Seviyan kheer is the sweet that appears whenever there is something to celebrate — fine vermicelli roasted in ghee until it smells nutty and turns the colour of weak tea, then simmered in milk until the strands soften and the pudding turns creamy and gently thick. It is scented with cardamom, sweetened just enough, and … Read more
A good veg pizza at home is not about fancy equipment — it is about a dough given time to rise, a sauce that tastes of tomato and garlic rather than sweetness, and vegetables cut small enough to cook in the same fierce burst of heat that blisters the crust. This recipe makes two medium … Read more
Sabudana kheer is the pudding of fasting days and festivals — tiny sago pearls soaked until plump, then simmered slowly in milk until they turn glassy and soft and the milk thickens around them into something silky and spoonable. It is gently sweet, scented with cardamom, and finished with ghee-fried cashews and raisins that swell … Read more
Dindigul, in Tamil Nadu, is a town that takes its biryani seriously, and its style is unlike the long-grained biryanis of the north. It is built on seeraga samba, the small, round, intensely fragrant local rice, cooked with the masala rather than layered over it, with coconut milk for body, mint for freshness, a firm … Read more
Crispy corn is the starter that Indian restaurants made famous and home cooks quietly adopted — sweet corn kernels boiled, dusted in flour and fried until each one wears a thin, crackling shell, then tossed hot with chilli, chaat masala and lemon. The pleasure is in the contrast: shattering crust, juicy burst, tangy spice, all … Read more
This sweet corn salad is really a chaat in salad’s clothing — warm, butter-tossed corn folded with crunchy onion, tomato and cucumber, a squeeze of lemon and a good shake of chaat masala. It takes fifteen minutes, most of it waiting for the corn to boil, and it sits just as happily next to a … Read more
Corn pakora are the monsoon evening snack that disappears faster than you can fry it — sweet corn crushed just enough to burst, folded into a spiced besan batter and fried into rough, golden fritters that stay crisp at the edges and juicy in the middle. A little cornflour or rice flour is the home … Read more
Ukadiche modak are Maharashtra’s beloved steamed rice-flour dumplings, made first and foremost as an offering to Lord Ganesh during Ganesh Chaturthi — twenty-one of them, traditionally, for Bappa. Inside the soft, white, pleated shell sits a warm filling of coconut and jaggery scented with cardamom. They look intricate, but the method is forgiving once the … Read more
Shukto is the gentle, bittersweet opening note of a Bengali meal — a medley of vegetables simmered in a thin, milky gravy with bitter gourd leading the way. It sounds like a contradiction, a curry that is proud of its bitterness, but that is exactly the point: the karela’s edge is softened by milk, mustard … Read more
Maa ki dal — mother’s dal — is the plain, dark, slow-simmered black urad that Punjabi homes run on. No cream rivers, no restaurant gloss: just whole urad softened overnight, simmered low with tomato, ginger and garlic until the grains give way and the pot turns thick and earthy. It is the dal that dal … Read more