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Floury potatoes boil in their skins, then mash dry. A spice paste of green chilli, ginger and roasted cumin folds in with chopped coriander, mint and amchur for sourness. Cornflour and gram flour bind without making the tikki gummy. Patties form, chill to firm up, then shallow-fry in shallow oil on a flat pan for 4-5 minutes per side until deep gold and crisp with a soft interior. The chilled rest is what stops them falling apart.
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.
A simple custard of whole eggs, condensed milk and evaporated milk is poured over a hard caramel base and baked in a bain-marie at low temperature for a silken set. The caramel melts into a sauce as the flan chills overnight in the fridge. Tipped out onto a plate, the dark caramel runs down the sides and pools at the base.
Rice flour, turmeric, coconut milk and water make a thin yellow batter. Filling vegetables, mushrooms, sliced onion, tofu, are sautéed in a hot pan; the batter is poured over to form a thin pancake; beansprouts pile in last; the lot is folded in half and slides out crisp. Pieces are wrapped in lettuce with herbs and dipped in nuoc cham.
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.
Split mung beans (the green hulled kind) soak optionally 4 hours (cuts cooking time in half but not essential). Beans simmer in water with knotted pandan leaves, sliced ginger and a pinch of salt for 35-45 minutes until soft and split. Palm sugar dissolves in; cooks another 5 minutes. To serve: ladle into bowls; pour thick warm coconut milk over the top. Optional toppings: a sprinkle of fried shallots, a spoon of toasted black sesame, or chunks of toasted sweet bread (the Surabaya street-cart way).
Three sweet components are prepared separately: red beans simmered until tender then mixed with sugar, split mung beans cooked until just holding shape and lightly sweetened, and pandan-flavoured agar jelly cut into small cubes. Each layer goes into a glass with crushed ice between them and a generous drizzle of sweetened coconut cream over the top.
Sticky rice is soaked, steamed and pressed around small Asian bananas (Chuối sứ), wrapped in banana leaves and grilled until the rice forms a chewy crust. A coconut cream sauce thickened with a little cornflour and salt is spooned over the split-open bundles, and toasted peanuts and sesame finish the top. The contrast of crisp-burnt outside, soft hot banana, and cool coconut sauce is the whole point.
The crepe batter: rice flour, plain flour, eggs, coconut milk, water, salt, pandan extract, whisked smooth, rested for 30 minutes. The filling (unti): palm sugar dissolves in a little water with a pandan leaf; fresh grated coconut stirs in; cooks for 5 minutes till just absorbed and sticky. Cool. Crepes cook for 1 minute per side in a small pan. Each crepe gets a heaped tablespoon of unti at one end; folds in the sides; rolls up like a cigar. Eats at room temperature.
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.
A mix of raw and lightly-blanched vegetables; firm tofu pan-fried; hard-boiled eggs halved. The peanut sauce is built fresh from roasted peanuts blended with garlic, chilli, kecap manis, tamarind, lime and water. Pour over at the table; toss; eat.
Vermicelli noodles cook briefly and get tossed with sesame oil to stop sticking. Tofu pan-fries until golden. Rice paper rounds soak in warm water until pliable; everything stacks on each round and rolls tightly. The peanut sauce blends in seconds.
A short, slightly tender dough made with maida, ghee and milk is rolled thin and cut into rounds. Each round is filled with a warmed mixture of khoya (or thickened condensed milk), desiccated coconut, semolina, chopped nuts and cardamom. The edges are sealed with a fluted crimp and the parcels are deep-fried low and slow until pale gold. Dusted with icing sugar while warm.
A loose batter of plain flour, gram flour, yoghurt and water ferments 8-12 hours at room temperature (or 24 hours in the fridge), the slight tang from the yoghurt and the bubbles from the fermentation give the characteristic crisp-shattering bite. A 1-thread sugar syrup is scented with saffron, cardamom and a squeeze of lemon. The batter goes into a piping bag (or squeezy bottle); piped into hot oil in spirals from the centre outwards; fried for 30-40 seconds per side; lifted out and dropped straight into warm syrup for 30 seconds; lifted again. Eaten immediately while still hot and crisp.
A thin batter of mung-bean flour, millet flour, plain flour, water, salt and five-spice is whisked to a single-cream consistency; rested for 1 hour. A wide flat griddle or large non-stick pan is heated; a ladle of batter is spread thinly with a wooden disc-rake (jian bing rake, or just rotate the pan to spread). An egg is cracked onto the crepe; smashed and spread with a spatula. The crepe is flipped; the cooked side is painted with sweet bean sauce and chilli paste; scattered with herbs; topped with a crisp wonton sheet; folded into quarters. Eaten warm, by hand.
Saffron is bloomed in warm milk to draw the colour and aroma. Basmati is rinsed, soaked and drained. Whole spices, sliced almonds and cashews are toasted in ghee, then sultanas and pomegranate seeds are folded through. The toasted rice goes on top with milk-spiked water and the saffron milk, and the pot is covered to steam. Finished with a scatter of more nuts, fried onions and pomegranate seeds.
Two batters. The first (the base) is rice flour, palm sugar, salt, coconut milk and a small amount of mung-bean flour; rests for 2 hours so the rice flour hydrates. The second (the top) is just coconut cream, salt and a pinch of rice flour. A khanom krok pan (or an aebleskiver pan, or a takoyaki pan) is heated; each dimple is brushed with oil; the base batter goes in three-quarters; covered briefly to set; the top coconut-cream batter spoons over to fill; covered again; the half-spheres release when the bottom is golden and the tops are barely jiggling. Two are paired together and served on a small banana-leaf square.
Sticky rice must be the right variety: Thai glutinous rice (also called sweet rice, sticky rice, or kao niao, looks the same as ordinary white rice but opaque white when raw, not translucent). Soak the rice 4-12 hours in cold water until grains can be crushed easily between fingers. Drain. Steam over (not in) boiling water for 20-25 minutes in a traditional bamboo cone, banana leaves, or a steamer lined with muslin. Test by tasting a grain, fully cooked, chewy, slightly translucent. Transfer to a covered bamboo basket or wooden bowl for serving.