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Green papaya is peeled, seeded and shredded on a coarse grater. Carrot, ginger, garlic, red pepper, onion and raisins are all prepared in matching shreds. The vegetables are salted and rested for 1 hour to draw water; rinsed and squeezed dry. A syrup of cane vinegar, sugar and whole peppercorns simmers for 5 minutes. Hot syrup is poured over the vegetables in a sterilised jar. The jar is sealed, cooled and refrigerated overnight before eating. Improves over the following week.
A handful of vegetables (drumstick, ash gourd, carrot, runner beans, green plantain) are cut into uniform 5 cm batons and cooked separately to keep their textures. Coconut is ground with cumin, green chilli and shallot into a paste, which is added to the cooked vegetables with thinned yogurt. The dish is warmed gently (never simmered) so the yogurt doesn't split, and finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaves.
A whole aubergine is charred directly over a gas flame until the skin is blackened and the flesh inside is soft. The charred skin is peeled off and the flesh roughly mashed. A masala of onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli and tomato is cooked down to a thick base, and the smoky aubergine flesh is folded through with a finishing touch of garam masala and coriander. Vegetable-side or vegetarian main; the smoke is what makes it.
The okra is washed, dried thoroughly and trimmed, then cut into 2 cm pieces. A dry-fry over high heat for 10 minutes cooks away the surface moisture that causes slime. Onion is then browned with whole cumin in a separate go, ginger and garlic added, tomato cooked down with the ground spices, and the dry-fried okra folded in for a final dry simmer. Finished with garam masala, amchur and coriander.
Bombay Potatoes is comfort food at its finest. Small potatoes are partially cooked, then coated in a richly spiced oil infused with seeds and aromatics. Some potatoes are mashed to create a creamy base, while others remain whole for texture. The result is a warm, golden, deeply spiced side dish that's utterly satisfying. This is a vegetarian staple of Indian home cooking.
Onion is softened in oil; garlic, ginger and curry powder bloom. Carrots cook briefly to tender-crisp. Peppers (red and green) and chillies join. Tomatoes simmer everything down. Tinned baked beans go in last with a splash of vinegar to balance. Eaten warm or at room temperature; tastes better the next day.
The vegetarian centrepiece of Bengali Sunday lunches and festival meals, the curry that arrives on the rice plate when fish is off the menu (a Hindu vegetarian day, Saraswati Puja, a temple feast). "Chanar" in Bengali refers to fresh-curdled paneer, "dalna" to a light soupy curry, and the dish is exactly what the name promises. You lightly fry cubes of chhena (or shop paneer if you must) and quartered potatoes until they're pale gold, then simmer them in a thin gravy of mustard oil, whole spices, freshly pounded ginger and ground cumin. There's no onion, no garlic and no tomato in the most traditional version. The dish leans entirely on its whole spices and the ginger paste, which keeps it festival-friendly across vegetarian Hindu households. Eat with a small mound of gobindobhog rice, a wedge of lime on the side, and the chhena half-collapsing into the spiced broth as you spoon.
A deeply complex, rich sauce combining charred tomatoes with smoldering chipotle peppers, garlic, and red wine. The result is a sophisticated, multi-layered sauce with warm spice, subtle smoke, and complex depth that elevates barbecue fare from simple to restaurant-quality.
Whole black urad lentils and a small handful of red kidney beans are soaked overnight, then pressure-cooked or simmered until completely tender. A tomato-and-spice masala is built separately with onion, garlic, ginger and a careful hand with the spices. The lentils are folded into the masala and simmered, low and slow, for two hours, while butter and cream are stirred through in the final stage. The lentils break down into a glossy, almost-velvet finish.
Corn kernels, fresh in season, frozen the rest of the year, are charred in a hot dry pan with a bit of oil until many kernels are blackened. Off the heat: mayo, sour cream, lime, garlic, chilli powder and cheese are folded through. Coriander and more cheese top each bowl.
Whole chickpeas are soaked overnight and simmered until tender (or pressure-cooked). The chickpea cooking liquor is measured and reserved as part of the rice cooking liquid. A fried-onion base is built in ghee with whole spices, ginger-garlic paste and ground spices, and the cooked chickpeas are folded in. Soaked basmati is toasted in the base, then the measured cooking liquor goes in for the steam. A scatter of fried onion and coriander finishes.
Split yellow moong dal (or chana dal, or a mix) is rinsed and pressure-cooked or simmered with turmeric until completely soft. The dal is mashed lightly to a porridge consistency. A second pan fries ghee with whole cumin, garlic, sliced green chilli, dried red chilli and curry leaves until the garlic just turns golden. The hot tarka is poured over the dal with a dramatic sizzle; coriander and lemon finish.
Madrasi masala paste represents the very hot end of British-Indian curry pastes. It's made by toasting and grinding dry spices (mimicking the South Indian cooking technique) then combining them with fried aromatics. The vinegar and oil preservation technique allows batch preparation. The color is deep reddish-brown from the dried chillies, and the aroma is unmistakably fiery. This paste requires careful heat management during cooking and creates genuine sweat-inducing curries.
Yellow split peas (chana dal) simmer with onion, turmeric and tomato until very soft. The lentils break down into a thick soup. Right at the end, a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, garlic and shallots is poured sizzling-hot over the surface. The aromatic oil seeps through; the dish transforms.
Silken tofu poaches briefly in salted water (firms it up so it doesn't break). Dried shiitake mushrooms rehydrate and chop fine. Doubanjiang fries in oil until the oil reddens; mushrooms, garlic, ginger and chilli flakes follow. Stock loosens; tofu joins gently; cornflour slurry thickens. Sichuan peppercorn dust at the table.
Onion and pepper soften in butter; corn kernels (cut from the cob, with the milky pulp scraped after) join in; tomato adds for body. The lot stews for 25 minutes until the corn is tender and the mixture is thick. A splash of cream finishes; spring onion and hot sauce on top.