. You can make the sauce and hard-cook the eggs a day ahead (store them in the refrigerator), but the eggs are best introduced to the pot just before serving; simply reheat them in the simmering sauce. You can serve the eggs over rice, or with flatbread on the side.
Coconut Chutney
This rather spicy South Indian chutney is often paired with potato-filled dosas, but may be served with any number of dishes. It’s important to use only fresh or frozen grated coconut, not the desiccated (or dried) kind, nor the sweetened. It tastes best the day it is made.
Mango-Tamarind Chutney
This chutney is sweet, hot and a little sour. You could use green mango in place of the ripe mango. Try this chutney with these spicy corn pakoras.
Gobi Taka Tin: Vegan Stir-Fried Cauliflower With Peppers and Tomatoes
Pork Vindaloo
Cooking Indian food at home for the first time isn’t easy. You may not have Indian red chile powder, Kashmiri red chile powder or tamarind pulp on hand. But a trip to a specialty market, or some time spent online, will yield the pantry basics. This fiery vindaloo is an interesting and not very difficult place to get started.
Mango Blueberry Smoothie
This drink is similar to lassi, made tangy with buttermilk (or yogurt), mango and spoonful of lime juice. If you want to make a nondairy version, use almond milk or rice beverage.
Bihari Green Beans Masala
This succulent green bean dish, in a gently spiced sauce of coconut milk, is from Bihar, a state in India. “It is an everyday, simple dish that is several hundred years old,” said Julie Sahni, a cooking teacher, and author of eight cookbooks. The dish requires fresh green string beans, not French haricot verts or Asian long beans, which are thinner, and more dense. “The string beans will plump up, and absorb some of the sauce,” said Ms. Sahni. The recipe can be adapted for 12 ounces of raw cauliflower, carrots, eggplant, or brussels sprouts. For the eggplant, Ms. Sahni uses the long, slender Japanese ones, and cuts them on the diagonal, in one-inch slices. She trims and peels the carrots, and cuts them like the eggplant, in one-inch diagonal slices. For the cauliflower, she uses the florets, and cuts them in pieces that are one and a half inches in diameter. For Brussels sprouts, she trims and discards the stems, and cuts the vegetable in half. Very fresh cauliflower cooks in four minutes, the other vegetables in six minutes, Ms. Sahni said.
Seekh Kebab With Mint Chutney
Served at most traditional Indian restaurants, seekh kebabs are made with ground lamb that’s been seasoned with garam masala, cumin seeds, fresh ginger and fresh cilantro, then grilled and served with raw red onion and bright mint chutney to offset the richness and heat. This recipe comes from Chintan Pandya, the executive chef at Adda Indian Canteen, a New York restaurant that specializes in homestyle Indian food. You’ll need to purchase deggi mirch, an Indian chile powder that tastes somewhat like a smoky paprika, but is mild enough to be used in a quantity large enough to color the meat red. The spiced meat mixture benefits from chilling to help retain its shape on the grill, but you could also roll it into meatballs and pan-sear them on the stovetop or roast them in the oven, if the season dictates.
Spicy Corn Pakoras With Mango-Tamarind Chutney
Crisp and deeply seasoned, pakoras are Indian fritters that can be made from almost any vegetable. To emphasize the corn flavor here, fine cornmeal joins the more traditional chickpea flour — along with fresh corn. A ridiculously flavorful chutney, which is sweet, hot and a little sour, accompanies the dish. But a jarred version from the supermarket would certainly work in a pinch.
Roasted Broccoli With Almonds and Cardamom (Malai Broccoli)
This recipe comes from the British cookbook author Meera Sodha, who adapted it from a dish she tasted in Goa, India. It's a smart, simple technique that turns the broccoli crisp and creamy at the same time: charred florets with a lick of thick nutmeg-spiced sauce baked into every nook and cranny. Ms. Sodha uses a mix of cream cheese, yogurt and ground almonds. Don't be afraid to get messy and use your hands to thoroughly coat the broccoli in the sauce; it pays off later.
Roasted Squash With Coconut, Chile and Garlic
Mix dry coconut, dry chile and garlic together, and you can easily brighten a batch of roasted winter squash. But this South Indian home-cooking technique is versatile and works with many kinds of vegetables too. Cut a head of cauliflower into florets, and roast that instead. Or shave brussels sprouts or red cabbage very thinly, and cook it in a skillet, adding the coconut-chile-garlic mixture when the vegetable is cooked. In the spring, try it with fresh peas or fava beans. In the summer, try corn kernels. The variations are endless.
Buttery Moong Dal With Garlic and Cumin
This a basic mung bean dal, meant to be a simple everyday Indian meal with rice and chapati, or a side dish as part of a larger meal. The wonderful buttery flavor is obtained from the technique called tarka, which means spices sizzled in ghee, added to the pot at the end of the cooking process. Whirl the dal in a blender for a velvet-smooth texture. You could serve it as is, with the texture of a thick vegetable purée, or thin it with a little water and serve it as a soup. Other legumes such as red lentils or yellow split peas may be used instead.
Mung Bean Dal With Apples and Coconut Tarka
Chole (Tangy Chickpeas With Tomatoes and Black Tea)
Chana masala, or chickpeas with spiced tomato gravy, has regional variations all over India; chole is a related, but specifically Punjabi, dish from northern India. It’s ubiquitous at snack shops and often served alongside bhatura, a puffed fried bread. While chole is traditionally made with dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas streamline cooking on a weeknight. Chole has numerous versions, but it is characterized by a rich, tangy flavor from black tea and amchur powder, which is made from green mango.
Masoor Dal (Spiced Red Lentils)
What I have come to understand is that how food looks as you prepare it can make as much difference to the cook as it does, on the plate, to the person who gets to eat it. When the skies are drab and life feels a little gray, I am absurdly cheered by the fresh brightness of a vibrantly orange dal, a red lentil stew spiced with turmeric, chili and ginger, and colored with sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Just seeing that mixture in the pan lifts my spirits. It helps that a dal is simple to make: a bit of chopping and the stew all but cooks itself. And it can be made in advance and then reheated, always a bonus. This dal makes a wonderful, exuberant partner to broiled salmon, but I love it without meat, too, when I partner it with my “bright rice.”
Cucumber and Cilantro Raita
When the season permits, you can change this dish into a jewel-studded pomegranate raita: simply substitute pomegranate seeds for the cucumber and cilantro. In either case remember to add a good pinch of salt to the yogurt.
Handvo (Savory Vegetable Semolina Bread)
Handvo, a savory vegetable bread from the Indian state of Gujarat, is a near constant in the home of Anita Jaisinghani, the chef and owner of Pondicheri restaurant in Houston. Using hot water in the dough helps meld the flavors and hydrate the flours, as well as kickstart the leavening process. Ms. Jaisinghani makes many different versions — this carrot one is layered with the fragrance of toasted spices, the warmth of ginger and the freshness of herbs. Thanks to the pumpkin and sesame seeds that toast on top while it bakes, it also has an extra crunchy crust. The accompanying yogurt sauce is quickly — and deliciously — seasoned with aromatic spices tempered in oil. This is typically served as a snack, but is substantial enough to be a light meal when served with a salad.
Sri Lankan Dal With Coconut and Lime Kale
"Red lentils are the king of weekday cooking," said Meera Sodha, the British cookbook author. In this robust dish, she turns to quick-cooking red lentils, deepening their flavor with fried green chiles, garlic and ginger. It's not traditional to serve the kale on top, but it turns a simple dish into a luxurious, complete meal: Just add hot rice and a spoonful of yogurt on the side.
Gajar Halwa (Carrot and Cardamom Pudding)
The recipe for this Indian dessert comes from the North Carolina chef Cheetie Kumar, and it instantly transports her to her mother’s kitchen around Diwali, the air rich with the aroma of fragrant carrots, caramelized milk and cardamom. The carrots are cooked down to be incredibly tender, but they still maintain some texture; the milk becomes jammy. If eaten warm, it’s like a really decadent warm cereal or oatmeal; if served cold, it’s like rice pudding, cool and sweet. The crunch of the toasted nuts make it the perfect meal-ender or tea time snack. If your carrots are bland, increase the sugar accordingly; the sweetness of the carrots makes a huge difference in the finished pudding. Some people prefer a looser halwa, but Ms. Kumar loves the caramelized notes that emerge when the pudding is cooked a little longer.
Bhatti da Murgh (Indian Grilled Chicken With Whole Spices)
Adapted from the chef Chintan Pandya of Adda Indian Canteen in Long Island City, Queens, this fiery, aromatic recipe calls for marinating whole chicken legs in yogurt, ginger-garlic paste and ground spices, then coating them in cracked whole spices before roasting. The ground spices imbue the meat with flavor while the whole spices add pungency and a wonderful crunch. At Adda, Mr. Pandya cooks these in a tandoor. But you can roast them in your oven, or cook them on the grill using indirect heat and a baking sheet. In either case, brushing the sizzling chicken skin with plenty of melted butter is the key to its rich taste and burnished crispness.
Cauliflower, Cashew, Pea and Coconut Curry
While this curry from Meera Sodha’s cookbook “Made in India” is rooted in tradition and complexly flavored, it’s also easy enough for a weeknight. She transforms cauliflower from a humble vegetable to a rich centerpiece with the addition of cashews, coconut, fresh ginger and a flurry of spices you’re likely to have in your pantry. Serve with rice for an exceptionally good vegan supper.
Tomato and Fennel-Seed Pickle
Though mango and lime pickles are easy to find on the shelves of Indian grocery stores, home cooks in India pickle all varieties of fruits and vegetables, including tomato. India’s pickle queen, Usha Prabakaran, documented this tomato pickle, flavored with a generous amount of fennel seeds. It’s capable of adding flavor and heat to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Asafoetida has a pungent smell out of the jar, but mellows as it cooks and gives the pickle its personality — don’t skip it!